Which are the top 5 poorest states in India in 2021?

New Delhi, Nov 26: Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India, according to NITI Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

As per the MPI, 51.91 per cent population of Bihar is poor, thereby becoming the poorest country in the country. The data shows that 42.16 per cent of people in Jharkhand are poor followed by 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 36.65 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.

According to the report, India's national Multidimensional Poverty Index measure uses the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Importantly, as a measure of multidimensional poverty, it captures multiple and simultaneous deprivations faced by households, it added.

Poorest States
Bihar: 51.91 per cent
Jharkhand: 42.16 per cent
Uttar Pradesh: 37.79 per cent
Madhya Pradesh: 36.65 per cent
Meghalaya : 32.67 per cent

States with Lowest Poverty Rate
Kerala: 0.71 per cent
Goa: 3.76 per cent
Sikkim: 3.82 per cent
Tamil Nadu: 4.89 per cent
Punjab: 5.59 per cent

The report said, India's Multidimensional Poverty Index has three equally weighted dimensions, health, education and standard of living - which are represented by 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.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework, adopted by 193 countries in 2015, has redefined development policies, government priorities, and metrics for measuring development progress across the world.

The Sustainable Development Goals framework, with 17 global goals and 169 targets, is significantly wider in scope and scale relative to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), its predecessor.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar in his foreword said, "The development of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index of India is an important contribution towards instituting a public policy tool which monitors multidimensional poverty, informs evidence-based and focused interventions, thereby ensuring that no one is left behind."

Mr Kumar further said this baseline report of India's first ever national Multidimensional Poverty Index measure is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

The national Multidimensional Poverty Index measure has been constructed by utilising 12 key components which cover areas such as health and nutrition, education and standard of living, he said. PTI