NITI Aayog on Monday reported that India has witnessed 13.5 crore people move out of multidimensional poverty between the period of 2015-16 and 2019-21. The fastest reduction was observed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
Suman Bery, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog released the report 'National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A progress of Review 2023' on July 17.
The report said, "India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in number of India's multidimensionally poor from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent 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.
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According to the report, the rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59 per cent to 19.28 per cent, while the urban areas saw a reduction in poverty from 8.65 per cent to 5.27 per cent.
The report provided multidimensional poverty estimates for the 36 states and Union Territories and 707 administrative districts. The fastest reduction in the proportion of multidimensional poor was observed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan in the report.
The report said that the MPI value halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty reduced from 47 per cent to 44 per cent in the five-year span. This has set India on the path of achieving SDG target 1.2 (of reducing multidimensional poverty by at least half) much ahead of the stipulated timeline of 2030.
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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, said NITI Aayog.
The report has also mentioned that all 12 parameters of the MPI have shown marked improvements.
A few other reasons behind the reduction of poverty in the country are improvements in nutrition, years of schooling, sanitation, and cooking fuel, said the report.
