‘NITI Aayog is cheerleader of PM Modi’, says Jairam Ramesh on poverty data

The NITI Aayog report claiming that 24.82 crore people moved out of multidimensional poverty in nine years from 2013-14 to 2022-23, led to a verbal spat among political leaders across the country.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The report of NITI Aayog is absolutely wrong. NITI Aayog is not an independent organization, it is the cheerleader of PM Modi. No one is going to believe the report of NITI Aayog..."

The remarks came after Chandrasekhar slammed the Congress party saying the whole country knows about the atrocities the grand old party was doing to the poor people for the last 65 years.

“As many as 25 crore people got to come out of poverty only after PM Modi came to power. So, who is doing justice and who is doing injustice, the whole country knows...,” the minister told ANI.

Speaking about the Congress Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Chandrasekhar said, “We don't have any problem if they want to call their Yatra 'Nyay Yatra'...it doesn't matter if Congress attend Ram temple inauguration or not, it is a matter of faith and we all will go.”

Jairam Ramesh reacted to Chandrasekhar's remarks on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and asked, “Who is Rajeev Chandrasekhar to say anything on the yatra.”

According to the NITI discussion paper, multidimensional poverty in India was found to have declined from 29.17 per cent in 2013-14 to 11.28 per cent in 2022-23, with about 24.82 crore people moving out of this bracket during this period.

The national multidimensional poverty measures simultaneous deprivations across three equally weighted dimensions of health, education, and standard of living that are represented by 12 sustainable development goals-aligned indicators, according to NITI Aayog.

These include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.