Uttar Dinajpur is the second-poorest district in West Bengal. Here, 21.65 percent of the population is living in poverty. The district with the highest multidimensional poverty in the state is Purulia, where 26.84 percent of the people are living in poverty. This revelation comes from the recent report by the NITI Aayog.
The report, titled “National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023” was released on Monday in the presence of NITI Aayog’s Deputy Chairman Suman Bery, CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, and members Dr. V.K. Paul and Dr. Arvind Virmani.
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The report is based on the data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21. According to the NFHS 2015-16 data, 42.84 percent of people in Uttar Dinajpur and 49.69 percent in Purulia were living in poverty.
As per the report, only 11.89 percent of people in West Bengal are currently classified as poor. This is a significant improvement from the 2015-16 data, where 21.29 percent of people were living in multidimensional poverty. Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, 9.4 percent of the population has risen above the poverty line.
The National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures deprivations in three dimensions – health, education, and standard of living – using 12 indicators. These indicators include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality rate, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.
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