Niti paper: In 9 years, 24.8 crore out of multidimensional poverty

NEW DELHI: An estimated 24.8 crore Indians may have moved out of multidimensional poverty in the past nine years, with UP and Bihar recording the biggest improvement, according to a new paper by two top Niti Aayog officials released on Monday.
Multidimensional poverty - calculated on the basis of 12 parameters including health, education, housing, maternal health and bank accounts - is projected to have reduced to 11.3% in 2022-23 from 15% in 2019-21 and 29.2% in 2013-14, the paper by Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand and senior advisor Yogesh Suri said (see graphic).

Lauding the improvement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Very encouraging, reflecting our commitment towards furthering inclusive growth and focussing on transformative changes to our economy. We will continue to work towards all-round development and to ensure a prosperous future for every Indian."

Projecting a single-digit level by the next financial year, the authors argued that India is much ahead of the target in reducing poverty in all its dimensions by half by 2030. "All 12 indicators of MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index) have shown remarkable improvement during this period," the paper said.

Though it did not provide estimates of several parameters, it said that initiatives like Poshan Abhiyan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan have helped.
"The rate of decline in multidimensional poverty has accelerated during the period 2013-14 to 2022-23. This is made possible by a large number of initiatives/schemes of government targeted at improving specific deprivation aspects," it said. Chand told reporters that growth in agriculture sector during the nine years up to FY23 has accelerated compared to any other period.
It, however, cautioned that the pace of poverty reduction is faster when levels are higher and further fall may also be linked to externalities. Besides, the projections made in the paper are based on the National Family Health Survey, for which data was collected before the pandemic, and the latest estimates may not fully reflect the impact of the pandemic.
Based on overall numbers, it concluded that UP managed to get 5.9 crore out of poverty, followed by 3.8 crore in Bihar, which is the home to the highest share.
"It is also observed that the states with higher poverty incidence have witnessed higher reduction in headcount ratio poverty over the years, thus indicating that inter-state multidimensional poverty differentials across various States have declined over the years,"it said.