New Delhi: As many as 13.5 crore people moved out of multidimensional poverty between financial years 2015-16 and 2019-21, according to NITI Aayog’s ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index.
The report titled ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’ released on Monday showed a decline of 9.89 percentage points in the number of India’s multidimensionally poor from 24.85% in FY16 to 14.96% in FY21, according to the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
‘Multidimensional Poverty Measure’ takes into account poverty beyond monetary deprivations by including access to education and basic infrastructure. The NITI Aayog report also takes into account impact of welfare schemes ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ and ‘Anaemia Mukt Bharat’, ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (SBM), ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ among others.
rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59% to 19.28%. During the same period, the urban areas saw a reduction in poverty from 8.65% to 5.27%, as per the report.
“Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in number of poor with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty,” it said.
Citing multidimensional poverty estimates for 36 states and union territories and 707 districts, the report said that the fastest reduction in the proportion of multidimensional poor was observed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
According to the report, between FY16 and FY21, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) value has nearly halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty has reduced from 47% to 44%, “thereby setting India on the path of achieving the SDG Target 1.2 (of reducing multidimensional poverty by at least half) much ahead of the stipulated timeline of 2030″.
Based on the latest National Family Heath Survey (2019-21), the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) represents India’s progress in reducing multidimensional poverty between the two surveys, NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21). It builds on the baseline report of India’s National MPI launched in November 2021. The broad methodology followed is in consonance with the global methodology, according to NITI Aayog.
The National MPI measures simultaneous deprivations across the three equally weighted dimensions of health, education, and standard of living that are represented by 12 SDG-aligned indicators. These include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.
A Niti Aayog statement attributed the improvement in these sectors to the government’s “dedicated focus on improving access to sanitation, nutrition, cooking fuel, financial inclusion, drinking water, and electricity has led to significant advancements in these areas”.
All 12 parameters of the MPI have shown marked improvements. Flagship programmes like the Poshan Abhiyan and Anaemia Mukt Bharat have contributed to reduced deprivations in health, it said, adding that initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) have improved sanitation across the country.
The country witnessed a 21.8 percentage points improvement in sanitation deprivations. The provision of subsidized cooking fuel through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has positively transformed lives, with a 14.6 percentage points improvement in cooking fuel deprivations, showed the report.
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Updated: 17 Jul 2023, 09:29 PM IST