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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sociol.
Sec. Sociology of Stratification
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1482825

Caste, Local Governance Effectiveness, and Multidimensional Poverty in Rural India: Some Evidences

Provisionally accepted
Amarachi Onyeyirichi Ogbonna Amarachi Onyeyirichi Ogbonna 1*Charles Aaron Adams Ekuban Charles Aaron Adams Ekuban 1Muralee Krishnan C. Muralee Krishnan C. 2P. K. Viswanathan P. K. Viswanathan 3
  • 1 Amrita School for Sustainable Futures, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amritapuri Campus), Kollam, India
  • 2 Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore, Kerala, India
  • 3 Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Kollam, Kerala, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study explores the relationships between local governance effectiveness, population densities of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and rural multidimensional poverty in India, using data from the 2011 Indian Census, 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2020 Mission Antyodaya, and 2019/21 National Family and Health Survey (NFHS). The research examines how SC/ST population densities and local governance effectiveness associates with the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) across Indian states through regression and correlation analysis. The study's findings reveal a national, rural MPI of 0.110, with 26% of the rural population experiencing multidimensional poverty. The study's results also show that a statistically significant negative correlation exists between rural MPI and local governance effectiveness, with a 0.32% reduction in MPI for every 1% improvement in governance effectiveness. Conversely, higher SC and ST population densities are associated with increased MPI, with a 0.14% rise in MPI for each 1% increase in these densities. The study also highlights that ST population density has a stronger association with MPI than SC population density, indicating greater vulnerability to multidimensional poverty in areas with higher ST populations. Overall, the study underscores the importance of effective local governance in reducing rural poverty and suggests targeted efforts in areas with high SC and ST densities, particularly ST, to alleviate poverty. It also emphasizes the need for upto-date data to understand and address rural poverty comprehensively.

    Keywords: Multidimensional poverty, Local Governance Effectiveness, SC/ST Population Density, Poverty eradication, Rural Development

    Received: 18 Aug 2024; Accepted: 24 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Ogbonna, Ekuban, C. and Viswanathan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amarachi Onyeyirichi Ogbonna, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amritapuri Campus), Kollam, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.