27 November 2021
According to Niti Aayog's first ever Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are among the poorest states in India.
The recently unveiled index by the Aayog, shows 51.9% of Bihar’s population is poor followed by 42.16% in Jharkhand, 37.79% in Uttar Pradesh, 36.65% in Madhya Pradesh and 32.67% each in Meghalaya and Assam.
States with lowest poverty across the country are Kerala (0.71%), followed by Goa (3.76%), Sikkim (3.82%), Tamil Nadu (4.89%) and Punjab (5.59%)
Talking about Union territories (UTs), the report states that, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (27.36%), Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (12.58%), Daman & Diu (6.82%) and Chandigarh (5.97%), emerged as the poorest UTs.
While Puducherry having (1.72%) of its population as poor, Lakshadweep (1.82%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30%) and Delhi (4.79%) have fared better.
Worst faring states (Category wise) -
• Highest number of malnourished people -
1. Bihar
2. Jharkhand
3. Madhya Pradesh
4. Uttar Pradesh
5. Chhattisgarh
• The child and adolescent mortality category -
1. Uttar Pradesh
2. Bihar
3. Madhya Pradesh
• The percentage of population deprived of sanitation -
1. Jharkhand
2. Bihar
3. Odisha
Apart from these, Bihar is also the worst performer when it comes to -
• The percentage of population deprived of maternal health.
• Percentage of population deprived of years of schooling and school attendance
• Percentage of population deprived of cooking fuel and electricity.
The national MPI measure has been constructed by utilising 12 indicators namely nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts.