CM Chouhan has said that basic civic amenities will be continuously maximized and welfare schemes will be implemented more effectively for social justice.
Welfare of the poor is our resolve. Madhya Pradesh is continuously progressing. Poverty is reduced by concerted efforts. Only income is not the measurement of poverty. Prosperity is possible by strengthening infrastructure.
Every citizen has right to resources. Madhya Pradesh has emerged as leader in poverty alleviation only when it is keen vigilant. Continuous efforts to maximise facilities like electricity, water, roads and irrigation in the last two decades played a big role. Efforts to speed up economic activities and increase the economic growth rate have been successful. The achievements made by Madhya Pradesh give us a sense of pride.
The Chief Minister Chouhan expressed happiness by that Madhya Pradesh’s has contributed about 10 percent to reducing the burden of poverty in the country. He congratulated citizens as well as all the members of the team involved in development processes for this success.
The Chief Minister was addressing a discussion session with experts on the report of NITI Aayog at Kushabhau Thakre International Convention Auditorium here today. A policy brief on multidimensional poverty was handed over to the Chief Minister. This report highlights the journey to free 1 crore 36 lakh people from poverty. A copy of the policy brief published by the Madhya Pradesh State Policy and Planning Commission was also released. The Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, Secretary to Chief Minister and Public Relations Vivek Porwal along with senior officers, economists and research students were also present.
It is worth mentioning that 1 crore 36 lakh people have come out of poverty in Madhya Pradesh between 2015-16 and 2019-21. The intensity of poverty, which used to be 47.25 percent has reduced to 43.70 percent. The intensity of multidimensional poverty is measured by taking into account the average percentage of the three dimensions of health, education and standard of living.
The Chief Minister Chouhan said the only fulfilling the basic need of food, clothes, housing, employment, education and medicine is not enough. Every human being aspires a happy life. For this sound body, soul, intellect and mind are a pre-requisite. In past there was no electricity, no proper roads, no water system in Madhya Pradesh. Today we have succeeded in increasing the irrigation capacity from 7.5 lakh hectare to 47 lakh hectare in two decades. Foodgrain production has increased. The per capita income, which was only 11 thousand, has increased to one lakh 40 thousand today. The contribution of Madhya Pradesh to the country’s economy has increased from 3 percent to 4.8 percent.
Chouhan said that CM Rise Schools are well equipped. Expressways are being built.Efforts have been made to start metro rail in the state and to continuously increase the investment. The state has achieved 24 percent industrial growth. Overall efforts are helping in reducing poverty rapidly. Chouhan expressed hope that Madhya Pradesh will immensely contribute to country’s economy.
Dr. Yogesh Suri, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog said that Madhya Pradesh has made an impressive contribution in poverty alleviation. A big success has been achieved in reducing poverty in rural areas. According to the assessment made on the basis of multidimensional poverty indicator, the percentage of population living below the multidimensional poverty line in the rural areas of the state has reduced by about 19 percent. Suri also referred to district wise progress.
UN Resident Co-ordinator Shombi Sharp and Statistics Commissioner Praveen Srivastava highlighted the success of poverty alleviation efforts in Madhya Pradesh in their address. Member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council, Prof. Shamika Ravi said that apart from the traditional basis of income growth, real assessment of poverty alleviation is possible with parameters like health, education. Drinking water, irrigation, power supply, increasing facilities in the agriculture sector and expansion of infrastructure have yielded good results. It has special significance in the Amrit Kaal of independence.
The Vice Chairman of State Policy and Planning Commission Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi said that Prime Minister Modi had said a few months back that Madhya Pradesh is an amazing state. A silent revolution is taking place in Madhya Pradesh. With the rise in expenditure in the social sector, success in reducing multidimensional poverty is achieved. Development initiatives in the fields of education and health are helpful in reducing poverty. With the increase in growth rate, facilities have been provided to a large section by realizing the vision of a strong society. Responsibilities were assigned to Jan Seva Mitras under the leadership of Chief Minister Chouhan. Attention is paid to the proper use of statistical data in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to tform the Statistics Commission.
The report related to this will be presented by the end of September. VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, New Delhi congratulated Chief Minister Chouhan, State Policy Commission and senior officials for their efforts to reduce poverty in Madhya Pradesh.
At the outset, Principal Secretary Raghvendra Kumar Singh welcomed the guests on behalf of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis. Principal Secretary Planning Economic and Statistics Mukesh Chandra Gupta proposed vote of thanks. Chief Minister Chouhan presented a kit of millet products to the guest speakers was released under the policy brief series of Madhya Pradesh State Policy and Planning Commission. Its authors are Kanhaiya Samadhiya, Su Sumit Soni and Dr. Ish Gupta of State Policy Commission.
In All India National Family Health Survey-4-(2015-16), the number of poor in Alirajpur was 71.31% which decreased to 40.25% in NHHS-5 (2019-21). Thus there has been an improvement of 31.5 percent. In Barwani, it has come down from 61.60 percent to 33.52 percent. Thus there is an improvement of 28.08%. The poverty percentage in Khandwa has come down from 42.53 to 15.15%. Thus there has been an improvement of 27.38 percent. There has been an improvement of 26.48 percent in Balaghat and 26.33 percent in Tikamgarh.
There has been a decline of 20.58% in the population of poor in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. It was 45.9% in NFHS-4 (2015-16), which has come down to 25.32% in NFHS-5 (2019-21). The intensity of poverty has also reduced by 3.75% (47.57% to 43.82%) and the poverty index has reduced from 0.218 to 0.111 by almost half. The urban poor population declined by 6.62%. It was 13.72% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) which has come down to 7.1% in NFHS-5 (2019-21). The intensity of urban poverty has reduced by 2.11% (44.62% to 42.51%).
