Turning data into impact: targeted interventions in Kolkata's slums

Calcutta Rescue supports people living in slums in Kolkata with medicine, mobile health units, and skills training programmes. To make their work more effective, it was important for them to identify the poorest areas, the types of deprivation, and to monitor their impact. This would allow them to better target their support and to demonstrate their impact to donors.

Dr Suman Seth worked with Calcutta Rescue to develop a Multidimensional Poverty Index (CR-MPI). The index considers health, education, and standard of living through 17 indicators to create a nuanced understanding of the poverty people face.

It has supported Calcutta Rescue to improve its operations and give its support where it's needed most.

Impact

• Improving economic and health outcomes: from 2019-2024, poverty fell by 16.8% across the slums that were comparable over time.
• Knowledge transfer: collaboration with a local NGO ensures impact on the ground, while the policy brief supports wider implementation of the positive results.

Key information

• Partners and collaborators: Calcutta Rescue
• Disciplines: economics
• Investigators: Dr Suman Seth.

Keywords: economics, international research, non-governmental organisation (NGO), Multidimensional Poverty Index (CR-MPI), health inequalities