I. Introduction and Background on Poverty:

- Poverty is defined as a lack of essential financial resources and conditions necessary for maintaining a minimum standard of living such as access to clean water, healthy food, and necessary medical attention.

- Poverty estimation traditionally relies on income or expenditure levels. A 'poverty line' represents the minimum expenditure level at which an individual is considered poor.

- A poor person may face multiple disadvantages including poor health, insufficient nutrition, lack of clean water, insufficient access to electricity, poor work conditions and limited educational opportunities.

II. Understanding the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI):

- The MPI globally uses ten indicators, covering three key areas: Health (nutrition, child and adolescent mortality), Education (years of schooling, school attendance), and Standard of Living (housing, household assets, type of cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, and electricity).

- The Indian MPI includes two additional indicators: Maternal Health and Bank Accounts.

III. Multidimensional Poverty in India: Insights from 2005-06:

- The Indian MPI, aided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Policy and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), revealed a decline in multidimensional poverty from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23.

- An impressive total of approximately 24.82 crore individuals managed to escape poverty during this period. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh witnessed the largest reductions.

IV. Interrelated Data and Studies:

- The NFHS-5 data (2019-21) reveals that nearly 135 million individuals managed to escape poverty during the previous five years.

- A UNDP study highlighted a significant reduction in poverty, with 415 million Indians escaping multidimensional poverty in the last 15 years.

V. Exploring the Causes of Poverty in India:

- Economic slowdown and policy decisions, child malnutrition, pandemic impact, and homelessness are the primary causes of poverty in the country.

VI. Government's Initiatives to Alleviate Poverty:

- The government has expanded social security through various welfare schemes.

- A particular emphasis has been put on increasing livelihood opportunities, empowering rural women, providing a social safety net, enhancing rural youth's skills, and infrastructure development.

- States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh made substantial efforts in successfully reducing their poverty rates.

VII. Noteworthy Committees on Poverty:

- Over the years, several committees have been set up to estimate India's poverty rates. These include the Working Group (1962), V N Dandekar and N Rath (1971), Y K Alagh (1979), D T Lakdawala (1993), Suresh Tendulkar (2009), and C Rangarajan (2014).

VIII. The Way Forward:

- Although progress has been made, complete poverty eradication remains India's top priority.

- It is crucial to address income, education, and opportunity inequalities, which can help promote social cohesion and enhance overall well-being.

- The government must ensure free supply of education and health services for deserving citizens and socially oppressed classes. This will, in turn, offer a tremendous contribution to eradicate poverty.