Context: According to a report by the Niti Aayog, India has made remarkable progress in reducing multidimensional poverty in the last four years. The report, titled ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress of Review 2023‘, was unveiled by the Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog.

About Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI):

• The National MPI 2023 presents the second edition of the national MPI and is a follow-up to the Baseline Report published in November 2021.
• It provides multidimensional poverty estimates for India’s 36 States & Union Territories, along with 707 administrative districts across 12 indicators.
• These estimates have been computed using data from the 5th round of the NFHS (NFHS-5) conducted in 2019-21.
• This edition also presents the changes in multidimensional poverty between the survey periods of NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21).

Methodology:

• India’s national MPI, similar to the global MPI, comprises three dimensions (Health, Education, Standard of living) with 12 indicators of equal weight.
• The global MPI Report is jointly published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Aggregation of the Index: The indices of the national MPI comprise:

• Headcount ratio (H): The determination of the multidimensional poverty headcount ratio involves dividing the total population by the number of multidimensionally poor individuals.
• Intensity of poverty (A): Multidimensionally poor individuals experience an average proportion of deprivations. We compute intensity by dividing the sum of weighted deprivation scores of all individuals in poverty by the total number of poor individuals.
• Final calculation of MPI: We obtain the MPI value by multiplying the poverty headcount ratio (H) with the poverty intensity (A), capturing both the prevalence and severity of poverty.

Outlook for India:

• Despite significant progress, India still has more than 230 million people living in poverty.
• The UNDP report highlights the vulnerability of around 18.7% of the population, facing deprivations in 20-33.3% of indicators.

Improvement in Deprivation Indicators:

Findings of the report

• Decline in Poverty: India has seen a significant drop in multidimensional poverty, with a decline of 9.89 percentage points from 2015-16 to 2019-21.
• Progressiveness in rural areas: Rural areas witnessed a significant decline from 32.59% to 19.28%, while urban areas decreased from 8.65% to 5.27%.
• Regional Progress: UP recorded the largest decline in the number of poor, with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty. The states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan showed the fastest reduction in the proportion of multidimensional poor.
• Path towards SDG Targets: The report indicates India’s progress towards SDG Target 1.2 of halving multidimensional poverty by 2030.

State/UT-Wise Performance:

• Delhi, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have the least number of people facing multidimensional poverty along with the Union Territories.
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have the highest percentage of multidimensionally poor population.
• Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in number of poor with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty.
• Bihar witnessed the largest decline in MPI value, with the proportion of multidimensionally poor decreasing from 51.89% to 33.76% in 2019-21.

Rural-Urban Disparity:

• Rural areas experienced a significant decline in poverty, with the rate dropping from 32.59% to 19.28%.
• The decrease in multidimensional poverty in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan contributed to this decline.
• In urban areas, there was also a decrease in multidimensional poverty, with the rate decreasing from 8.65% to 5.27% during the same period.

Concern

• The report also highlighted the regional disparities and inequalities in multidimensional poverty across states, districts, social groups and genders.
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh had the highest MPI values, while Kerala, Goa, Delhi, and Punjab had the lowest.
• Rural areas had a higher MPI than urban areas, Scheduled Tribes had a higher MPI than other social groups, and females had a higher MPI than males.

FAQs Related with National Multidimensional Poverty Index

Ques 1: What is the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)?

Answer:The MPI is a comprehensive measure that evaluates poverty based on multiple dimensions like health, education, and living standards.

Ques 2: How is the MPI calculate?

Answer: The MPI calculates poverty using indicators across different dimensions, categorizing individuals as multidimensionally poor based on a set number of indicators.

Ques 3: What is the significance of the MPI?

Answer: The MPI helps policymakers target specific areas of deprivation and design interventions to alleviate multidimensional poverty beyond income measures.poverty.

National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023

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