Multidimensional Poverty Index — UPSC Importance

UPSC Importance Analysis

MPI makes overlapping deprivations visible and helps connect poverty analysis to service delivery. A household can lack several basic capabilities even when a single monetary indicator does not describe their pattern. The index also distinguishes the share of people classified as poor from the average intensity of their deprivation, allowing a more informative discussion than headcount alone.

For Prelims, the most useful distinctions are equal dimension weights versus unequal indicator weights, identification cutoff versus indicator weight, and H versus A. A worked example makes these relationships concrete. NITI's 2023 and 2024 publications provide factual anchors while testing the difference between surveyed periods and estimated series.

For Mains, explain how disaggregated indicators can guide diagnosis without assuming that an aggregate index identifies a single cause or policy remedy. Improvement in MPI does not by itself establish which programme produced the change. The measure complements other evidence about resources, service quality, distribution and vulnerability rather than replacing every aspect of poverty assessment.