Which district in Madhya Pradesh showed the highest improvement in multi-dimensional poverty as per the report of Madhya Pradesh State Policy and Planning Commission (2023)?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Alirajpur. The Madhya Pradesh State Policy and Planning Commission's 2023 report tracked district-wise change in multidimensional poverty (deprivation across health, education and living-standard indicators, on the same three dimensions NITI Aayog uses for the national MPI) and found Alirajpur — MP's westernmost, predominantly tribal (Bhil/Bhilala) district and one of NITI Aayog's original Aspirational Districts — recorded the sharpest improvement of the districts assessed.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Barwani, Alirajpur's tribal neighbour on the Gujarat border, is also a historically poor Aspirational District, but the report credited Alirajpur, not Barwani, with the steepest improvement.  (b) Khandwa, a Nimar-region district on the Narmada, has a markedly better poverty profile than MP's western tribal belt and was not the district flagged for the biggest gain.  (c) Balaghat lies in MP's eastern, Chhattisgarh-bordering tribal belt — a different poverty pocket from the one the 2023 report highlighted for the largest improvement.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's own State Policy and Planning Commission — the state-level counterpart to NITI Aayog — publishes periodic multidimensional poverty assessments for the state's districts, measuring deprivation across health, education and standard-of-living indicators. This lets the state track which districts are converging fastest with the rest of MP, distinct from — but built on the same methodology as — NITI Aayog's national Aspirational Districts Programme.

State PCS 2023 Q11 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q11 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer