This study shows the long waiting changement in India’s poverty measurement framework, the transition from traditional income and consumption based metrics and models to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI). From a long time, India relied on calorie-based and expenditure-based poverty lines (Lakdawala, Tendulkar, Rangarajan). These metrics faced continues critiques for their inability to capture non-monetary deprivations, intra-household inequalities, and the intensity of poverty. Grounded in Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and the UNDP’s global standards, and the fulfillment of the SDG’s requirements, the NMPI utilizes the dual cut-off methodology to measure deprivation across, Education, Health and Standard of Living. It uses the data input from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the NMPI allows for a district-level analysis of poverty that aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This report analyzes the operational mechanics of the index, the institutional role of NITI Aayog, The MPI offers a superior, people-centered diagnostic Approach and tools but long-term success depends on data frequency, contextualized weighting.