One out of every two Bihar households is multidimensionally poor: NITI Aayog

What is the News?

Niti Aayog has released India’s first National MPI (multidimensional poverty index).

About National MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index)

National MPI seeks to measure poverty across its multiple dimensions and in effect complements existing poverty statistics based on per capita consumption expenditure. 

Methodology: The index has used the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Global MPI.

Indicators: The index is based on three equally weighted dimensions – health, education and standard of living – which in turn are represented by 12 indicators.

Source of Data: The index is based on the findings of the fourth National Health Family Survey (2015-16).

Steps in Computing MPI:

What are the key findings of the National MPI?

Multidimensionally Poor: Around 25.01% of the Indian population is multidimensionally poor. Bihar has the maximum percentage of the population living in poverty among all the States and the Union Territories, with over 50% of the population in the State identified as “multidimensionally poor”. On the other hand, Kerala registered the lowest population poverty levels (0.71%).

Note: The Global MPI had shown  27.9% of India’s population were multidimensionally poor. The country ranked 62nd out of 109 nations on the index. 

Poverty Criteria: The report took a person spending less than Rs 47 a day in cities and one spending less than Rs 32 a day in villages as poor.

Health

Healthy Nutrition: Some 37.6% of Indian households are deprived of healthy nutrition levels.

Child and Adolescent Mortality: Some 2.7% households have reported child and adolescent mortality. A household is deprived if any child or adolescent under 18 years of age has died in the household in the five-year period preceding the survey.

Education 

At least 13.9% households have a member aged 10 years or older who has not completed six years of schooling. At least 6.4% of households have a school-aged child not attending school up to the age at which he/she would complete class 8.

Standard of Living

Source of Cooking Fuel: At least 58.5% of households have dung, agricultural crops, shrubs, wood, charcoal or coal as their primary source of cooking fuel.

No Access to Drinking water: At least 14.6% of households do not have access to improved drinking water or a safe drinking water facility that is more than a 30-minute walk from home (as a round trip). 

Inadequate Housing: Some 45.6% of households have inadequate housing. Their floor is made of natural materials, or the roof or walls are made of rudimentary materials.

Source: This post is based on the following articles

• “One out of every two Bihar households is multidimensionally poor: NITI Aayog” published in Down To Earth on 27th November 2021
• “Over 50% Bihar poor in new index based on health, education, standard of living” published in Indian Express on 27th November 2021.
• “25% of Indians are poor on MPI metric, says NITI Aayog report” published in Business Standard on 27th November 2021.