Multidimensional poverty in India has fallen from 29 pc to 11 pc in 9 years: Minister

New Delhi, July 23 Multidimensional poverty in India, which apart from food covers access to health and education facilities, is estimated to have declined from 29.17 per cent in 2013-14 to 11.28 per cent in 2022-23 -- indicating that 24.82 crore people have escaped poverty during this period according to figures compiled by NITI Aayog, Minister of State for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh, informed Parliament on Wednesday.

According to another report, ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’, released by NITI Aayog, the proportion of population in multidimensional poverty declined from 24.85 per cent to 14.96 per cent between 2015-16 and 2019- 21, indicating that about 13.5 crore people have escaped poverty during the period, the minister stated in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

The minister said that in 2021, the government developed a comprehensive index known as National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure poverty that captures overlapping deprivations in dimensions such as health, education and standard of living, covering 12 indicators namely, nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, bank accounts and assets. It measures both the share of people in poverty and the degree to which they are deprived. The second edition of the index was released in 2023.

The government has also highlighted that it provided tap water to 16 crore homes and built 5 crore houses for poor families, as it has been working to implement schemes for the economic development of the country and raise the standard of living of the people.

PM Modi had earlier stated in Parliament that “even after 75 years of independence, 75 per cent of households comprising nearly 16 crore homes did not have tap water connections. In just five years, our government has provided tap water to 12 crore families in their homes."

He pointed out that the poor have been given 4 crore houses and the government has provided more than 12 crore toilets to improve the quality of life of the people, especially women who had to suffer the most because of the lack of these facilities.

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