New Delhi: The proportion of multidimensional poor in Madhya Pradesh have reduced from 36.57 per cent to 20.63 per cent in five years, according to the recently released Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 by the NITI Ayog.
This is a 15.94 per cent reduction in poverty, and it has been possible due to the state government’s focus on providing access to welfare policies and education.
Madhya Pradesh has seen the second-highest rate of improvement among all states in the country — second only to Bihar. Not only that, the index also shows that in MP, the intensity of poverty has also reduced from 47.25 per cent to 43.50 per cent.
A number of measures taken by the state government have led to these positive results in MP’s growth and welfare trajectory. The government has invested heavily in providing skilled wage and self-employment opportunities. What this does is help improve livelihoods of the poor in a sustainable way. The gainful employment opportunities created by the MP government have addressed poverty significantly.
Apart from employment, the state government also strived to give access to welfare schemes. Provision of sanitation, cooking fuel, food grains, electricity and education have been given utmost importance. Schemes like the Deendayaal Rasoi Centres that are spread around the state give nutritious meals to the poor at only Rs 5 a day.
MP has also witnessed positive result in reducing multidimensional poverty because of its three-pronged approach toward poverty alleviation — a common platform synthesising all beneficiary schemes by the government, electronic fund management for timely provision of funds to the needy, and bank branches or customer service points at every level to allow beneficiaries to open bank accounts.
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