Niti Aayog recently held an inter-ministerial meeting which was also attended by top officials of the UNDP

To strengthen its efforts to pull people out of poverty, the Government of India is creating its very own state-wise poverty index in line with the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

According to a report by The Economic Times, the Niti Aayog has accelerated the development of the poverty index which will rank states on the basis of their poverty reduction measures.

The ranks will be given on the basis of certain indicators which include health, child mortality, nutrition, education, years of schooling, enrolment and living standards such as water, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, floor and assets. Indicators like income levels in states will also be taken into consideration, the report said.

According to The Economic Times, Niti Aayog had recently held an inter-ministerial meeting under the director general of its development, monitoring and evaluation office to discuss actions to be taken in this respect. The meeting was attended by top officials of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The officials discussed targets, reform action and progress by states, the report said.

The report also said that the government might release the index and first ranking by the end of this year. Some officials told the publication that the improvement in the performance of the states will improve India’s global ranking in the UNDP MPI.

The report said that many expect that the efforts may also evaluate the large number of people pushed into poverty following the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown. The data released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggested that about 400 million people working in the informal sector were at risk of falling back into poverty, the report said.