135 million people exited multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21, National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 highlights. Niti Aayog report indicates
the success of the country’s commitment and action to address the multidimensional nature of poverty through its multisectoral approach.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 estimates, a decline in poverty from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21. This reduction of 9.89 percentage points in multidimensional poverty indicates that about 135.5 million persons have exited poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
India is well on course to achieve the SDG target 1.2
It is a major contribution towards achieving SDG target 1.2 which aims to reduce “at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions”. This indicates that India is well on course to achieve the SDG target 1.2 much ahead of At the same time, the Intensity of Poverty, which measures the average deprivation among the people living in multidimensional poverty also reduced from 47.14% to 44.39%.
Rural India saw a faster reduction in MPI value
Disparities in multidimensional poverty still exist between rural and urban areas. The proportion of multidimensional poor in 2019-21 is 19.28% in rural areas compared to 5.27% in urban areas. The reduction in the MPI value has been pro-poor in absolute terms. Rural areas saw a faster reduction in their MPI value, compared to urban areas.
The incidence of poverty fell from 32.59% to 19.28% in rural areas compared to a decline from 8.65% to 5.27% in urban areas between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
Statewise Absolute Reduction in MPI
Bihar, the state with the highest MPI value in NFHS-4 (2015-16), saw the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms with the proportion of multidimensional poor reducing from 51.89% to 33.76% in 2019-21. The next fastest reduction in the MPI value was seen in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The proportion of multidimensional poor in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in NFHS-5 (2019-21) is 20.63% and 22.93% respectively. In terms of the number of MPI, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 3.43 crore people exiting poverty in the last five years. Bihar (2.25 crore) and Madhya Pradesh (1.36 crore) are second and third respectively.
The disaggregated estimates show that the most rapid reduction in the proportion of multidimensionally poor individuals occurred in districts located within the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Odisha: Eighth poorest state in India
According to the MPI report, Odisha has slipped one position to become the eighth poorest state in India comparing 2021. Even though 62 lakh people in the state moved out of poverty in the last five years, the position of the state has continuously been worsening. The poverty percentage of 15.68 percent has been above the national percentage of 14.96 percent. Malkangiri is the poorest district in the state.
