With 2.75 crore people escaping ‘multidimensional poverty’ every year, the Narendra Modi government has been able to improve the conditions of as many as 24.82 crore people in last nine years, moving them out of poverty, according to a report by Niti Aayog.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by Niti Aayog uses the Alkire-Foster methodology to assess the decline in poverty rates and covers 12 indicators -- nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts. The global MPI covers 10 indicators.

Not reflective of Covid

According to the report, “Based on the interpolation of the MPI estimates between 2005-06 and 2015-16, the headcount ratio for the year 2013-14 comes to 29.17 per cent. Similarly, the proportion of multidimensional poverty for the year 2022-23 is projected to be 11.28 per cent, based on the trend rate of 10.66 per cent decline per year between 2015-16 and 2019-21.”

However, it also said: “Since part of the NFHS-5 data were collected before the pandemic, the estimates presented in this paper may not fully reflect the impact of Covid on the economy or the implications of subsequent government interventions.”

With this trend, India is much ahead of the target of reducing poverty in all its dimensions by half, by the year 2030, the report said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet on X had said, “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.”

After the release of the paper on Monday, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said that 24.82 crore people who escaped multidimensional poverty in nine years translates into 2.75 crore people escaping it every year.

“Government has a goal to bring down multidimensional poverty to below 1 per cent and all efforts are being made in that direction,” said BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog. The report said that India is all set to reach single-digit poverty levels during 2024.

At the State level, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 5.94 crore people escaping poverty followed by Bihar at 3.77 crore and Madhya Pradesh at 2.30 crore.

The pace of decline in poverty head count ratio was much faster at 10.66 per cent (annual rate of decline) between 2015-16 to 2019-21, compared with 7.69 per cent in 2005-06 to 2015-16 period.

Chand said that growth in agriculture sector in these nine years has accelerated compared to any other period. The farm sector growth is seen by experts as a major contributor to the decline in poverty.

Owing to a lack of data for the years between 2005-06 and 2015-16 and after 2019-21 concerning the incidence of poverty levels, the headcount poverty rations for 2013-14 and 2022-23 have been estimated based on the compound growth rate of reduction in the incidence of poverty levels between 2005-05 and 2015-16 and 2015-16 and 2019-21 respectively.

However, it is important to note that the reduction in poverty may differ, as various factors and externalities can influence the pace and trajectory of poverty alleviation efforts, the report said. “The pace of reduction is generally faster when poverty levels are higher than when poverty levels are lower. The method used for extrapolation, based on rate of decline rather than percentage point decline, takes care of this to an extent.”

The report said the MPI is based on National Family Health Surveys 4 (2015-16) and 5 (2019-21).

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