Despite being the most populous country, India has managed to reduce poverty rates to great extent.

A recent report by Niti Aayog reveals that nearly 135 million people escaped multi-dimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.

The fastest reduction occurred in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, MP, Odisha, and Rajasthan.

This significant decline of 9.89 percentage points lowered the multi-dimensionally poor population from 24.8% to 14.9%.

Notably, rural areas experienced the swiftest poverty decline, going from 32.5% to 19.3%, while urban areas reduced poverty from 8.7% to 5.3%.

Uttar Pradesh alone witnessed the largest decline, with 34.3 million people escaping multi-dimensional poverty.

The report assessed poverty across health, education, and standard of living, considering indicators like nutrition, schooling, sanitation, and more. Encouragingly, India is on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1.2 of halving multi-dimensional poverty by 2030, already reaching a halving of the MPI value from 0.117 to 0.066.

These positive outcomes reflect the government's dedication to equitable development and poverty eradication.

Flagship programs, including Poshan Abhiyan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Swachh Bharat Mission, and Jal Jeevan Mission, have played crucial roles in improving health, sanitation, and access to essential services.