GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PLANNING
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 631
TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2025
NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING BELOW POVERTY LINE
†631. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:
SMT. LOVELY ANAND:
SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:
Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has any data about the number of families still living below the
poverty line across the country as...
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 631 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2025 NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING BELOW POVERTY LINE †631. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:
SMT. LOVELY ANAND:
SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:
Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has any data about the number of families still living below the poverty line across the country as the Government have already brought 25 crore families above the poverty line till last year and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether around 29.17 per cent of the population of the country was below the poverty line during the year 2013-14; and
(c) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)
(a) to (c) In 2021, the Government of India developed a comprehensive index known as National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure poverty that captures overlapping deprivations in dimensions such as health, education and standard of living, covering 12 indicators namely, nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, bank accounts and assets. It measures both the share of people in poverty and the degree to which they are deprived. The second edition of the index was released in 2023. As per the latest report, ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’, released by NITI Aayog, the proportion of population in multidimensional poverty declined from 24.85% to 14.96% Page 1 of 2between 2015-16 and 2019- 21, indicating that about 13.5 crore people have escaped poverty during the period.
Further, as per the discussion paper ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005- 06’ published by NITI Aayog, multidimensional poverty in India is estimated to have declined from
29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23 indicating that 24.82 crore people have escaped poverty during this period.
The details of the same are in public domain and can be accessed at
https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-08/India-National-Multidimentional-Poverty- Index-2023.pdf and https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-01/MPI-22_NITI- Aayog20254.pdf . ***** Page 2 of 2