India A Leader In Digitisation That Empowers Social Safety Net: World Bank Chief

According to World Bank President David Malpass, one of the pioneers in digitalization that strengthens and widens the social safety net has been India.
During a conference call here, Malpass informed reporters that India, like other developing nations, is affected by rising interest rates in the global economy, inflation, and being affected by climate change, as evidenced most recently by the impacts of flooding. However, India was able to widen its social safety net throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

According to him, the nation’s poor have more money in their pockets than was indicated by the World Bank’s most recent report on global poverty.

He noted that the efficiency of social safety nets is crucial when it comes to reducing poverty in other regions of the world. The World Bank collaborated closely with India to create a focused social safety net.

Malpass made reference to a recent conference at the UN that the World Bank and other organisations co-hosted. He claimed that digitalization strengthens the social safety net and is crucial for developing nations to keep up with technology. He claimed that “India has been one of the leaders in that.”

Malpass said there may be an emphasis on debt in response to a query about India assuming the G-20 leadership in December.

“I think the world is at a point where there can be progress made for a more effective common framework,” he said.

India, he said, is an important creditor, for example, in Sri Lanka and also in some of the heavily indebted countries of Africa. “So, India as the chair of the G-20 has an opportunity there,” he said.

“I’ve spoken with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi about that,” he said, adding that India is aware of debt distress in countries. “So, it is very relevant,” he said.

“The second, I mention, is education where India has been a leader in pushing forward,” Malpass said, as he mentioned about another major conference he co-hosted at the UN last week on education, where they used the data from learning Poverty Index, which has been showing a very concerning increase in educational poverty.The World Bank president emphasised the critical need of combating climate change for both India and the G 20 as a whole.

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