Poverty in India

Poverty in India
B Y- O M A R S A H I L
LOKESH
S A S WAT
Index
1. What is poverty ?
2. Causes of poverty
3. Poverty estimates
4. Impacts of poverty
5. Facts of poverty
6. How can India get rid of poverty ?
What Is Poverty?
Poverty is the state of not having enough material possessions or income for a
person's basic needs. Poverty may include social, political and economic
elements. Absolute poverty measures compare income against the amount
needed to meet basic personal needs, such as food , clothing and shelter.
Relative poverty measures when a person cannot meet a minimum level of
living standards , compared to others in the same time and place.
Causes of Poverty
Economic causes
Social causes
Geographical factors
Environmental and climatic factors
Other causes
Economic causes
◦ Slow Economic growth and development: A country that has slow economic
growth due to bad governmental policies causes widespread poverty. Stagnant or
slow paced economic development also leads to poverty
◦ Deprivation of resources: Natural deprivation of resources as well as forced or

situational deprivation can cause poverty. Lack of proper resources and
opportunities deprive people from their target lifestyle and employment options
and push them towards poverty.
◦ Increasing unemployment: The population to jobs ratio if unbalanced can cause

unemployment between masses and is a leading cause of poverty. Increased and
uncontrolled population in any country is the biggest threat of unemployment
related poverty.
Social causes
◦ Overpopulated places: Over population in any place increases competition in
the employment sector. As a result, poverty creeps in, in any overpopulated
place since competition increases and opportunities decreases.
◦ Practicing caste-system: Caste system segregates people (based on their job)

in a society and does not allow them to venture outside their caste to seek
employment. For example, a lower caste person will not be allowed to
become a businessman or a trader. This system makes the poor get poorer
and the rich get richer. This unbalanced and unfair system is another leading
cause of poverty.
Geographical factors
oDensity of population: Area population density also determines the poverty
graph of the place. Densely populated places see a red when it comes to
poverty.
oUneven distribution of fertile land: Geographically, fertile lands are distributed in an
uneven fashion and this is also a primary cause of poverty in naturally unfertile lands.
Fertile lands provide agricultural employment to the local people and they do not have
to strive for job opportunities to earn a living. Unfertile lands completely deprive the
natives from the agricultural sector and take away this employment.
Environmental and climatic factors
• Flooding of lands: Natural calamities like floods can completely destroy
farmlands and adversely affect the agricultural produce. This will lead to
uncalled for poverty situations that a country can seldom tackle.
•Lack of seasonal rainfall: Any abnormalities with the seasonal rainfall also can
cause some serious poverty problems. Agricultural produce gets disturbed due
to the absence of the predicted rainfall and hence causes inflation related
poverty.
Other causes
oLack of proper education: Education is obviously essential for a growing
economy, but relevant education is even more important. For example, rural
population should be given more of technical and vocational education than
bookish knowledge. This will help them land technical jobs easily and abolish
poverty among the masses.
oIncreasing competition: A society that has a raised qualification standard faces
increased competition in the job acquisition front. This also leads to increased
competition and resultant poverty even among the educated population. This
can also be said as a side-effect of increased education standards, especially in
cities.
Poverty estimates
oA common method used to estimate poverty in India is based on the income or
consumption levels and if the income or consumption falls below a given minimum level, then
the household is said to be Below the Poverty Line (BPL).
oAccording to recent reports, more than a quarter of the population living in rural areas of India is
below the poverty line. Out of the total population living in the rural parts of India, 25.7% is living
below the poverty line whereas in the urban areas, the situation is a bit better with 13.7% of the
population living below the poverty line.
States Poverty Distribution(in%)
Delhi 9.91
Maharashtra 17.35
Kerala 7.05
Tamil Nadu 11.28
West Bengal 19.98
Impacts of Poverty
o
Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard housing, homelessness,
inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health
care, unsafe neighborhoods, and under resourced schools which adversely impact our
nation's children.
oIt also has a negative impacts on children's health, social, emotional and cognitive
development, behavior and educational outcomes. Children born into poverty are more
likely to experience a wide range of health problems, including poor nutrition, chronic
disease and mental health problems.
How can India get rid of poverty ?
Since the 1950s, the Indian government and non-governmental organizations have initiated
several programs to alleviate poverty, including subsiding food and other necessities,
increased access to loans, improving agricultural techniques and price supports, promoting
education , and family planning . These measures have helped eliminate famines , cut
absolute poverty levels by more than half, and reduced illiteracy and malnutrition
Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been
uneven when comparing social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban
areas. For the year 2015–16, the GSDP growth rates of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh
was higher than Maharashtra , Odisha or Punjab. Though GDP growth rate matters a lot
economically, the debate is moving towards another consensus in India, where unhealthy infatuation
with GDP growth matters less and holistic development or all-inclusive growth matters more. While
India may well be on the path to eradicating extreme poverty, it still lags well behind in other
important development indicators such as health and education.
Solution to end poverty
The following strategy can solve the problem of poverty:
o Adopt a strategy of pro-poor growth instead of emphasizing liberalization and GDP growth
o Stimulating Agricultural growth
o Increasing the productivity and job quantity of the unorganized sector
o Improving the share of wages in the process of growth to achieve poverty reduction
o Empowerment of the poor through education and skill formation
o Empowerment through provision of better health
o Empowering the poor through provision of housing
o Empowerment through skill formation for our expanding IT sector
o Providing employment through National Rural employment guarantee scheme

Poverty in India

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Poverty in India

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Poverty in India

◦ Deprivation of resources: Natural deprivation of resources as well as forced or

◦ Increasing unemployment: The population to jobs ratio if unbalanced can cause

◦ Practicing caste-system: Caste system segregates people (based on their job)

You might also like