SDG-INDIA

The Resolution of the United Nations General Assem- bly on 25 September 2015 established the 17 Sustain- able Development Goals (SDG). SDG 1 in its entirety (“End poverty in all its forms everywhere”) is multi- dimensional in nature and definition. While target 1.1 seeks to eradicate extreme poverty –measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day (subsequently increased to $1.90/day), target 1.2 aims at reducing multidimensional poverty, as defined by national defi- nitions, by half.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has been used by the United Nations Development Programme in its flagship Human Development Report since 2010 and is the most widely employed non-monetary poverty index in the world (Godinot & Walker, 2020). It captures overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards (UNDP, 2010). It complements income poverty measurements because it measures and compares deprivations directly. In this context, a national Multidimensional Poverty Index for India will enable estimation of poverty not only at the level of the States but also for all the 700 plus districts (600 plus in 2015-16, 700 plus in 2019-20) across twelve indicators, capture simultaneous deprivations and in- dicator-wise contribution to poverty, and most impor- tantly, will facilitate formulation of sectoral policies and targeted interventions which contribute towards ensuring that “no one is left behind”. The district-wise estimation of the national MPI will also ensure reach- ing out to the furthest behind first through focused efforts on specific indicators and dimensions.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the national and international context of measuring poverty across multiple dimensions, the conceptual framework be- hind multidimensional measures and how they con- tribute towards ending poverty in all its forms. The latter half of this chapter discusses the salience and features of the national MPI and the purpose of such a measure

India – Multidimensional Poverty Index: National context and Global Goals

The history of poverty estimation in India dates back to as early as 1901 when Dadabhai Naoroji estimated poverty in the country based on the cost of a subsistence diet. In 1938, the National Planning Committee suggested a poverty line estimation based on living standards followed by the authors of the Bombay Plan in 1944. Addressing and ending poverty has been part of the national agenda since independence. Various committees, working groups and scholars including the working group of 1962, Dandekar and Rath in 1971 and the U.K. The Alagh taskforce in 1979 were engaged in estimating the headline statistic of poverty to inform public policy. Similarly, the Expert Groups un- der Lakdawala (1993) and Tendulkar (2009) and the Rangarajan Committee (2014) undertook the exercise of estimating monetary poverty. Globally, the focus on reducing monetary poverty was mirrored in the Millennium Development Goals target of halving the proportion of people living on less than $ 1.25 a day between 1990 and 2015.