Lok Sabha Question No. 5007 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-01
Subject: Population in Villages
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Kaushalendra Kumar, Shri Giridhari Yadav, Shri Ramprit Mandal, Shri Dinesh Chandra Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5007 ANSWERED ON 01/04/2025

## POPULATION IN VILLAGES

## 5007. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:

SHRI GIRIDHARI YADAV:

SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether 80 per cent of the population in the villages of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha are poor and about two thirds of the said poor population belongs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;
- (b) whether the Government is taking any effective steps to bridge the said disparity; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

- (a): In  2011, MoRD recognized the multifaceted nature of poverty and conducted the Socio-Economic & Caste Census (SECC) 2011 in collaboration with States/UTs. This census provides comprehensive data  on  various  socio-economic  aspects  of  households,  including housing, land ownership, educational status, gender status, disability, occupation, asset ownership, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) classification, and income.

In SECC 2011, rural households were categorized into three groups: (i) "automatically excluded households," (ii) "automatically included households," and (iii) "deprived households," based on the collected data.

The SECC  process was concluded by the Ministry of Rural Development in March 2016. The findings are publicly available on the  SECC  website  (www.secc.gov.in).  The  SECC  data  reflect  the socio-economic  status  of  17.97  crore  rural  households  in  the country. Out of which 0.16 crore (0.89%) households were automatically  included  as  the  poorest  of  the  poor  based  on  5 parameters, and 8.72 crore (48.53%) households were assessed for deprivation across seven criteria.

In 2020, NITI Aayog was identified as the nodal agency for the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), responsible for constructing an  indigenized  index  to  monitor  the  performance  of  States  and Multidimensional Poverty  Index  (MPI)  for  India  was  developed.  The  baseline  report was  published  in  November  2021  and  the  second  edition  of  the

Union Territories. A comprehensive National National MPI report was released in July 2023.

The  Multidimensional  Poverty  Index  (MPI)  published  by  NITI Aayog measures both the proportion of multi-dimensionally poor in the  population  and  average  proportion  of  deprivations  which  is experienced  by  multi-dimensionally  poor  individuals.  It  estimates multidimensional  poverty  including  that  of  Scheduled  Castes  and Scheduled  Tribes  at  national,  state  and  district  levels.  It  also provides  insights  on  multidimensional  poverty  in  rural  and  urban areas.  As  per  the  latest  National  MPI  Report,  the  proportion  of population  in  multidimensional  poverty  declined  from  24.85%  to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21, indicating that about 135.5 million persons have escaped poverty during the period. The fastest decline is witnessed in the percentage of multidimensional poor in rural  areas  from  32.59%  in  2015-16  to  19.28%  in  2019-21.  The State/UT-wise and sector-wise details of MPI are in public domain at and can be accessed https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-11/National  MPI  India11242021.pdf and https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/202308/India-National-Multidimentional-Poverty-Index-2023.pdf

(b) & (c): It is a continuous endeavor of the Government is to uplift all  poor  people  living  below  the  poverty  line  through  various schemes  and  programmes.  The  Ministry  of  Rural  Development

(MoRD) has adopted multi-pronged strategies to improve the economic well-being of people in rural areas with the main focus on increasing livelihood opportunities, empowering rural women, providing  social  safety  net  skilling  of  rural  youth,  infrastructure development  etc.  through  its  programmes.  The  Government  is implementing a number of targeted programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan MantriAwasYojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY), DeendayalAntyodayaYojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY NRLM), DeenDayalUpadhyayaGrameenKaushalyaYojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs),National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Watershed Development Component  (WDC)  of  the  Pradhan  MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (WDC-PMKSY),National Food Security Act, Mission Poshan, SakshamAnganwadi, UjjwalaYojana, Saubhagya, and etc.

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