Kerala's poverty index achievement reflective of govt's "unwavering commitment" towards social welfare: Vijayan

Kerala registering lowest poverty across the country, as stated in a NITI Ayog report, is a reflection of the Left government's unwavering commitment towards social welfare, state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday.

NITI Aayog's Multi-dimensional Poverty (MPI) Index listed the state as the one with lowest poverty of 0.71 per cent across India, followed by Goa with 3.76 per cent, Sikkim with 3.82 per cent, Tamil Nadu with 4.89 per cent and Punjab with 5.59 per cent.

Vijayan, in a tweet said the achievement would boost the efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

''As per @NITIAayog's Multi Dimensional Poverty Index, Kerala has the lowest percentage of population who are poor, 0.71%. Our unwavering commitment towards social welfare is reflected in this achievement, which will be a huge boost to our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty,'' he said in the tweet.

Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India, according to NITI Aayog's first MPI report.

As per the index, 51.91 per cent population of Bihar is poor, followed by 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand and 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) has been placed fourth in the index, Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) is at the fifth spot.

According to the report, India's national MPI 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).

The report said India's MPI 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.

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