Eight Indian states have more poverty than 26 poorest African nations: study

Eight Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, together account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new study based on alternative measure of poverty has found.

The new study - the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) - developed in an Oxford Poverty and Human Development-UNDP initiative, revealed that there are 421 million 'MPI poor' people in the eight Indian states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal compared with 410 million in the 26 poorest African countries put together.

Part of the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development Report, the new poverty measure gives a multidimensional picture of people living in poverty, and is expected to help target development resources more effectively, its creators said.

The MPI will now replace the Human Poverty Index, which used to be the main feature of the UNDP's annual Human Development Reports since 1997. The report is due to be published in October 2010.

The research findings from the Multidimensional Poverty Index were made available at a policy forum in London and on line on the websites of OPHI and the UNDP Human Development Report.

The MPI assesses poverty on the basis of 'deprivations' on a host of key factors such as education, health etc at the household level that tend to reflect in assets and services.