BharatNotes What is Multidimensional Poverty?
Multidimensional poverty recognises that being poor is about more than low income — it is about suffering several deprivations at once, such as lacking nutrition, schooling, sanitation, electricity or a bank account. It is quantified through the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), developed in 2010 by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the UNDP. The MPI uses the Alkire-Foster dual-cutoff method: first identifying who is deprived on each indicator, then counting a person as multidimensionally poor only if they are deprived in at least one-third (33.3%) of the weighted indicators.
MPI = H × A, where H is the headcount ratio (proportion of people who are poor) and A is the intensity (average share of weighted deprivations among the poor). This captures not just how many are poor, but how deeply.
Dimensions and Indicators
The global MPI rests on three equally weighted dimensions and ten indicators. India's National MPI (NITI Aayog) retains those ten and adds two — Maternal Health and Bank Account — for twelve indicators.
| Dimension (weight) | Global indicators | India's additions |
|---|---|---|
| Health (1/3) | Nutrition, Child & adolescent mortality | Maternal Health |
| Education (1/3) | Years of schooling, School attendance | — |
| Standard of living (1/3) | Cooking fuel, Sanitation, Drinking water, Electricity, Housing, Assets | Bank Account |
Current Status (India)
NITI Aayog's discussion paper "Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06" (released 15 January 2024) reported that headcount poverty fell from 29.17% (2013-14) to 11.28% (2022-23) — a 17.89 percentage-point decline, with about 24.82 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty over nine years. These estimates draw on the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS-3 of 2005-06, NFHS-4 of 2015-16 and NFHS-5 of 2019-21), with OPHI and UNDP providing technical inputs.
At the global level, the Global MPI 2024 (OPHI-UNDP, theme "Poverty Amid Conflict", October 2024) covered 112 countries and found 1.1 billion people (18.3%) in acute multidimensional poverty. India had the largest number of poor — about 23.4 crore (234 million) — though it also recorded among the steepest reductions over the preceding decade.
Significance and the UPSC Angle
Multidimensional poverty matters because India has lacked an updated official income-poverty line since the Tendulkar/Rangarajan debates, making MPI a key alternative lens. Its indicators map directly onto flagship schemes — Poshan Abhiyaan (nutrition), Ujjwala (cooking fuel), Swachh Bharat (sanitation), Jan Dhan (bank accounts) and Saubhagya (electricity) — so MPI doubles as a scheme-impact dashboard and an SDG-tracking tool (especially SDG 1).
For exam purposes, the strongest answers contrast multidimensional with monetary poverty, note methodological caveats (reliance on dated survey rounds, choice of indicators and cutoffs), and connect indicator-wise gains to specific programmes. Foundation concept — no direct PYQ; underpins recurring GS2/GS3 questions on poverty measurement, inclusive growth and the SDGs.
