248 million people uplifted from poverty in India through new initiatives

Over the past nearly ten years, the Indian government has successfully improved the lives of 248 million Indians by tackling “multidimensional poverty,” as reported by NITI Aayog, the agency responsible for driving economic development in India. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a globally recognized measure, goes beyond just monetary aspects to capture various dimensions of poverty.

India’s goal is to halve the number of people in multidimensional poverty by the end of this decade, and the recent progress indicates that the country is on track to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) well before 2030. The study, titled “Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06,” received technical inputs from the Oxford Policy and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The remarkable upliftment of Indians from poverty, a reduction of 17.89 percentage points between fiscal years 2013-14 and 2022-23, is a significant achievement. Uttar Pradesh saw the largest decline, with 59.4 million people escaping multidimensional poverty, followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The success is attributed to various government initiatives addressing all dimensions of poverty. Key measures include extending free food grain distribution, programs for maternal health, clean cooking fuel distribution, improved electricity coverage, and transformative campaigns like Clean India Mission and Water to Every Household Mission. These initiatives collectively contributed to ending multidimensional poverty for millions of Indians.

The study emphasizes that recent decisions, such as the extension of free food grain distribution for another five years, exemplify the government’s commitment to improving the living conditions and overall well-being of the people. The progress made puts India on a positive trajectory towards achieving its multidimensional poverty reduction targets.

(This article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Brew News and The Free Press Journal)