Multidimensional Poverty

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Multidimensional Poverty?
• What is Global Multidimensional Poverty Index?
• News Summary: Multidimensional poverty - meaning, numbers
• Basis for this assessment

Why in news?

• In her Interim Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 25 crore Indians had been pulled out of poverty over the past decade. 

What is Multidimensional Poverty?

• A person who is poor can suffer multiple disadvantages at the same time – for example they may have poor health or malnutrition, a lack of clean water or electricity, poor quality of work or little schooling.
• Focusing on one factor alone, such as income, is not enough to capture the true reality of poverty.
• Multidimensional Poverty is a measure of poverty that captures deprivations in education and access to basic infrastructure in addition to income or consumption at the $2.15 international poverty line (as per World Bank).
  • The World Bank defines the international poverty line at USD 2.15 (in 2017 purchasing power parity terms) daily to measure monetary value.

What is Global Multidimensional Poverty Index?

• About
  • The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a key international resource that measures acute multidimensional poverty across more than 100 developing countries.
  • The MPI is published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the UNDP's Human Development Report Office.
  • The Index tracks deprivation across the following 3 dimensions and 10 indicators:

• The MPI ranges from 0 to 1, and higher values imply higher poverty.
• According to the MPI method, if a person is deprived in a third or more of 10 (weighted) indicators, they are identified as “MPI poor”.
• India and Global MPI 2023
  • According to the 2023 Global MPI, India lifted 415 million people out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.
  • India is one of 25 countries that have successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years.
• Comparison of Global MPI with India’s National MPI
  • NITI Aayog had published the first edition of national Multidimensional Poverty Index for India in 2021.
  • The Indian MPI has two additional indicators:
    • maternal health (under the health dimension) and
    • bank accounts (under the standard of living dimension).
  • This has been done, according to the NITI Aayog, to align the MPI with India’s national priorities.

News Summary: Multidimensional Poverty

• In her Interim Budget speech, Finance Minister said “with the pursuit of ‘Sabka ka Saath’ in these 10 years, the Government has assisted 25 crore people to get freedom from multidimensional poverty.”

Basis for this assessment:

• This number appeared in a discussion paper, Multidimensional Poverty in India Since 2005-06, published by NITI Aayog in January 2024.
• As per the paper:
  • multidimensional poverty in India was found to decline from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23 with about 24.82 crore people escaping poverty during this period.

Q1) What is the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)?

The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) is an economic research and policy center at the University of Oxford. It was established on May 1, 2007.

Q2) What is United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)?

UNDP works to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through the sustainable development of nations, in more than 170 countries and territories.

Source: Multidimensional poverty: meaning, numbers | OPHI | PIB | NITI Aayog