Lok Sabha Question No. 1883 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: BPL Families
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Eswarasamy K

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1883 ANSWERED ON 11/03/2025

## BPL FAMILIES

## 1883. SHRI ESWARASAMY K:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENTbe pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  and  total  number  of  families  Below  Poverty  Line (BPL) in each State, Statewise;
- (b) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  number  of  such  families  have increased during the last two years, if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (c) whether  Government  has  chalked  out  any  programme  to reduce  the  number  of  such  families  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c):  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,  leading  to the  automatic  exclusion  of  7.07  crore  (39.34%)  households  from poverty  based  on  13  parameters.  Additionally,  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 Union Territories. A comprehensive National Multidimensional Poverty  Index  (MPI)  for  India  was  developed.  The  baseline  report was  published  in  November  2021  and  the  second  edition  of  the National MPI report was released in July 2023.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure poverty, developed by the Government in 2021, captures overlapping deprivations in dimensions such as health, education and standard of living, covering 12 indicators.  As per the latest report 'National Multidimensional  Poverty  Index:  A  Progress  Review  2023',  the proportion of individuals who are multidimensionally poor declined from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21, resulting in 13.5 crore individuals escaping multidimensional poverty during this period.

In  January  2024,  NITI  Aayog  released  a  discussion  paper 'Multidimensional  Poverty  in  India  since  2005-06'  highlighting  a 14 to 11.28% in 2022-23, resulting in 24.82 crore people escaping significant decline in multidimensional poverty from 29.17% in 2013multidimensional poverty during this period.

The  State/Union  Territory-wise  details  of  MPI  are  in  public domain and can be accessed at https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-08/India-NationalMultidimentional-Poverty-Index-2023.pdf

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  wellbeing  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. In this regard, 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.

*****