SRINAGAR, JULY 08: In a major policy initiative aimed at further strengthening inclusive governance and ensuring that government welfare schemes reach the most deserving families, the Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today chaired a meeting of Planning, Development & Monitoring Department (PD&MD) to have first hand appraisal of the proposed household-level enumeration of multidimensionally poor families across J&K.

The meeting was attended by the concerned Administrative Heads including ACS Finance; Commissioner Secretary, PD&MD; Commissioner Secretary, FCS&CA; Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Secretary, RDD; HoDs of the Planning Department and other concerned officers.

Deputy Commissioners attended the meeting through video conferencing.

Speaking on the proposed initiative, the Chief Secretary maintained that the proposed household enumeration represents the next logical step in our development journey. He remarked that this initiative seeks to identify the actual households that continue to experience multiple deprivations with an objective to create a scientifically validated and technology-enabled database that will help Government departments deliver welfare benefits with greater precision, improve inter-departmental convergence and ensure that no deserving family is left behind.

He further stated that the proposed exercise is the first step towards data-driven governance, transparency and inclusive development, and would provide an institutional framework for identifying and addressing pockets of deprivation across Jammu & Kashmir.

He impressed upon the Deputy Commissioners to work out the human resource requirements in coordination with the Planning Department. He also directed the Department to frame capacity building programmes for these resources so that the exercise is taken up after the culmination of the 2 phases of the Census operations across the UT including the pastoral populations of J&K.

The proposal, presented by the Commissioner Secretary, Planning, Development & Monitoring Department, R Alice Vaz lays down a scientifically designed framework for identifying households experiencing multiple deprivations across health, education and living standards as per the GoI norms.

She added that the proposal is founded on the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) framework developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), while adapting it for household-level identification of poor families within Jammu & Kashmir. Unlike sample-based national surveys that provide only macro-level poverty estimates, the proposed exercise seeks to identify the actual households behind the statistics, thereby facilitating direct and targeted government intervention.

As proposed, the enumeration shall initially cover the most vulnerable categories already available in government databases, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, covering approximately 2.19 lakh beneficiary households across all twenty districts of Jammu & Kashmir.

The proposed methodology follows the nationally accepted Multidimensional Poverty Index framework by assessing every household across three dimensions including Health, Education and Standard of Living, through twelve carefully defined indicators.

These include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, household assets and financial inclusion. A scientifically weighted deprivation score would be generated automatically through a digital application, and households crossing the prescribed deprivation threshold would be identified as multidimensionally poor.

To ensure comprehensive assessment, two structured digital schedules have been proposed. The first schedule would collect household information required for automated computation of the MPI score, while the second schedule, applicable only to households identified as multidimensionally poor, would capture the reasons for deprivation, gaps in access to government schemes, awareness levels and barriers preventing families from availing benefits. The information generated would enable departments to design targeted interventions based on district-specific and household-specific needs.

The household database generated through the exercise was said to become a robust decision-support system for Government, enabling convergence of welfare schemes relating to health, education, housing, drinking water, sanitation, clean energy, financial inclusion, livelihoods and social protection. It would also facilitate more efficient utilisation of public resources, strengthen monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals and support evidence-based district planning.