India - Some facts and figures

Nearly a third of the world's poorest people are Indian, with 330 million living below the official poverty line.

Infant mortality in India is as high as 63 deaths per 1,000 live births. Children continue to lose their life to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, which remains the biggest killer.

Despite a major improvement in literacy rates during the 1990s, 20% of children aged 6 to 14 still do not go to school. Less than half the female population aged over 15 is literate.