Poverty

Poverty is not having enough money to meet basic needs -food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money.

The World Bank describes poverty as:

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.”

Relative Poverty The economic conditions

of different regions or countries is compared. The capita income and the national income are the two indicators of relative poverty. According to the UNO those countries are treated poor whose per capita income is less than US $725 per annum.

Absolute poverty refers to the measure of poverty , keeping in view the per capita intake of calories and minimum level of consumption .

per capita income :

National income Population

The two forms of Poverty : Absolute Poverty

Causes of Poverty Rapidly Rising Population: The population during the last 45 years has increased at the rate of 2.2% per annum. On average 17 million people are added every year to its population which raises the demand for consumption goods considerably.

Low Productivity in Agriculture:

The level of productivity in agriculture is low due to subdivided and fragmented holdings, lack of capital, use of traditional methods of cultivation, illiteracy etc. This is the main cause of poverty in the country.

Under Utilized Resources: The existence of under employment and disguised

unemployment of human resources and under utilization of resources has resulted in low production in agricultural sector. This brought a down fall in their standard of living.

Low Rate of Economic Development: The rate of economic development in India has

been below the required level. Therefore, there persists a gap between level of availability and requirements of goods and services. The net result is poverty.

Price Ri$e:

The continuous and steep price rise has added to the miseries of poor. It has benefited a few people in the society and the persons in lower income group find it difficult to get their minimum needs.

Unemployment: The continuously expanding army of unemployed

is another cause of poverty. The job seeker is increasing in number at a higher rate than the expansion in employment opportunities.

Shortage of Capital and Able Entrepreneurship:

Capital and able entrepreneurship have important role

in accelerating the growth. But these are in short supply making it difficult to increase production significantly.

Social Factors:

The social set up is still backward and is not conducive to faster development. Laws of inheritance, caste system, traditions and customs are putting hindrances in the way of faster development and have aggravate" the problem of poverty.

Political Factors:

The Britishers started lopsided development in India and reduced Indian economy to a colonial state. They exploited the natural resources to suit their interests and weaken the industrial base of Indian economy.

In independent India, the development plans

have been guided by political interests. Hence, the planning a failure to tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment.

Population of world living below National Poverty Line

The Government, of India took certain measures to

reduce poverty, inequality of income and wealth in its five year plan periods. Followings are some steps taken by the Government, from time to time.

Integrated Rural Development Programme(IRDP)

National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)

Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP)

Prevention Measures

Jawahar Rozgar Yojana

Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment

Development of Women and Children.

Drought Prone Area Programme

Desert Development Programme

Minimum Needs Programme

Employee Guarantee Scheme

Employment Exchanges

Development of Animal Husbandry and Agriculture

Employment Assurance Scheme

 Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)

 Prime Minister's Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Program (PMIUPEP)

Self-Employment Programmes

The Swaran Jayanti Rozgar Yojana

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana

Antyodya Anna Yojana.

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Created by : Bhuvaneshwari .R.S