135 million Indians quit poverty basket, maximum in UP: Niti Aayog report
A whopping 13.5 crore people wriggled out of multi-dimensional poverty in India between 2015-16 and 2019-21, with the maximum reduction seen in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, according to government think tank Niti Aayog.
The performance in Uttar Pradesh was followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan, said a report from Niti Aayog released on Monday.
India registered a significant decline of 9.89 percentage points in the number of multi-dimensionally poor — from 24.8 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.9 per cent in 2019-2021, the report said.
Rural India, which accounts for more poverty, saw the fastest decline from 32.5 per cent to 19.3 per cent. In the same period, poverty in urban areas fell from 8.7 per cent to 5.3 per cent.
In Uttar Pradesh, the decline in the number of poor totalled 3.43 crore people.
Poverty levels
The report provided multi-dimensional poverty estimates for 36 states and Union territories as well as 707 districts. It said the broad methodology the reported pursued was in line with the global practices.
The developments have set India on the path of achieving the sustainable development goals or SDG target 1.2 (of reducing multi-dimensional poverty by at least half) much ahead of the stipulated deadline of 2030.
“It demonstrates the government’s strategic focus on ensuring sustainable and equitable development and eradicating poverty by 2030, thereby adhering to its commitment towards SDGs,” an official statement said.
The national multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) measures deprivations across 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.
Marked improvement is witnessed across all the 12 indicators, according to the report.
UNDP praise
The resident representative UNDP India, Shoko Noda, said the national MPI report outlines the remarkable progress made by India in nearly halving multi-dimensional poverty between 2015-2016 and 2019-2021.
“It is commendable that India’s rural areas and its poorest states have shown the fastest decline,” Noda said in a message quoted in the report.
