‘A Progress of Review 2023’ Report: Released by “NITI AAYOG”.

NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for the National MPI, ranking States and UTs based on their performance.

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.

Key highlights:

• India has registered a significant decline in the number of multidimensionally poor people, from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-2021.
• Rural areas saw the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59% to 19.28%.
• This represents a decline of 9.89 percentage points or a reduction of 13.5 crore people.
• Despite this progress, one in seven Indians is still multidimensionally poor.

Highlights of the National MPI Report 2023 (2nd Edition):

Improvements in access to cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, and bank accounts have contributed to the reduction in poverty.

• However, more progress is needed in areas such as nutrition and access to education.
• The number of people in poverty in rural areas witnessed the fastest decline, from 32.59% to 19.28%.
• The number of states with less than 10% of people living in multidimensional poverty doubled from 7 to 14 between 2016 and 2021.

Comparing with Global MPI 2023:

• India has made significant progress in reducing multidimensional poverty in recent years
• The incidence of multidimensional poverty in India fell from 55.1% in 2005/2006 to 16.4% in 2019/2021.
• This represents a significant improvement in the lives of millions of Indians.

What is keeping Indians multidimensionally poor?

• Within the health category, lack of proper nutrition remains a major challenge.
• Other indicators that did not record a significant decline include lack of years of schooling, inadequate access to maternal health services, and less-than-desired school attendance.
• Within the standard of living category, access to housing remains a challenge.

Government’s flagship programmes:

• Several government programs have contributed to the reduction in multidimensional poverty.
• These include Poshan Abhiyan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, PM Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya, PM Awas Yojana, PM Jan Dhan Yojana, and Samagra Shiksha.