POVERTY IN INDIA… AN OVERVIEW

ByLeelakrishnaBhargav RamKrishna Devraj

HS 231 INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

INDIA SHINING – THE NEXT SUPERPOWER

Country with the most population- also the country with largest number of impoverished people.

One in every four Indians lives on less than 20 rupees a day and one in every five remains hungry the whole day.

47% of Indian children under 5 malnourished or stunted.

A literacy rate of 61%, barely ahead of Sudan and behind Rwanda .

STRAIGHT IN YOUR FACE…

22.15% of the Indian population

living below poverty line as of

2004 -2005

75% of the poor are from rural

areas (27.1% of rural population)

34.7% of India’s poorest

population live on less than $1 a

day, 79.9% live on less than $2

Indicators of Poverty The poverty line-

Roughly 1 out of every 4 Indians earns less than 10 Rs a day. Medically, the food got from such money is just enough to

“prevent death”

•World bank definition•Indian Government definition•Rural statistics•Urban statistics

DECREASE- IN THE REAL SENSE?

POVERTY LINE

WORLD BANK DEFINITION

INDIAN DEFINITION – living above poverty line only means the person can BARELY SUVIVE.

OTHER ECONOMIC INDICATORS:- PURCHASING POWER PARITY (PPP)

GINI CO-EFFICIENT

DIFFERENT INCOME INEQUALITY METRICS

SOCIAL INDICATORS

LIFE EXPECTANCY

INFANT MORTALITY RATE

MALNUTRITION RATE AMONG CHILDREN

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

ACCESS TO EDUCATION

A classification..

Poverty

Urban Rural

THE CAUSES …

THE TWO APPROACHES-

DEVELOPMENTALIST VIEW

NEO LIBERAL VIEW

DEVELOPMENTALIST VIEW

“the colonial economic restructuring” Total de-industrialization Declining terms of trade Periodic mass misery due to man

made famines etc. Open monopoly by the sovereign

nation Root evil of all present poverty

INDIA OF OLD…

Villages- isolated self sustained economies Annual revenue reported by the Emperor Aurangzeb's exchequer exceeded £100 million in 1700

(twice of Europe then) India ranked consistently among the

top two economies of the world before the advent of colonialism.

The colonial impact

Stifled trade with rest of the world Share in world income fell from

24.4% (Entire europe then – 23%) in 1700 to 3.8% in 1952.

Undue and harsh taxation system, many famines, from which we never really recovered.

NEO LIBERAL VIEW…

Protectionist policies Lack of property rights Over reliance on agriculture High population growth rate Caste system

Current assessment

Health indicators

Education indicator...

Acts, Actions & Acting…

1950 – 1970 – No discernible trend, kept increasing and decreasing.

1970- 1990- steady decline in rural poverty, but a rise in urban poverty

A 2007 report by the state-run NCEUS found that 77% of Indians lived on less than 20 rupees per day , with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty."

An outlook, a hope..

•Eradication only a long term

goal

•Trickle down effect from

middle classes

•Increased stress on education

•Empowerment of women

•Reduction of regional

imbalances

•A cautious approach to

liberalization

What we can do..

In our own small way, let us not waste resources, the fruit of hard earned tax payer’s money, which might better be used to eradicate the misery of others. Let us show that we do care, and realise the dream of seeing a poverty free India.

THANK YOU

BIBLIOGRAPHY.. http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html http://www.indiaonestop.com/povertyindia.htm http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/news/international/

pluggedin_murphy_india.fortune/index.htm http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/

SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,menuPK:295609~pagePK:141132~piPK:141109~theSitePK:295584,

http://www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=221&ptid=8&level=2 http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp http://www.censusindia.gov.in//CensusWebResults.aspx?

textfield=per+capita&drpQuick=&drpQuickSelect=# http://en.wikipedia.org/

Reports- National Human Development report- HRD Ministry India 2001 Poverty in India and Indian states- an update by Gaurav Datt poverty and inequality in India- a re examination by Angus Deaton, Jean

Dreze