Bihar has highest level of multidimensional poverty while Kerala is least poor state: NITI Aayog's Multi-dimensional Poverty Index

The government think tank Niti Aayog has released the first ever Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure poverty at the national, State/UT, and district levels.
As per the inaugural index, Bihar has been adjudged as the state with highest level of multidimensional poverty. 51.91 percent of the state’s population are multidimensionally poor.
Jharkhand is at second position with 42.16 percent of the state population as multidimensionally poor. This is followed by Uttar Pradesh at 37.79 percent, Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) and Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) in top five poorest states.
Meanwhile, Kerala (0.71 percent), Goa (3.76%), Sikkim (3.82%), Tamil Nadu (4.89%) and Punjab (5.59 %) are the top 5 lowest poverty state across India.
Kottayam in Kerala is the only district which registered zero poverty across the country as per the index.
The MPI Index has measured the level of poverty across three equally weighted dimensions which are health, education, and standard of living.
These 3 dimensions are represented by 12 indicators which are nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.
The baseline report of MPI is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).