CBSE
Class 9 Economics Notes Chapter 3 – Poverty as a Challenge
Introduction
In our daily life, we see poverty all around us. They could
be landless labourers in villages, people living in overcrowded jhuggis in
cities, daily wage workers or child workers in dhabas. According to facts, in
India, every fourth person is poor.
Two Typical Cases of Poverty
Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter, lack of clean
water and sanitation facilities, and lack of a regular job at a minimum decent
level. Poverty is considered as one of the biggest challenges of independent
India. India would be truly independent only when the poorest of its people
become free of human suffering.
Poverty as Seen by Social Scientists
Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of
indicators. Usually, the indicators are used to relate to the levels of income
and consumption. But, now, poverty is looked through other social indicators
like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of
access to healthcare, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe
drinking water, sanitation, etc.
The poverty line is a method to measure poverty based on
income or consumption levels. Poverty line varies according to time and place.
In India, the poverty line is determined through a minimum level of food
requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical
requirement, etc. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in
rupees. In India, poverty is calculated on the basis of the desired calorie
requirement. The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories
per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban
areas. On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2011–12, the poverty
line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for rural areas and Rs 1000 for
urban areas. The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every five
years) by conducting sample surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO).
Poverty Estimates
In India, there is a substantial decline in poverty ratios
from about 45 per cent in 1993-94 to 37.2 per cent in 2004–05. The proportion
of people below the poverty line further came down to about 22 per cent in
2011–12.
Vulnerable Groups
Social groups vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled Tribe. Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable
groups are the rural agricultural labour households and urban casual labour
households. According to a recent study, except for scheduled tribes, all the
other three groups (i.e. scheduled castes, rural agricultural labourers and
urban casual labour households) have seen a decline in poverty in the 1990s.
Inter-State Disparities
In India, the proportion of poor people is not the same in
every state. Bihar and Odisha continued to be the two poorest states, with
poverty ratios of 33.7 and 32.6 percent, respectively. Urban poverty is high in
Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal saw a decline in poverty. Punjab
and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of
high agricultural growth rates. Kerala has focused more on human resource
development. In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing
poverty. In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains
is responsible for the improvement.
Global Poverty Scenario
In China and Southeast Asian countries, poverty declined
substantially as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in
human resource development. In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty declined from 51 per
cent in 2005 to 41 per cent in 2015. In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has
declined from 10 per cent in 2005 to 4 per cent in 2015.
Causes of Poverty
There are various reasons for widespread poverty in India.
1. Under British control, India had a low level of economic
development. New policies of the colonial government ruined traditional
handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries. like textiles. A low
rate of growth and an increase in population combined make the growth rate of
per capita income very low. With the spread of irrigation and the Green
Revolution, many job opportunities were created in the agriculture sector.
However, these were not enough to absorb all the job seekers.
2. Another feature of high poverty rates has been the huge
income inequalities. One of the major reasons for this is the unequal
distribution of land and other resources. In India, lack of land resources has
been one of the major causes of poverty in India, but proper implementation of
policy could have improved the lives of millions of rural poor.
3. Small farmers needed money to buy agricultural inputs
like seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. So, they used to borrow money and were
unable to repay the loan because of poverty.
Anti-Poverty Measures
The current anti-poverty scheme is divided into two parts.
1 Promotion of economic growth
2 Targeted anti-poverty programmes
Since the eighties, India’s economic growth has been one of
the fastest in the world. There is a strong link between economic growth and
poverty reduction. Some of the schemes which are formulated to affect poverty
directly or indirectly are:
1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,
2005 – It aimed to provide 100 days of wage employment to every household to
ensure livelihood security in rural areas. It also aimed at sustainable
development to address the cause of drought, deforestation and soil erosion.
One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for women.
2. In 1993, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) was started.
The main aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities for
educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns.
3. In 1995, Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) was
launched. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities
in rural areas and small towns.
4. In 1999, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was
launched. The programme aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the
poverty line by organising them into self-help groups through a mix of bank
credit and government subsidy.
5. In 2000, the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) was
launched. Under this programme, additional central assistance is given to
states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural
shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.
The Challenges Ahead
In India, Poverty has certainly declined in India, but it
still remains India’s most compelling challenge. Poverty reduction is expected
to make better progress in the next ten to fifteen years. This can be achieved
by higher economic growth, increasing stress on universal free elementary
education, declining population growth, and increasing empowerment of women and
the economically weaker sections of society.
