Political Tussle Ensues In Bihar Over Niti Aayog Report Terming State As Poorest Along With UP, Jharkhand

In Niti Aayog's first Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the poorest states in India.

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New Delhi: The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has reacted with dismay to the Niti Aayog report on poverty index in which Bihar along with Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the poorest states in India.

This comes in contrast with the ruling government’s claim of a sustained high rate of economic growth.

When asked about the findings, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refrained from making any comment saying he was not aware of the report and its contents.

“What report are you talking about? I have not seen it,” was Nitish Kumar’s curt response when journalists sought his comments, news agency PTI reported.

The Niti Aayog report comes as the longest-serving Bihar Chief Minister has been proudly highlighting that under his watch, the state has clocked a growth rate of more than 10 per cent and the state’s budget has expanded manifold.

On the other hand, former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav, who along with his wife Rabri Devi ruled Bihar for 15 years altogether, attacked Nitish Kumar saying: “Nitish Kumar ko chullu bhar paani mein doob marna chahiye (Nitish should be ashamed)”, as quoted by PTI.

Congress national general secretary and former Union minister Tariq Anwar also shared similar sentiments as he pointed out that Niti Aayog is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and though Kumar’s JD(U) shares power with the BJP at the Centre as well as in Bihar, it has failed to reap desired benefits for the state.

Nitish Kumar’s cabinet members have, meanwhile, raised doubts over the report.

Bijendra Yadav, former state president of the JD(U) who currently holds many important portfolios, dubbed the report “aadharheen (baseless)”.

Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, another trusted aide of CM Nitish and a powerful cabinet member, contended that the report seemed not to factor in variables like the density of population and historicity.

The BJP, which has been a part of the ruling alliance for the most part since 2005 and is now the major ally, also appeared displeased with the report.

“In my view, the Niti Aayog should send a team to Bihar for making an in-depth study of the changes in health, education, and infrastructure in the last decade and a half. Only then will it be able to appreciate things in perspective,” state BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said.

Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad’s son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav questioned CM Nitish Kumar’s claim of not being aware of the Niti Aayog report.

On Twitter, Tejashwi hit out at the Bihar Chief Minister saying he may playact but his facial expressions do not match his claim of being unaware of the facts of the report. “Of course, he also knows well that once the news becomes stale, few will be interested,” he wrote in the Hindi tweet.

Bihar, Jharkhand, UP Poorest States In India: Niti Aayog Report

In Niti Aayog’s first Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the poorest states in India.

As per the index, 51.91 per cent population of Bihar is poor, followed by 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand, 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) has been placed fourth in the index, Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) is at the fifth spot.

Kerala (0.71 per cent), Goa (3.76 per cent), Sikkim (3.82 per cent), Tamil Nadu (4.89 per cent) and Punjab (5.59 per cent) have registered the lowest poverty across India and are at the bottom of the index.

Among union territories (UTs), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (27.36 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (12.58), Daman & Diu (6.82 per cent) and Chandigarh (5.97 per cent), emerged as the poorest UTs. Puducherry having 1.72 per cent of its population as poor, Lakshadweep (1.82 per cent ), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30 per cent) and Delhi (4.79 per cent) have fared better.

According to the report, Bihar has the highest number of malnourished people followed by Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Bihar is also placed at the bottom when it comes to percentage of population deprived of maternal health, percentage of population deprived of years of schooling, school attendance and percentage of population deprived of cooking fuel and electricity.

Uttar Pradesh ranked the lowest in child and adolescent mortality category, followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, while Jharkhand performed the worst when it comes to percentage of population deprived of sanitation, followed by Bihar and Odisha.

As per the report, India’s national MPI measure uses the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Importantly, as a measure of multidimensional poverty, it captures multiple and simultaneous deprivation faced by households, it added.

The report stated that India’s MPI has three equally weighted dimensions, health, education and standard of living - which are represented by 12 indicators namely nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts.

(With Agency Inputs)