New Delhi, April 11 Nealy half of aspirational districts in the country have seen a quicker drop in multi-dimensional poverty levels, with Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu leading the pack.
According to data from Niti Aayog’s ‘Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023,’ 46 per cent of the 106 aspirational districts have witnessed a drop in multidimensional poverty.
Traditionally, poverty has been measured by assessing monetary resources available for an individual or household. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is now considered as a more direct and comprehensive measure of people’s deprivation and poverty.
It captures and reveals the outcome of economic growth and development, income and its distribution and various development initiatives of the State.
Besides, it has been globally realised that non-monetary measures complement monetary measures to capture diverse dimensions of poverty.
This granular approach proves essential in India’s diverse context, enabling targeted interventions to address acute poverty and uphold the principle of inclusivity, ensuring that “no one is left behind.”
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some of the aspirational districts had done better than national and state average.
“Earlier, the government had announced 100 districts as backward, many of them in the Northeast and tribal belts. We changed this approach and called them aspirational and implemented schemes in mission mode. Reputed institutions and journals have praised India's aspirational districts move,” PM Modi said during an event in the national capital this week.
Meanwhile, an SBI Research report earlier this year showed that India's rural poverty ratio has registered a dramatic decline to 4.86 per cent in the financial year 2023-24 from 25.7 per cent in 2011-12 while urban poverty has fallen to 4.09 per cent from 4.6 per cent during this period.
"At an aggregate level, we believe poverty rates in India could now be in the range of 4 per cent-4.5 per cent with almost minimal existence of extreme poverty," the report said.
The sharp decline in the rural poverty ratio is on account of higher consumption growth in the lowest 0-5 per cent decile with significant government support.
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