13.5 cr Indians moved out of multidimensional poverty

New Delhi: In a major development that may give an another reason for the government to celebrate its achievement, the Niti Aayog, in its report, has claimed that India has witnessed 13.5 crore people moving out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21 with fastest reduction in BIMARU states – which is an acrimony used for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Besides these, Odisha has also registered a fastest reduction in multidimensional poverty.

In its report titled ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A progress of Review 2023, which was released by Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery on Monday, the think tank said, “India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in number of India’s multidimensionally poor from 24.85 percent in 2015-16 to 14.96 percent in 2019-21.”

The National MPI measures simultaneous deprivations across three equally weighted dimensions of health, education, and standard of living that are represented by 12 sustainable development goal (SDG) aligned indicators.

The report said that rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59 percent to 19.28 percent, while the urban areas saw a reduction in poverty from 8.65 percent to 5.27 percent.

Providing multidimensional poverty estimates for the 36 states and Union Territories, and 707 administrative 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.

As per the report, Bihar – a non-BJP ruled state – witnessed the highest 18.13 percent change in the last five years starting from 2015-16. Madhya Pradesh recorded a change of 15.94 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh (14.75), Odisha (13.65) and Rajasthan (13.56).

In the five years, the MPI value halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and intensity of poverty reduced from 47 percent to 44 percent, 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.

The think tank further said that 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,” it said, adding that improvements in nutrition, years of schooling, sanitation, and cooking fuel played a significant role in bringing down poverty.