Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index captures multiple and simultaneous deprivations faced by households across the three macro dimensions of health, education and living standards
Some 25.01 per cent of the population in India is multi-dimensionally poor, with a Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) score of 0.118, said the minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar, citing data released by NITI Aayog in 2021.
The minister was responding to a question asked in the Lok Sabha. India’s national MPI captures multiple and simultaneous deprivations faced by households across the three macro dimensions of health, education and living standards.
Some parliamentary questions related to climate change were asked in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session. Rajya Sabha member Phulo Devi Netam raised questions on the impact of climate change on forest products and forest yield.
The member has also sought details of the government’s action plan on climate change.
However, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, responded to this by saying the ministry has not conducted any specific study to monitor it.
Increasing temperature due to climate change is likely to impact livestock production and health, resulting in a decline in the productivity of milk, meat and wool, Tomar said in response to another question, seeking details of climate change’s impact on agriculture.
Major negative impacts of global climate change on agriculture include — increased irrigation requirements, change in rainfall pattern and weather hazards; the decline in soil and water quality; shifting dynamics of insects, diseases, soil flora and fauna; intrusion of seawater on land and biotic and abiotic stresses arising due to climatic extremes — the minister added.
The horticulture sector is likely to be severely affected due to unseasonal rains and temperature variations, the minister said.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has not conducted any specific study to assess the impact of high temperatures on post-harvest losses of agricultural produce in India, Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of state for food processing industries, told Rajya Sabha.
The minister was responding to the questions raised by the member of Parliament, Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
“High temperature conditions lead to quality deterioration of fruits and vegetables,” the minister said. But the ministry had commissioned a study through NABARD Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd to determine post-harvest losses of Agri Produce in India in 2022, the minister added.
The study covered the production loss during 2020-2021.
The ministry has been implementing a central sector umbrella scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), since 2016-17 for the overall growth and development of the food processing sector, Patel claimed.
The scheme aims to augment preservation and processing capacity in the country to reduce post-harvest losses, create off-farm employment, and enhance value addition as well as exports.
PMKSY has the following component schemes:
Mega Food Park and Scheme for Backward and Forward Linkages were also part of the PMKSY, which have now been discontinued.
The government’s efforts to double the farmers’ income have yielded positive results, Tomar claimed.
The government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of at least 50 per cent of the overall average cost of production from 2018-19, he added.
MSP for paddy has increased to Rs 2,040 per quintal in 2022-23 from Rs 1,310 per quintal in 2013-14. MSP for wheat increased to Rs 2,125 per quintal in 2022-23 from Rs 1,400 per quintal in 2013-14, Tomar told the Rajya Sabha.
There has been an increase in the reporting of cancer cases; the most common cancers include oral, breast and cervical cancer, Bharati Pravin Pawar, the minister of state for health and family welfare, told Lok Sabha, citing National Health Profile 2019.
Some 100,887 cancer cases were registered yearly with 28 population-based cancer registries, the minister said, referring to the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme Report 2020.
Overall, the population-based cancer registries currently cover 16.4 per cent (198.3 million) of India’s population, Pawar said.
India has administered more than 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine, the minister of state for health and family welfare, Pawar told Lok Sabha.
The government has taken several initiatives to supplement the efforts of the state to provide quality and affordable healthcare services to the people, Pawar said. The Centre contributes Rs 63,256 crore to the health expenditure, Pawar added.
Maternal Mortality Ratio in India has improved to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20 from 113 per lakh live births in 2016-18, Pawar told Lok Sabha.
Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India releases Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India. The bulletin provides data on overall Maternal Mortality.
However, the number of deaths of women in the age group 18-20 reported while giving birth to an infant is not available in the report.
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