Multidimensional poverty
Published on 17 Feb 2025
Multidimensional poverty captures overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards. It complements income poverty measurements because it measures and compares deprivation directly.
At the national level, the Multidimensional Poverty Index is calculated by NITI Aayog based on the National Family Health Survey data. The index gives an indication of the attainment of SDG 1.2, which aims to reduce poverty in all dimensions.
Key takeaways from the National Multidimensional Poverty Index
✔ Decline in poverty: The proportion of the population in multidimensional poverty declined from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21. In absolute terms, 13.5 crore people were pulled out of multidimensional poverty.
✔ Reduction in poverty intensity: The intensity, measured as the average deprivation among the people living in multidimensional poverty, also reduced from 47.14% to 44.39%.
✔ Rural-urban disparity: More poor in rural areas with 19.28% in rural areas when compared to 5.27% in urban areas.
✔ Steep decline in rural poverty: The incidence of poverty fell from 32.59% to 19.28% in rural areas.
✔ State-wise performance: Bihar has the highest share of multidimensionally poor while Kerala has the least.
✔ State-wise decline: In terms of absolute number, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 3.43 escaping poverty. Bihar saw the highest decline in poverty in percentage terms.
Criteria-based performance: Deprivation in sanitation and cooking fuel reduced by 21.8% and 14.6% respectively.
Important poverty alleviation programmes by the government of India
|
Scheme |
Objective |
Achievement |
|
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 |
✔ 100 days of assured unskilled employment every year to every rural household. ✔ One-third of beneficiaries to be women. ✔ Job within 15 days of demand. ✔ Wage provided within 15 days of work. |
✔ 11.37 crore households availed employment. ✔ 289.24 crore person-days employment has been generated. ✔ Women constituted 56% of the total person-days of work. |
|
National Rural Livelihood Mission, 2011 |
✔ Eliminate rural poverty through multiple livelihoods. ✔ Mobilize rural households to SHG. |
✔ 8.93 crore women from rural households have been mobilized into 82.61 lakh SHG. |
|
PM Jan Dhan Yojana, 2014 |
✔ Universal access to banking facilities with zero balance accounts. |
✔ More than 50 crore people have opened accounts. ✔ 67% of accounts in rural and semi-urban areas. |
|
Jan Suraksha Schemes, 2015 |
✔ 2 lakh accidental insurance under Suraksha Bima Yojana. ✔ 2 lakh life insurance under Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. ✔ Universal social security under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). |
✔ 34 crore enrolments under Suraksha Bima Yojana. ✔ 16 crore enrolments under Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. ✔ More than 5 crore people have subscribed to APY |
|
PM Ujjwala Yojana, 2016 |
✔ LPG cylinders to deprived rural households. |
✔ LPG connection provided to 9.6 crore households.
|
|
National Nutrition Mission, 2018
|
✔ Reduce stunting and wasting by 2% every year. ✔ Reduce undernutrition by 2% every year. ✔ Reduce anaemia by 3% every year. |
✔ Wasting improved from 21% to 19.3% ✔ Stunting improved from 38.4% to 35.5% ✔ Undernutrition improved from 35.7% to 32.1%. |
|
PM SVANidhi, 2020 |
✔ Facilitate working capital loans for street vendors. ✔ An amount of 10000, 20000 and 50000, as three termed loans. |
✔ Around 46.54 lakh loans have been disbursed. ✔ 40% of loans have been repaid. |
Tags:
Social Justice
Keywords:
Multidimensional Poverty
Poverty
MGNREGA
NRLM
Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2
Topics:
Social Justice
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