Odisha’s record in reducing multidimensional poverty

Pradeep Kumar Panda
Darshan Samikhya, Bhubaneswar

Over the last 24 years, there have been substantial improvements in quality of lives of people with poverty levels declining sharply from more than 68% to 11% in Odisha. Odisha is all set to reach single digit poverty levels during 2024. The rate of decline in multi dimensional poverty has accelerated during this period. This is made possible by a large number of initiatives/ schemes of the Government targeted at improving specific deprivation aspects. About 102.84 lakh people escaping multidimensional poverty will also help in accelerating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

According to NITI Aayog, Multidimensional poverty in Odisha was found to decline from 63.84% in 2005-06 to 11.07% in 2022-23 with about 102.78 lakh people escaping poverty during this period.

Government of Odisha has made significant strides in enhancing the quality of life for millions of individuals, with a focus on the SDG 1.2 target of halving poverty in all its dimensions. Various pro people initiatives such as KALIA, BSKY, Odisha Millets Mission, Mission Shakti, Jaga Mission, Sampoorna, Sopan, Annapurna, Aahar, MUKTA, Ama Bank, 5T School Transformation, Mo Ghara etc have played a crucial role in addressing reach to health facilities, resulting in a substantial reduction in deprivation.

The National Multidimensional Poverty Index by NITI Aayog uses the internationally acclaimed Alkire Foster methodology with a difference that National MPI covers 12 indicators while global MPI covers 10 indicators. This analysis attempts to study the decline in poverty rates and number of multidimensionally poor people across various time periods. The report on National MPI was based on National Family Health Surveys data.