Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday exuded confidence in bringing down Odisha’s poverty level to 10% in the next five years.
“There is a huge difference between Odisha in 2000s and today. The State is leading in reducing poverty. The poverty level has come down from 63% to 29% while 80 lakh people have climbed out of poverty line,” said Mr. Patnaik while addressing the Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) 25th foundation day celebration on Sunday.
The Chief Minister said: “Odisha will create history in bringing down the poverty level to 10%. To achieve this goal, the government will take every step required.”
“Once upon a time Odisha used to depend on other States for food. The situation has changed and the State is ranked third in supplying grains in the country,” he observed.
NITI Aayog report
Stating that Odisha has been recognised internationally for disaster management, Mr. Patnaik said, “The United Nations and NITI Aayog have praised the State for its achievement. We have shown the path of saving lives during disaster.”
In a recently released NITI Aayog report, ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2021 – Baseline Report’, Odisha is ranked eighth from the bottom with 29.35% of the State’s population found to be multi-dimensionally poor.
The NITI Aayog’s analysis indicates huge regional variation as far as poverty level is concerned. In Nabarangpur district, 59.32% are found to be poor. In neighbouring Malkangiri and Koraput district, more than half of the population are poor. Rayagada and Kalahandi districts follow closely with 48.14% and 47.28% poverty level respectively.
Compared to southern districts, coastal districts have fared better. ¼The poverty level in rural Odisha is more prevalent with NITI Aayog finding 46.45% of the total population being poor.
