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The number of poor has decreased in India. NITI Aayog has said that between 2015-16 to 2019-21, 13.5 crore people have come out of multidimensional poverty. The National Multidimensional Poverty Index is measured on the basis of health, education and standard of living. The report of NITI Aayog states, a significant decline of 9.89 per cent has been registered in the number of multidimensional poor in India. It was 24.85 percent in 2015-16, which decreased to 14.96 percent in 2019-21.

Poverty decrease
The National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 report said, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan registered the highest decline in the number of poor during 2015-16 to 2019-21. The number of poor has declined the most in rural areas. The number of poor in rural areas decreased from 32.59 percent to 19.28 percent. The number of poor in urban areas decreased from 8.65 percent to 5.27 percent.

Access to facilities
NITI Aayog says the government’s focus on sanitation, nutrition, cooking gas, financial inclusion, improving access to drinking water and electricity has led to significant progress in these areas. Due to this, there has been a significant improvement in all the 12 parameters of the Multidimensional Poverty Index. The report says that improved nutrition, sanitation and access to cooking gas have played a significant role in reducing poverty.

Lack of data
This report of NITI Aayog is like patting itself on the back. There is no official data available to calculate the exact number of poor in the country. There are a total of five estimates regarding the poor in India, according to which the number of poor in India ranges from 2.5 percent to 29.5 percent of the total population. There are no latest estimates of poverty in India available after 2011. According to the Household Expenditure Survey conducted in 2011, 21.9 percent of the population in India was poor. The Household Expenditure Survey is conducted every five years. This survey has not been done for over 10 years.

Accurate data
It is important to have an accurate idea of the number of poor because it is used to measure the economic growth of the country. It is also necessary for the government to know about this, so that it can accurately ascertain the number of beneficiaries of its social security schemes.

Definition of poverty
There are many scales to measure poverty in India. As per the Tendulkar Committee officially, a person earning Rs 1000 per month in cities and Rs 816 in villages is considered poor.