poverty essay in india

Cultural India

Poverty in india: causes, effects and solutions.

“Poverty is humiliation, the sense of being dependent on them, and of being forced to accept rudeness, insults, and indifference when we seek help.” —Latvia 1998

In the simplest term, poverty may be defined as a social condition where individuals do not have financial means to meet the most basic standards of life that is acceptable by the society. Individuals experiencing poverty do not have the means to pay for basic needs of daily life like food, clothes and shelter.

Poverty also staves people off from accessing much needed social tools of well-being like education and health requirements. The direct consequences stemming from this problem are hunger, malnutrition and susceptibility to diseases which have been identified as major problems across the world. It impacts individuals in a socio-psychological way with them not being able to afford simple recreational activities and getting progressively marginalized in the society.

The term poverty is interconnected with the notion of the poverty line/ threshold that may be defined as the minimum figure of income that is required in a particular country for maintaining the socially acceptable quality of life in terms of nutritional, clothing and sheltering needs. The World Bank has updated its international poverty line figures to 1.90 USD (Rs. 123.5) per day on October 2015 (based on prices of commodities in year 2011-2012), from 1.5 USD(Rs. 81) as a response to the changes in the cost of living across the world as per current economy. The organization estimates that – “Just over 900 million people globally lived under this line in 2012 (based on the latest available data), and we project that in 2015, just over 700 million are living in extreme poverty.”

Poverty is a worldwide cause of concern even in economically stable countries like the USA. Current statistics state that over half the populations in the world, about 3 billion people, are forced to live on less than 2.5 dollars per day. In India, as per 2014 government reports, monthly per capita consumption expenditure is Rs. 972 per person in rural areas and Rs. 1407 per person in urban areas. This data is currently being accepted as the poverty threshold of the country. As of 2015, 21.9% of the total population lives below the national poverty threshold, as per the data of Asian Development Bank, that’s a whopping 269.7 million individuals not having enough money.

Causes of Poverty in India

Factors contributing to the persistent problem of poverty in the country are many and they need to be identified in order to be addressed properly. They can be categorized under the following heads.

1. Demographic – the main factor that contributes to poverty-ridden state of the country from a demographical point of view is the problem of over population. The growth of population in the country has so far exceeded the growth in economy and the gross result is that the poverty figures have remained more or less consistent. In rural areas, size of the families is bigger and that translates into lowering the per capita income values and ultimately lowering of standard of living. Population growth spurt also leads to generation of unemployment and that means diluting out of wages for jobs further lowering income.

2. Economic –there are a host of economic reasons behind persistence of the poverty problems which are outlined hereunder:-

a. Poor Agricultural Infrastructure –Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. But outdated farming practices, lack of proper irrigation infrastructure and even lack of formal knowledge of crop handling has affected the productivity in this sector tremendously. As a consequence there is redundancy and sometimes complete lack of work leading to decreased wages that is insufficient for meeting daily needs of a labourer’s family plunging them into poverty.

b. Unequal distribution of assets – with the economy changing directions rapidly, the earning structure evolves differently in different economic income groups. Upper and middle income groups see a faster increase in earnings than lower income groups. Also assets like land, cattle as well as realty are distributed disproportionately among the population with certain people owning majority shares than other sectors of the society and their profits from these assets are also unequally distributed. In India it is said that 80% wealth in the country is controlled by just 20% of the population.

c. Unemployment – another major economic factor that is causative of poverty in the country is the rising unemployment rate. Unemployment rates is high in India and according to a 2015 survey data, at the all-India level, 77% of families do not have a regular source of income.

d. Inflation and Price hike – the term Inflation may be defined as an increase in prices of commodities coinciding with the fall in the purchasing value of money. As a direct consequence of inflation, effective price of food, clothing items as well as real estate rises. The salaries and wages do not rise as much in keeping up with the inflated prices of commodities leading to effective decrease of the per capita income.

e. Faulty economic liberalization – the LPG (Liberalization-Privatization-Globalization) attempts initiated by the Indian Government in 1991 were directed towards making the economy more suited to international market-trends to invite foreign investments. Successful to certain extent in reviving the economy, the economic reforms had detrimental effects on increasing the wealth distribution scenario. Rich became richer, while the poor remained poor.

3. Social – The various social issues plaguing the country that contributes towards poverty are:-

a. Education and illiteracy – Education, rather its lack thereof and poverty form a vicious cycle that plagues the nation. Not having enough resources to feed their children, the poor consider education to be frivolous, preferring children to start contributing to the family’s income rather than draining them. On the other hand, lack of education and illiteracy prevent individuals from getting better paying jobs and they get stuck at jobs offering minimum wages. Improvement of quality of life gets hindered and the cycle once again comes into action.

b. Outdated Social Customs – Social customs like the caste system cause segregation and marginalization of certain sections of the society. Certain castes are considered untouchables still and are not employed by upper caste, leaving very specific and low paying jobs that they can live off. Economist K. V. Verghese put forth the problem in a very lucid language, “Caste system acted as a spring­board for class exploitation with the result that the counterpart of the poverty of the many is the opulence of the few. The second is the cause of the first.”

c. Lack of skilled labour – lack of adequate vocational training makes the huge labour force available in India largely unskilled, which is unsuitable for offering maximum economic value. Lack of education, much less higher education, is also a contributing factor towards this.

d. Gender inequality –the weak status attached with women, deep-rooted social marginalization and long embedded perceptions of domesticity renders about 50% of the country’s population unable to work. As a result the women of the family add to the number of dependents that need to be fed instead of being able to contribute considerably in the family income which might assuage the poverty situation of the family.

e. Corruption – despite considerable efforts from the government in the forms of various schemes to mollify the poverty situation, allegedly only 30-35% actually reaches the beneficiaries due to wide-spread practices of corruption in the country. Wealthy people with privileged connection are able to acquire more wealth simply by bribing government officials to maximize their profits from such schemes while the poor remain in a state of neglect for not being able to assert such connections.

4. Individual – individual lack of efforts also contribute towards generating poverty. Some people are unwilling to work hard or even not willing to work altogether, leaving their families in the darkness of poverty. Personal demons like drinking and gambling also leads to draining of the family income inciting poverty.

5. Political – in India, socio-economic reform strategies has been largely directed by political interest and are implemented to serve a choice section of the society that is potentially a deciding factor in the elections. As a result, the issue is not addressed in its entirety leaving much scope of improvements.

6. Climatic – maximum portion of India experiences a tropical climate throughout the year that is not conducive to hard manual labour leading to lowering of productivity and the wages suffer consequently.

Effects of Poverty

The resounding effect of poverty echoes through various layers of an India citizen’s life. If we try to have a systematic look at them, we should proceed under the three following heads:-

1. Effect on Health – one of the most devastating effects that poverty has is on the overall health of the nation. The most prominent health issue stemming from poverty is malnutrition. The problem of malnutrition is widespread in all age-groups of the country but children are most adversely affected by this. Limited income in larger families leads to lack of access to sufficient nutritious food for their children. These children over time suffer from severe health problems like low body weight, mental, physical disabilities and a general poor state of immunity making them susceptible to diseases. Children from poor backgrounds are twice as susceptible to suffer from anemia, nutrient deficiencies, impaired vision, and even cardiac problems. Malnutrition is a gross contributor of infant mortality in the country and 38 out of every 1,000 babies born in India die before their first birthday. Malnutrition among adult also leads to poor health in adults that leaches their capacity for manual labour leading to a decrease in income due to weakness and diseases. Poverty also causes definite decline in the sanitary practices among poor who cannot afford proper bathrooms and disinfectants. As a result susceptibility to waterborne diseases peak among the poor. Lack of access to as well as means to procure appropriate treatment also affects overall mortality of the population which is lower in poor countries than developed nations like the USA.

2. Effects on Society – poverty exerts some gravely concerning effects over the overall societal health as well. These may be discussed along the following lines:-

a. Violence and crime rate – incidence of violence and crime have been found to be geographically coincident. In a backdrop of unemployment and marginalization, the poor resort to criminal activities to earn money. Coupled with lack of education and properly formed moral conscience, a poverty ridden society is more susceptible to violence by its people against its own people from a sense of deep-seated discontent and rage.

b. Homelessness – apart from a definite drop in the esthetic representation of the country, homelessness affects child health, women safety and overall increase in criminal tendencies.

c. Stress – lack of money is a major cause of stress among the middle-class and the poor and leads to decline in productivity of individuals.

d. Child labour – one of the hallmarks of a poverty-ridden society is the widespread practices of exploitation and the worst of it comes in the form of child labour. Large families fail to meet the monetary needs of the members and children as young as 5 years are made to start earning in order to contribute to the family income.

e. Terrorism – proclivity of youth towards terrorism stems from a combination of extreme poverty and lack of education making them susceptible to brainwashing. Terrorist organizations offer poverty-ridden families money in exchange for a member’s participation in their activities which induces a sense of accomplishment among the youth.

3. Effect on Economy –poverty is a direct index indicating success of the economy of the country. The number of people living under the poverty threshold indicates whether the economy is powerful enough to generate adequate jobs and amenities for its people. Schemes providing subsidies for the poor of the country again impose a drain on the economy.

The measures that should be taken to fight the demon of poverty in India are outlined below:-

1. Growth of population at the current rate should be checked by implementation of policies and awareness promoting birth control.

2. All efforts should be made to increase the employment opportunities in the country, either by inviting more foreign investments or by encouraging self-employment schemes.

3. Measures should be taken to bridge the immense gap that remains in distribution in wealth among different levels of the society.

4. Certain Indian states are more poverty stricken than others like Odhisha and the North East states. Government should seek to encourage investment in these states by offering special concessions on taxes.

5. Primary needs of people for attaining a satisfactory quality of life like food items, clean drinking water should be available more readily. Improvement of the Subsidy rates on commodities and Public Distribution system should be made. Free high school education and an increased number of functioning health centers should be provided by the government.

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Poverty in India: Real-Life Consequences & Sustainable Solutions

Over the last several decades, India has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But even with this impressive progress, poverty in India continues to be an enormous problem. A small percentage of people in India have benefitted from this growth, while the vast majority still struggle to meet their basic daily needs. This inequity is exacerbated by a long-standing social caste system in India that disproportionately affects women and children.

In this blog post, we’ll explain the complex causes of poverty in India, the consequences it has on so many of its people, and the work Outreach International is doing to help people lift themselves out of poverty, and into a life of prosperity and hope.

Understanding the Causes of Poverty in India

Poverty in India is a result of various overlapping factors , spanning a long history of social and economic issues. The social issues include a caste system that causes inequity among the citizens of India. People who are born into certain socioeconomic groups or ethnicities can find it more difficult than others to access education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. Economic issues include a history of financial pressure from foreign countries which makes the economy of India sensitive to external markets which are beyond its control.

Outreach Project: Sumita accessed an Usha School Program sewing machine from Outreach’s Program Partner, Outreach India, in Feb, 2023.

Statistics and Facts

• The September 2023 Global Poverty Update by the World Bank revealed that at the $3.65 poverty line, India accounts for 40% of the global poverty rate of 24.1%. ( The World Bank )
• Over a third of all people living in poverty in the world live in South Asia, which amounts to roughly 389 million people. ( The World Bank )
• In South Asia, the rate of extreme poverty, measured by the international poverty line of $2.15, increased by 1.9 percentage points to 10.5%. India accounts for almost 70% of this global change in extreme poverty. ( The World Bank )
• Between 2012 and 2021, 40% of the wealth created in India has been captured by just the wealthiest 1% of the population. ( BBC )

Factors Contributing to Poverty in India

The complex causes of poverty in India lead to equally complex factors that perpetuate the problem. These include:

Limited Access to Education

Despite making strides in improving literacy rates in general, access to adequate education remains out of reach for many groups in India, especially for those who live in remote areas.

Unemployment and Underemployment

The uneven distribution of economic growth creates limited job opportunities in many geographic areas, especially among young people who are actively seeking employment.

Inadequate Healthcare Infrastructure

The healthcare that the government provides for people who live in poverty in India is inadequate in many geographic areas. Serious health issues, often related to childbirth, can go undertreated, leading to overwhelming debt and feelings of hopelessness.

Social Inequality

Discrimination based on social caste, gender, and ethnicity make it harder for marginalized groups to experience basic socio-economic advancement. This creates a cycle of poverty that passes these issues on to the next generation.

Outreach Project: A new 4G cell tower benefits Sumita and everyone in Khambesu Village.

Historical, Economic, and Social Factors of Poverty in India

India has dealt with a long history of colonization that led to the export of wealth and resources for generations. Although this issue is a part of India’s past, the legacy of uneven trade continues to put financial pressure on India’s poorest citizens. Also, like many economies of the world, social disparity makes it almost impossible for people who live in poverty to climb out of it alone.

The Cost of Poverty in India

The consequences of poverty in India are profound and far-reaching. These include:

Unequal Distribution of Wealth and Resources

The concentration of wealth among a small percentage of the population of India limits access to essential resources and opportunities for the majority of its citizens. According to the Harvard Business Review , the wealthiest 10% of people in India hold 77% of the nation’s wealth. It also states that as of 2023, there were 119 billionaires in India, whose wealth continues to grow at disproportionate rates.

Barriers to Receiving Healthcare

The social healthcare system in India ranks very low among other countries. Expert care and the most advanced treatments remain expensive, and so only those who can afford it have access to it. Those who live in poverty sometimes have to make the choice between health or debt. This can be especially difficult when it comes to the health of their children. This lack of access to quality healthcare is evident in the relatively high infant mortality rates .

Outreach International’s Impact in India: Community-Led Solutions to Change this Reality

It can be nearly impossible for people who live in poverty to solve their issues alone. Outreach International works tirelessly to empower people to help themselves. Our partners at Outreach India bring community groups together to learn to identify their unique poverty-related issues, and then mobilize to solve them.

Many people who live in remote areas in India must deal with a lack of adequate infrastructure. This means that there may be no central power grid, or regional sewage and water treatment system. People who live under these conditions must spend much time and effort fulfilling their basic daily needs. But with the help of Outreach facilitators, solutions can be found.

Solar Water Systems

Until 2010, the citizens of Nandibadi had to walk a kilometer each day to collect water from a river. That year, they had a single spout well installed, which was considered a significant improvement at the time. Even then, however, people had to wait in line and take turns using the hand pump from what was their only water source. With the help of Outreach facilitators, they had a solar-powered water well and storage system installed. This improvement not only made life easier, but it freed up large amounts of time for people to spend making progress in other areas of their lives. ( Read about the Nandibadi Solar Water System )

Solar Street Lights

In Lelibadi, people stayed home after dark because of fear of predatory animals and the possibility of crime. There were no streetlights or electric grid to power them. The community-based organization mobilized to have streetlights installed, each powered by an individual solar panel. Now, the nights are brighter, and the community can gather together, socialize, and travel safely. ( Read about the Lelibadi Solar Street Lights )

Safe Sanitation

Safe sanitation is a crucial factor in the health and wellbeing of a community. Illness from contaminated drinking water and unpleasant surroundings due to a lack of a sanitation system in a community would make life difficult for anyone. Community leaders in Kurumpeta successfully managed a latrine construction project that solved their sanitation issues. ( Read about Solving the Sanitation Crisis )

Disability Inclusion

In Kunjibadi Village, Naika lost his leg in a road accident in 2016. This left him and his wife dependent on her income alone, which placed them well below the poverty line. With help from Outreach India, Naika learned that he was eligible for disability benefits. He prepared his documentation, visited the government offices, and now receives benefits that cover basic daily needs for the family. Naika and his wife feel empowered, and able to look to the future with hope. ( Read about Disability Inclusion in Community-Led Development )

Help Outreach Break the Cycle of Poverty in india

Usha will finish school soon and hopes to work for the government so she can help people.

How to Help

Poverty in India is a multifaceted and pervasive issue that affects millions of people. By understanding its root causes, addressing its consequences, and supporting initiatives that promote socio-economic empowerment, we can all help India find truly equitable prosperity.

Make your donation to support our life-saving work today.

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• Poverty in India Essay for Students in English

Essay on Poverty In India

People living in poverty do not have enough money for basic necessities such as food and shelter. An example of poverty is the state a person is in when he is homeless and does not have enough money. The rate of poverty in India is increasing because of the population in the urban areas. Most importantly, crores of peoples are below the poverty line and most of the people are on the borderline of poverty. Poverty in India is seen mainly in the rural areas because of the uneducated and unemployed and increased population. Many people do not afford to get proper foods for their daily life and even they don’t have their own homes, they sleep on the footpath or road, more populations need more food, money, and for staying houses but due to lack of this poverty grows very quickly, thus in addition rich are growing richer and the poor becoming more poorer which becomes difficult to fill the gap. Poverty has many effects like it reduces poor housing, illiteracy, increase the rate of child labour and unemployment, poor hygiene hence these poor people can not afford a balanced diet, nice clothes, well education etc. reason only because they don’t have much money to afford this. Poverty can be controlled by giving them proper education and also providing the proper facilities to the farmers so that those farmers get more profitable and do not migrate to cities in search of employment. Also, the illiterate people should get proper education to make their life better. Family planning is also essential for coming out of poverty. Poverty in our country is from ancient times. Even earlier times the poor people were not given the place that rich people used to get even if they were not allowed to enter religious places. Main causes of poverty are like unemployment, lack of education, poor utilization of resources, corruption and poor government policy.

How You Can Improve or Solve Poverty in India?

Poverty can be solved by improving food security by providing three meals a day and making them healthy and providing houses for those people at low cost and giving them proper education and facilities so that they can earn well and take care of their family and live a peaceful life. Awareness on population so that once the population is under control, the economy of the country will improve and move towards development and decrease in the poverty line. Poverty is becoming a complex problem for the people and for the government. How to overcome this, in India the poverty is high compared to other countries because the growth rate of per capita income per person is very low.

With lack of job opportunities many people move as a rickshaw puller, construction workers, domestic servants etc, with irregular small incomes hence they live in slum areas. Also, lack of land resources has been one of the major causes of poverty in India, even the small farmers of our country lead to poverty because they cultivate but do not get proper money in terms of profit and leads to poverty.

Population of India

The population has been increasing in India at a rapid speed, India’s population in 1991 was around 84.3 crores where was poverty at a high rate but now the current population of our country is around 130 crores whereas the population is almost doubled in last three decades but still not enough done for controlling the poverty in our country. Due to an increase in population, there is more unemployment, hence poverty is just the reflection of unemployment. More capital is required for making industry, giving proper transport facilities and other projects, hence the deficiency of its country is still underdeveloped and causes more poverty. Lack of skilled labor also leads to poverty because less-skilled labor have insufficient industrial education and training. Lack of infrastructure means that transport and communication have not been properly developed so that the farmers are not getting fertilizers for cultivation on time and industries do not get power supply and raw materials on time and thus end products are not marketed properly and not reachable on time. Because of poverty sometimes we don’t get those things for what we actually are. Hence to come out of poverty our government has to be more serious and also the citizens should take equal responsibilities. Remove the poverty from country governments has started many steps, in last 2-3 years we have seen that they become more serious by bringing GST in the action, demonetization so because of GST all the businessman can pay full tax and which will help to develop the country and the poverty ratio can be reduced. Steps of demonetization were taken so that black money can be utilized for the poor people and poverty can be reduced. We can overcome poverty by following all the guidelines of the government and can be free from poverty.

India's Poverty Factors

One of the biggest problems of poverty in India is the country's rapid population growth. As a result, there is a high rate of illiteracy, poor health-care facilities, and a lack of financial resources. Furthermore, the high population growth rate has an impact on individual income, making individual income much lower. By 2026, India's population is predicted to surpass 1.5 billion, making it the world's largest country. However, Economic growth is not rising at the same rate as the rest of the world. This indicates a labor shortage. About 20 million new jobs will be required to accommodate this big population. If such a vast number of people are poor, the number of poor will keep rising.

How Much Research is Important for Students to Write Good Essays?

The students must realize that brainstorming and a mind map of the essay will take them in the direction of their research. With the advent of the internet, the days are numbered for students who rely on a well-tipped encyclopedia from the school library as their only authoritative source for their story. If there is any real problem for our readers today is reducing their resources to a manageable number. At this stage, it is important to:

Make sure the research material is directly related to the essay work

Record detailed sources of information that they will use in their story

Communicate in person by asking questions and challenging their own bias

Identify the main points that will be highlighted in the story

Gather ideas, arguments, and opinions together

Identify the major issue they will discuss in their case.

Once these stages have been completed by the student, the student will be ready to make his points in a logical order and prepare an essay.

Therefore, the topic discussed on this page is poverty and poverty is not a human problem but a national one. Also, it should be addressed immediately with the implementation of effective measures. In addition, the eradication of poverty has been a prerequisite for sustainable and inclusive growth for individuals, communities, the country and the economy.

Paragraph Tips on Essay Writing

Each paragraph should focus on one main idea

The Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence, students should collect similar ideas together to avoid collisions

Paragraphs should be stated consistently, learners should be able to choose which line to reverse or skip.

Transition words and similar phrases, as a result, should instead be used to provide flow and provide a bridge between Paragraphs.

General Structure of an Essay

Introduction: Give the reader the essence of the essay. It sets out the broader argument that the story will make and informs the reader of the author's general opinion and method of questioning.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘flesh’ of the essay and outline the point made in the introduction by a point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually the conclusion will repeat the middle argument while providing a summary of the main reasons supporting the story even before linking everything back to the first question.

FAQs on Poverty in India Essay for Students in English

1. What are the Causes of Poverty in India?

The cause of poverty is very obvious in a country like India. The people in India are very careless about the population growth and due to which there is a lot of hassle and unnecessary elevation in population growth rate. This is automatically leading to poverty as there are fewer resources and more people to be served in each state in India. Various causes affect poverty:

Unemployment.

The intensity of population.

The high rate of inflation.

Lack of skilled labor

2. What are the Types of Poverty?

Although there are only two main types of poverty existing in India we will be learning all of them as mentioned in the following lines. The two main classifications of poverty are relative poverty and absolute poverty and both of them emphasize income and consumption. Sometimes, poverty cannot be blamed or associated with economic problems but also it must be associated with society and politics.

There are six types of poverty which are listed below:

Situational poverty.

Generation poverty.

Absolute poverty.

Relative poverty.

Urban poverty.

Rural poverty.

3. How to Reduce the Poverty Line in India?

India is a country that has been under the radar of poverty for centuries. The people of India are making efforts to take themselves out of the poverty line but there are a lot of hindrances. The lack of resources and limited alternatives have thrown the rural and urban residents below the poverty line making life unhealthy and miserable for them. 

Here are some measures listed below

Provide food, shelter and clothes facilities to poor people.

Encourage them for education either male or female. 

Give employment.

4. Why choose Vedantu for referring to the Poverty in India essay for students in English?

Students should refer to Vedantu for downloading as these solutions will be filling you with the basic knowledge of writing essays. There are loads of vocabulary words and phrases which will enable the students to write high-class essays. The Vedantu website provides 100% authentic content which will lead to additional accuracy of the student’s essay. Basic concepts of writing an essay are available free of cost on the Vedantu website. Avoid problems and enjoy hassle-free preparation with the help of Vedantu.

5. Why refer to Vedantu for studying the Poverty in India Essay for Students in English?

Vedantu not only provides comprehensive and detailed knowledge to the students but also imparts the ability to study on their own without any hassle to the students. The concept of Poverty in India Essay for Students in English is so beautifully explained in the Vedantu website that anyone who is reading the content and the rules will understand in one instance whatever that person is searching for. The students must know how to write good essays from a very young age and hence the experts at Vedantu are fulfilling that request of the students.

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Poverty Anywhere is a Threat to Prosperity Everywhere

• 24 Apr 2024
• 12 min read

Poverty is the Parent of Revolution and Crime.  

 —Aristotle.  

In our interconnected world shaped by technology, trade, and communication, the assertion   

that "Poverty in any corner poses a danger to prosperity everywhere" carries significant resonance. Despite poverty often appearing as a localized concern, its impact extends far beyond borders, influencing economies, social frameworks, and the overall welfare of humanity on a global scale.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) even has this principle enshrined in their Declaration of Philadelphia. While prosperity might evoke images of flourishing economies and a comfortable standard of living, it cannot exist in isolation from the realities of global poverty.  

One of the most direct threats poverty poses is to global economic stability. Impoverished regions often lack the resources to invest in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. This creates a cycle of limited economic opportunities, hindering their ability to participate effectively in the global market. Furthermore, widespread poverty translates to a diminished consumer base, impacting the profitability of businesses in prosperous nations that rely on exports.  

Poverty encompasses more than just a lack of material resources; it encompasses inadequate access to education, healthcare, sanitation, and opportunities for economic advancement. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than USD 2.15 USD/day , but poverty's dimensions extend beyond income thresholds to encompass multidimensional factors like education, health, and social exclusion. According to the NITI Aayog, the poverty line is set at 1,286 rupees per month for urban areas and 1,059.42 rupees per month for rural areas.  

At the local level, poverty manifests in various forms, including hunger, inadequate housing, and limited access to education and healthcare. In impoverished communities, individuals face heightened vulnerability to diseases, malnutrition, and exploitation. Children from poor households often lack access to quality education , perpetuating cycles of poverty across generations. Moreover, poverty can breed social unrest and crime, further destabilizing communities and hindering economic growth.  

Poverty takes a significant toll on economic development , both domestically and globally. In economically disadvantaged regions, productivity losses due to illness, malnutrition , and lack of education diminish human capital, hindering economic growth potential .   

Moreover, poverty restricts market opportunities and consumer spending, stifling demand and hindering economic expansion. In the global context, poverty undermines international trade and investment, contributing to economic disparities between nations and impeding efforts toward global economic integration.  

In a local slum , families may be forced to live in overcrowded, unsanitary housing with limited access to clean water and proper sanitation. This can lead to the spread of diseases and exacerbate existing health problems.  The high cost of rent might force multiple families to share a single unit, limiting privacy and hindering hygiene. For example, Dharavi serves as a stark reminder of the living conditions faced by many families in slums worldwide. Overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, and limited resources continue to be pressing issues that need attention and solutions. Efforts to improve living conditions and provide better opportunities for slum dwellers are crucial for creating a more equitable society.   

The social consequences of poverty are profound and far-reaching. Poverty exacerbates social inequalities, marginalizing vulnerable groups and perpetuating cycles of deprivation. Moreover, poverty undermines social cohesion and stability , fueling resentment and discord within communities. In extreme cases, poverty can give rise to social unrest, conflict, and mass migration, with implications for regional stability and global security. For example, Afghanistan faces a severe humanitarian crisis and poverty, with nearly 28.8 million people in urgent need of support. The economic collapse, exacerbated by decades, has left millions of Afghans struggling against poverty and to meet their basic needs. Food insecurity is a critical issue, with 17.2 million people facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.  

A 2019 study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) found a strong correlation between poverty, inequality, and violent conflict. This instability disrupts economies, hinders investment, and forces people to flee their homes, creating a refugee crisis that further burdens developed nations. For example, the Syrian Civil War, fueled in part by poverty and social inequality, led to a mass exodus of refugees to Europe, placing a strain on social services and security forces in host countries.  

Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, yet poverty often deprives individuals of this essential service. In impoverished communities, limited access to healthcare facilities, medications, and trained healthcare professionals exacerbates health disparities and increases the prevalence of preventable diseases. Furthermore, poverty undermines public health interventions, hindering efforts to combat infectious diseases and promote maternal and child health. In many rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa , poverty limits access to healthcare facilities. These regions often lack well-equipped clinics, hospitals, and trained medical professionals.  

Rural communities in India face a severe shortage of access to healthcare services. Public spending on healthcare is limited, and private healthcare primarily serves urban areas. Those in rural areas often travel long distances (up to 100 km) to access healthcare services. India suffers from a significant lack of qualified medical personnel in rural areas. The absence of efficient public health systems exacerbates the problem. High rates of poverty hinder access to healthcare. Nearly 90% of the population is not covered by insurance, and most costs are paid out of pocket or through loans. Rural areas experience disparities in health indicators due to poverty, including high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition, maternal mortality, low vaccination rates, and low life expectancy.   

Poverty creates a ripple effect that impacts many aspects of life, including education. Children from low-income families may not be able to afford good school, uniforms, or transportation, expenditure even if public education is free. This can prevent them from enrolling or fully participating in school.  

This lack of resources can hinder a child's ability to learn and keep them from achieving their full potential. It can also perpetuate the cycle of poverty, as children who don't receive a quality education may have fewer job opportunities later in life.  

Poverty and environmental degradation are closely intertwined, forming a vicious cycle of deprivation and ecological decline. Impoverished communities often rely on natural resources for their livelihoods, leading to overexploitation and environmental degradation. Moreover, inadequate infrastructure and sanitation facilities contribute to pollution and environmental health hazards, further exacerbating the burden on vulnerable populations.   

India's forests are under immense pressure due to deforestation driven by various factors, including agricultural expansion, logging, and infrastructure development. Tribal communities, often among the poorest in India, rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods, including for fuelwood, food, and medicinal plants. As forests shrink, these communities face increased poverty and loss of traditional knowledge , leading to a vicious cycle of deprivation and ecological decline. The struggle for survival can sometimes force them into unsustainable practices like illegal logging or encroachment on protected areas, further exacerbating environmental degradation.  

In an increasingly interconnected world, the impacts of poverty transcend national borders, reverberating across continents through trade, migration, and communication networks. Globalization has intensified economic interdependence, making prosperity contingent on the well-being of nations at all levels of development. Economic downturns in one region can have cascading effects on global markets, highlighting the interconnected nature of modern economies.  

Addressing poverty requires concerted efforts at the local, national, and international levels. International cooperation is essential for mobilizing resources, sharing expertise, and implementing effective poverty alleviation strategies . Initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for collective action, aiming to eradicate poverty and promote shared prosperity by 2030. Moreover, international aid and development assistance play a crucial role in supporting impoverished communities and building resilient societies.  

Effective poverty alleviation strategies empower communities to become agents of change in their own development. Empowering marginalized groups, including women, indigenous peoples, and rural populations, is crucial for fostering inclusive growth and sustainable development. By investing in education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities, communities can break free from the cycle of poverty and contribute to broader economic and social progress.  

"Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere" encapsulates the profound interconnectedness of global societies and economies. Poverty undermines human dignity, economic progress, and social cohesion, posing a threat to prosperity at both local and global levels. Addressing poverty requires holistic approaches that tackle its multidimensional manifestations, from economic deprivation to social exclusion and environmental degradation. By prioritizing poverty alleviation and fostering international cooperation, we can build a more equitable and prosperous world for all. As global citizens, we must recognize our shared responsibility in combating poverty and promoting sustainable development for future generations.   

Poverty is the Worst form of Violence.  

 —Mahatma Gandhi  

• Poverty Essay

Poverty in India Essay

500+ words poverty in india essay.

Poverty is defined as a condition in which a person or family lacks the financial resources to afford a basic, minimum standard of living. Poor people don’t have adequate income; they can’t afford housing, health facilities and education which are essential for basic survival. So, poverty can be understood simply as a lack of money, or more broadly, barriers to everyday human life. With the help of this poverty essay, students will understand the meaning of poverty, the major causes of poverty and the efforts taken to eliminate poverty in India. So, students must go through this poverty in India essay in depth to get ideas on how to write effective essays and score high marks in exams.

What Causes Poverty?

There are various factors that are responsible for poverty. The major causes are unemployment, illiteracy, increasing population, and lack of proper education and training. As people are not able to find work for themselves, they are not able to earn their livelihood. Due to this, they lack access to basic education, health care, drinking water and sanitation. They are unable to feed their families and children. The other causes of poverty include war, natural disasters, political instability, etc. For example, World War II impacted many countries and they had to suffer from poverty for a long time. It took a lot of effort for such countries to recover their normal state. Similarly, natural disasters affect some areas so badly that poverty and hunger arise.

How is Poverty Measured in India?

The minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs is called the Poverty Line. Poverty can be measured in terms of the number of people living below this line. It is measured by the State Governments and information is provided by Below Poverty Line (BPL) censuses. Different countries use different measures for measuring poverty but the basic concept remains the same. The definition of the poverty line remains the same, i.e, consumption required for maintaining the minimum standard of living in a country.

Efforts to Eliminate Poverty

Earning income is the first step towards poverty eradication. Poverty can be eliminated by empowering people, and by giving them a good education that will prepare them to have a better career and future. With the help of education, people can get good jobs which allow them to earn a good living. In this way, they will be able to provide their children with a better life. People should be given easy access to transportation, information, communication, technologies, and other public facilities and services to help remove poverty.

The government has also taken several steps to eradicate poverty in India. It has launched various programmes and schemes such as the Five Years Programme, Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana etc. These programmes help to generate wage employment for the poor, unskilled people living in rural areas. The government also has social security programmes to help a few specific groups such as poor women, elder people, and widows. Apart from these government initiatives, citizens of India have to take an active part in eliminating poverty because it can’t be achieved by just a few people. It needs the support of everyone.

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Frequently asked Questions on Poverty in India Essay

How can poverty in india be abolished completely.

Abolishing poverty in India completely can be challenging. Steps should be taken to ensure equality in education so that everyone gets equal opportunities to find better livelihoods. Proper sanitation and water facility 3. Economic security and development

When was the first plan implemented for Poverty abolition?

The fifth five-year plan was first implemented in the year 1974-79 and since then the government has taken several steps and made many reservations to take this plan forward.

What is the relation between Poverty abolition and economic development?

Poverty abolition and economic development go hand in hand with each other and they are interlinked to each other. Eradication of poverty automatically improves the overall economic situation of a country.

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Poverty Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty essay.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Mahatma Gandhi.

How Poverty is Measured?

For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line.  If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is  Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.

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Causes of Poverty

According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often &  his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty

The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities , controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened  ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.

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Essay on Poverty in India

In this essay we will discuss about Poverty in India. After reading this essay you will learn about: 1. The Concept of Poverty 2. Absolute and Relative Poverty 3. Incidence 4. Recent Poverty Debate in India 5. Poverty Differential among Different States in India 6. Poverty Alleviation Programmes 7. Economic Reforms and Poverty Eradication Programme 8. World Bank’s New Perception.

• Essay on the World Bank’s New Perception of Poverty

Essay # 1. The Concept of Poverty :

Poverty is a peculiar problem from which various countries of the world, particularly the Third World, have been suffering. There cannot be a common definition of poverty which can be broadly accepted everywhere. Thus there are large differences between the definitions of poverty accepted in various countries of the world.

Leaving aside all these differences it can be broadly said that poverty is a situation where a section of the society, having no fault of their own, is denied of even basic necessities of life. In a country, where a chunk of the population is deprived of even minimum amenities of life since long period, the country is suffering from a vicious circle of poverty.

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Poverty is considered as the greatest challenge faced by the societies in the third world countries. Poverty is also concerned with the comparison with respect to a fixed line—known as poverty line. However, the poverty line is fixed extraneously and, therefore, remains fixed for a certain period.

Poverty Line:

Normally poverty is defined with poverty line. Now the question which is relevant at this point is What is the poverty line and how is it fixed? The answer to the question is that the poverty line is a cut-off point on the line of distribution, which usually divides the population of the country as poor and non-poor.

Accordingly, people having income below the poverty line are called poor and people with income above poverty line are called non-poor. Accordingly, this measure, i.e., the percentage of people living below the poverty line is known as head count ratio.

Moreover, while fixing a poverty line we must take adequate care so that the poverty line is neither too high nor too low rather it should be reasonable one. While fixing the poverty line, consumption of food is considered as the most important criteria but along with it some non­food items such as clothing, and shelter are also included.

However, in India we determine our poverty line on the basis of private consumption expenditure for buying both food and non-food items. Thus it is observed that in India, poverty line is the level of private consumption expenditure which normally ensures a food basket that would ensure the required amount of calories.

Accordingly, the average caloric requirements for rural and urban person are fixed at 2,400 and 2,100 calories respectively. Thus, the required amount of calories would normally coincide with one of the class- interval or will fall between two intervals.

Using inverse interpretation method, one can find amount of consumption expenditure at which the minimum calorie requirement is met. This amount of consumption expenditure to meet the minimum calorie requirement for person is called the poverty line.

In India, broadly accepted definition of poverty emphasises more on minimum level of living rather than on reasonable level of living. Accordingly, it is broadly agreed that poverty can be termed as a situation where a section of the population fails to reach a certain minimum consumption standard. Differences arise with the fixing of this minimum consumption standard.

After a thorough examination, the study group set up by the Planning Commission in July 1962 recommended a standard of private consumption expenditure of Rs 20 (at 1960-61 prices) per capita per month as the bare minimum amount common to both rural and urban areas.

At the initial stage, the Planning Commission accepted the study Group’s poverty criterion. Various researchers like B.S. Minhas and A. Vaidyanathan also made their study on the basis of this definition. But other researchers like Dandekar and Rath, PK. Bardhan and Ahluwalia made their study on the basis of their own definition of poverty.

Later on, the “Task Force on Projections of Minimum Needs and Effective Consumption Demand” offered an alternative definition of poverty which has been adopted by the Planning Commission in recent years.

The Task Force defined the poverty line as the mid-point of the monthly per capita expenditure class which have a daily calorie intake of 2,400 per person in the rural areas and 2,100 in urban areas of the country. Accordingly, the minimum desirable standard was worked out at Rs 76 for the rural areas and Rs 88 for urban areas at 1979-80 prices.

Prof Galbraith once argued “Poverty is the greatest polluter”. There is definitely some logic in this argument. The entire world economy now considers poverty as their great enemy. In India, the problem of poverty is still quite acute. For the last forty-five years, Indian politicians have been holding the expectation and promise of poverty removal believing in the theory of the “trickle down”.

Most of them were of the opinion that the benefits of a high and sustained growth of the economy will eventually take care of bulk of the poor population of the country. But by the end of 1960s, it became quite clear that the benefits of growth could hardly trickle down and institutional reforms adopted in the country were strangled by vested class interests.

Considering this situation, a plethora of poverty alleviation measures were gradually adopted by the beginning of 1970s.

Again in 1987-88, the Planning Commission revised the standard of private consumption expenditure of 15.43 for rural areas and Rs 165.58 for urban areas per capita per month as a bare minimum amount for determining the poverty line. Again in 1999-2000, the same consumption expenditure per capita per month determined on the basis of NSSO data revised to Rs 211.30 for rural areas and Rs 454.11 for urban areas.

The Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Prof. S.D. Tendulkar revised the national poverty line at 2004-05 prices and accordingly the monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Rs 446.68 in rural areas and Rs 578.80 in urban areas in 2004-05.

Again in October, 2011 in response to the quarry of the Supreme Court, the Planning Commission made an attempt to revise the poverty line with the monthly per capita expenditure of Rs 965 for urban areas (Rs 32 per day) and Rs 781 in rural areas 26 per day).

But facing a severe criticism on the above prescription of below poverty line cap from several quarters, the UPA government at the Centre has now decided to revise the expenditure criteria by factoring in the 2009-10 NSSOs report on household expenditure.

The Planning Commission on October 3, 2011 was compelled to announce that a new methodology will be worked out to redefine the poverty line in consistent with the Food Security Bill passed recently by a new Expert Committee.

Planning Commission made another estimate of the poverty line in March 2012 and that was announced in the Parliament on 6th March, 2013. As per the latest available information, the poverty line at all India level for 2009-10 is estimated at monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 673 (Rs 22.40 per day) for rural areas and Rs 860 (Rs 28.65 per day) for urban areas.

After 2004-05, this survey has been conducted in 2009-10.

The Planning Commission has updated this new poverty lines and poverty ratios for the year 2009-10 as per the recommendations of the Tendulkar Committee using NSS 66th Round (2009-10) data from the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey. Thus it has been estimated that the poverty lines at all India level as an MPCE of Rs 673 for rural areas and Rs 860 for urban areas in 2009-10.

Planning Commission made another estimate of poverty line in July 2013 by following the Tendulkar methodology, As per this latest estimate, the poverty line at all India level for 2011-12 is estimated at monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 816 (Rs 27.20 per day) for rural areas and Rs 1,000 (Rs 33.33 per day) for urban areas.

The Planning Commission has updated this new poverty lines and poverty ratios for the year 2011-12. Thus, it has been estimated that poverty lines at all India level as an MPCE of Rs 816 for rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas.

Essay # 2. Absolute and Relative Poverty:

Most of the time, the concept of poverty and its discussion is usually confined to absolute poverty. Accordingly, absolute poverty is measured by a pre-determined level of living which families or households should be able to afford. Thus in absolute sense, the concept of poverty is not related to the income and the distribution of consumption expenditure, which is usually done in the measure of relative poverty.

Thus in the measure of absolute poverty, the absolute minimum consumption basket includes consumption of food grains, vegetables, milk products and other important items which are necessary for attaining healthy living along with access to other important non-food items. While doing so, these standards are converted into monetary units to define it as ‘Poverty Line’ .

People whose consumption expenditures are found below this threshold limit are usually considered as poor. For example, the one-dollar consumption expenditure per capita in PPP dollars is the absolute poverty line accepted internationally. This concept of absolute poverty is very much relevant to poor and less developed countries where large scale absolute poverty prevails.

Relative poverty, on the other hand, considers over all distribution of income and the relative position of a household within that distribution pattern. Here in this concept of relative poverty, the relative position of one section of people is compared with another group. This concept of relative poverty can also be extended to other countries to get a comparative estimate of poverty in a relative manner.

In 1871, Dadabhai Naoroji wrote a book entitled “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India” which shows that India was comparatively a very poor country. In 2003, the per capita income of USA was US $ 35,060 and that of United Kingdom was US $ 25,250 and thus UK can be considered as poor as compared to US.

Thus relative poverty is very much associated with the issues of inequality. Here the extent of income or consumption of the last quintile population (poorest) could be compared with the richest quintile showing a wide gap between the two.

In terms of relative poverty the last quintile population would be termed as poor whereas in terms of absolute poverty criterion the same last quintile group may not be termed as poor as they are maintaining the income and consumption bucket above the minimum level that represents poverty line.

If half of the population of the country is maintaining its average income below the per capita income of the country then they can be termed as poor on the relative criterion although they maintain the minimum basket of goods and services to remain above the poverty line. Thus relative poverty looks at the angle of inequality. Thus, the concept of relative poverty is completely different from Absolute poverty.

Essay # 3. Incidence of Poverty in India:

In order to determine the strategy of development of the country, it is quite essential to make an appropriate estimate of incidence of poverty in India. But appropriate and reliable data for the estimation of the extent of poverty is not available in India.

However, on the basis of NSS data on consumption expenditure, various estimates of the extent of poverty have been made by Minhas, Dandekar and Rath, P.K. Bardhan and Ahluwalia. But due to the differences in their concept of poverty, their results vary widely.

Let us now discuss the findings of these estimates:

Estimates of B.S. Minhas:

The study of the extent of poverty made by Minhas covered the period 1956- 57 to 1967-68. Taking the annual per capita minimum expenditure of? 240 as the minimum standard (on the basis on NSS data), he found that the proportion of people below the poverty line declined from 64 per cent in 1956-57 to 50.6 per cent in 1967-68.

Estimates of Dandekar and Rath:

Dandekar and Rath estimated their own standard of poverty line taking 2,250 calories as the desired minimum level of nutrition. They observed “that level of consumer expenditure is desirable which secures a diet adequate at least in terms of calories. In 1960-61, this was Rs 170 per capita per annum for rural households and Rs 271 per capita per annum for urban household”.

Their estimates revealed that in 1968-69 nearly 40 per cent of the rural population (i.e., about 166 million) and over 50 per cent of the urban population (i.e., nearly 49 million) were living below the poverty line.

Total number of persons living below the poverty line also increased from 117 million in 1960-61 to 216 million in 1968- 69, although the proportion of population below the poverty line remained the same at 41 per cent.

Estimates of P.K. Bardhan:

Bardhan advocated a lower standard for estimating the poverty line and thus considered Rs 15 per capita per month at 1960-61 prices for the rural poverty line and Rs 18 for the urban line. On the basis of the NSSO data on consumption expenditure, Bardhan’s study revealed that in 1968-69 about 55 per cent of rural population and 41 per cent of the urban population of the country were lying below the poverty line.

Moreover, Bardhan concluded that the percentage of population below the poverty line rose from 38 per cent in 1960-61 to 55 per cent in 1968-69.

Estimates of M.S. Ahluwalia:

Ahluwalia studied the incidence of poverty in India for the period 1956- 57 to 1973-74. Taking the same concept of poverty line of Rs 15 per month at 1960-61 prices for rural areas and Rs 20 per head per month for urban areas he estimated that 54.1 per cent of the rural population in 1956- 57 was lying below the poverty line.

This extent of poverty declined to 38.9 per cent in 1960-61 and then again rose to 56.5 per cent in 1966-67. He further estimated that in 1973-74, about 46.1 per cent of the rural population was below the poverty line. This revealed that the incidence of poverty in India fluctuated over the years.

Planning Commission’s Estimates of Poverty in India:

In recent years, the Planning Commission has also estimated the incidence of poverty in India taking Rs 77 per capita per month (at 1979-80 prices) as the bare minimum consumption for drawing the poverty line for the rural population.

Later on the Planning Commission revised per capita monthly expenditure for drawing poverty line at Rs 115.43 for rural areas and Rs 165.58 for urban areas in 1987-88. Table 12.1 shows these estimates of incidence of poverty.

These estimates revealed that the proportion of rural population lying below the poverty line declined from 54.1 per cent in 1972-73 to 51.2 per cent in 1977-78 and then it again declined to 40.1 per cent in 1983-84 and 28.37 per cent in 1987-88.

Again the proportion of urban population lying below the poverty line declined from 41.2 per cent in 1972-73 to 38.2 per cent in 1977-78 and then again declined to 28.1 per cent in 1983-84 and then to 16.82 per cent in 1987-88.

Accordingly, these estimates revealed that the percentage of total population below the poverty line declined from 51.5 per cent in 1972-73 to 37.4 per cent in 1983- 84 and then to 25.49 per cent in 1987-88.

Planning Commission Revised estimates of Poverty (1993-94) :

The Planning Commission estimates the incidence of poverty in rural and urban areas of the country using the quinquennial survey data on household consumption expenditure released by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), coupled with the poverty lines as set out in the Report of the Task Force on Projection of Minimum needs and Effective Consumption Demand, constituted by the Planning Commission in 1979. In view of the recent revisions in the aggregate private consumption expenditure made by CSO and the population data derived from census results, the poverty estimates for 1987-88 have been revised.

Expert Group Estimates, July 1993 :

In view of the methodological issues raised in respect of the estimates on poverty and also poverty alleviation being an objective of economic and social development, the Planning Commission constituted an Expert Group on September 1989 for considering methodology and computational aspects of estimation of proportion and number of poor persons in the country.

While retaining the concept of poverty line as recommended by the Task Force, the Expert Group suggested certain basic changes in the price deflator to update the poverty line for its application in later years. This group suggested use of state specific price indices which can reflect the changes in cost of consumption basket of the people around the poverty line.

It also relied exclusively on the National Sample Survey (NSS) data on consumption expenditure to assess the incidence of poverty without adjusting the NSS Consumption that is obtained from macro-aggregates of the national accounts.

The Expert Group has estimated the percentage of population living below the poverty line under the new estimating pattern, as given in Table 12.2:

The report of the Expert Group which was submitted in July 1993, was subsequently released by the Planning Commission and its recommendations are under consideration. The new estimate has also confirmed a steady decline in proportion of population below the poverty line.

Together with the overall economic growth, the anti-poverty and employment generation programmes have helped in reducing the incidence of poverty over the long run.

Accordingly, the poverty ratio in rural areas declined from 56.4 per cent in 1973- 74 to 45.7 per cent in 1983 and then to 37.3 per cent in 1993-94. Again the poverty ratio in urban areas also declined from 49.0 per cent in 1973-74 to 40.8 per cent in 1983 and then to 32.4 per cent in 1993-94.

Moreover, the poverty ratio of the country as a whole has also declined from 54.9 per cent in 1973-74 to 44.5 per cent in 1983, 38.9 per cent in 1987-88 and then to 36.0 per cent in 1993-94 and finally to 26.1 per cent in 1999-2000 and 24.4 per cent in 2000-01.

In numerical terms, the number of persons living below the poverty line in India increased from 321 million in 1973-74 to 329 million in 1977-78 and then gradually declined to 307 million in 1987-88 and then again increased to 320 million in 1993-94 and then to 260 million in 1999-2000.

Planning Commission estimates on the basis of NSSO Data, 1999-2000 :

Recent estimate of poverty was made by the Planning Commission on the basis of NSSO 55th round data for the year 1999-2000. Some of the key results of the 55th Round of the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) covering the period July 1999 to June 2000, have now become available showing a very significant decline in poverty.

Accordingly, the rural poverty has declined to 27.1 per cent based on 30-day recall and 24.0 per cent on a 7-day recall methodology. Again the poverty ratio in urban areas has also declined to 23.6 per cent based on 30-day recall and 21.6 per cent on 7-day recall methodology.

Moreover, the poverty ratio of the country as a whole has declined to 26.1 per cent based on 30-day and 23.3 per cent on 7-day recall methodology. These two sets of estimates may not be strictly comparable to the earlier estimates of poverty. Nonetheless, they provide clear evidence indicating a substantial decline in the overall poverty ratio in the country during the 1990s.

As per the recent estimate based on NSSO data, it is observed that in 1999-2000 the country has 260 million population living below the poverty line (BPL); out of which 193 million live in rural areas and 67 million live in urban areas.

Thus the Planning Commission estimate of poverty on the basis of the NSSO 1999-2000 data is the latest official estimates of poverty and non official estimates on poverty are available beyond this data. Economic Surveys for 2003-04 and 2004-05, on the basis of the result of 55th round of NSSO, had indicated that there has been an impressive decline in the incidence of poverty in the 1990s.

However, the extent of the actual decline in the proportion below the poverty line (BPL) between 1993-99 and 1999-2000 has been a subject of an intense debate by academicians because of the change in methodology for collection of basic data in 1999-2000 and possible non-comparability with earlier rounds of the consumer expenditure surveys.

Planning Commission’s Estimates on the basis of NSSO Data, 2004-05 :

Next official estimates of poverty incidence is based on the NSSO 61st round of large-scale sample survey in 2004-05. On the basis of the quinquennial large sample surveys on household consumer expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), incidence of poverty is estimated by the Planning Commission for the year 2004-05.

Table 12.2(a) reveals this poverty estimate.

Table 12.2(a) reveals that the Uniform Recall Period (URP) consumption distribution data of NSS 61st Round yields a poverty ratio of 28.3 per cent in rural areas, 25.7 per cent in urban areas and 27.5 per cent for the country as a whole in 2004-05.

The corresponding poverty ratios calculated from the Mixed Recall Period (MRP) consumption distribution data are 21.8 per cent for rural areas, 21.7 per cent for urban areas and 21.8 for the country as a whole.

While the former consumption data (URP) uses 30-day recall/reference period for all items of consumption, the latter (MRP) uses 365-day recall/reference period for five infrequently purchased non-food items, namely, clothing, footwear, durable goods, education and institutional medical expenses and 30-day recall/reference period for remaining items.

The percentage of poor in 2004-05 estimated from URP consumption distribution of NSS 61st Round of consumer expenditure data (27.5 per cent) are comparable with the poverty estimates of 1993-94 (50th Round) which was 36 per cent for the country as a Whole, The percentage of poor in 2004-95 estimated from MRP consumption expenditure of NSS 61st Round of consumer expenditure data (21.8 per cent) are roughly comparable with the poverty estimates of 1999- 2000 (55th Round) which was 26.1 per cent for the country as a whole.

Average per capita consumption expenditure for rural and urban population as per 61st Round (2004- 05) is Rs 558.78 and Rs 1,052.36 respectively. NSSO Data also reveals that rural population on an average spends about 55 per cent of its consumption on food and remaining 45 per cent on non-food items.

Estimates of Poverty Ratio by Tendulkar Committee, 2004-05 :

The above estimate of poverty ratio was prepared by an Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Professor Suresh D. Tendulkar Constituted by the Planning Commission in December 2005, which submitted its report in December 2009. The recomputed poverty estimates for the years 1993-94 and 2004-05 as recommended by the Tendulkar Committee have been accepted by the Planning Commission.

As per the Tendulkar Committee Report, the national poverty line at 2004-05 prices was a monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Rs 446.68 for rural and Rs 578.80 for urban areas in 2004-05. The above estimates of poverty line which refer to the national average, vary from state to state because of price differentials.

It its report, the Tendulkar Committee mentioned that the proposed poverty lines have been validated by checking the adequacy of actual private expenditure per capita near the poverty lines on food, education and health by comparing them with normative expenditures consistent with nutritional, educational and health outcomes.

In order to have a two point comparison of changes in head count ratio, the Expert Group has again re-estimated poverty ratio for 1993-94. The head count poverty ratio for 1993-94 and 2004-05 as released earlier by the Planning Commission on the basis of Lakdawala Methodology and also by using by the Tendulkar Methodology are shown in Table 12.2.(b).

It is observed that as per Lakdawala methodology, the poverty ratio in general in India declined from 36.0 per cent in 1993-94 to 27.5 per cent in 2004-05 showing poverty reduction to the extent of 8.5 per cent.

But as per Tendulkar methodology, the same poverty ratio declined from 45.3 per cent in 1993-94 to 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 showing poverty reduction of 8.1 per cent. However, in respect of both these two methodologies, the extent of poverty reduction is not much different.

Table 12.2(c) shows comparative estimate of the poverty incidence and growth rates in India and some other selected Asian countries.

Table 12.2(c) reveals that although the reduction of the overall poverty ratio in India from 54.9 per cent to 36 per cent during a period of three decades (1973-93) is quite significant, but the performance of poverty alleviation or reduction has been weak as compared to that of some East Asian countries.

While the poverty ratio in India has declined from 54.9 per cent in 1975 to -36.0 per cent in 1995, the same ratio has declined from 59.5 per cent to 22.2 per cent in China, 64.3 per cent to 11.4 per cent in Indonesia, 23.0 per cent to 5.0 per cent in Korea, 17.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent in Malaysia and 8.1 per cent to 0.9 per cent in Thailand during the same period.

It may be observed that the success of some East Asian countries (like China and Indonesia) lies in faster average (GDP) economic growth being 11.1 per cent in China, 6.6 per cent in Indonesia and 8.7 per cent in Korea during 1980-95 period as compared to that of only 5.6 per cent in India.

Moreover, the annual reduction in poverty ratio during the period 1975-95 was 0.9 percentage point in India as compared to that of 1.9 percentage point in China, 2.6 percentage point in Indonesia and 0.7 percentage point in Malaysia.

Planning Commission’s Estimates on the basis of NSSO Data, 2009-10 :

The Planning Commission has updated the poverty lines and poverty ratios for the year 2009-10 as per the recommendations of the Tendulkar Committee using NSS 66th Round (2009-10) data from Household Consumer Expenditure Survey. It has estimated the poverty lines at all India level as an monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 673 for rural areas and Rs 860 for urban areas in 2009-10.

Based on these cut-offs, the percentage of people living below the poverty line in the country has declined from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10. Even in absolute terms, the number of poor people has fallen by 52.4 million during this period.

Of this 48.1 million are rural poor and 4.3 million are urban poor. Accordingly, the total number of poor in the country has been estimated at 34.47 crore in 2009-10 as against 40.72 crore in 2004-05.

The all India head count ratio (HCR) has declined by 7.3 percentage points from 37.2 per cent in 2004- 05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10, with rural poverty declining by 8 percentage points from 41.8 per cent to 33.8 per cent and urban poverty declining by 4.8 percentage point from 25.7 per cent to 20.9 per cent.

The sharp decline in poverty of over 10 percentage points was witnessed in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. It is also revealed from the report that the poverty has increased in North-Eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

Some of the bigger states such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have shown only marginal decline in poverty ratio, particularly in rural areas. These estimates of poverty made by the Planning Commission are based on methodology recommended by the Tendulkar Committee, which includes spending on health and education, besides calorie intake.

It is also observed that poverty has declined on an average by 1,5 percentage points per year between 2004-05 to 2009-10. The annual averages rate of decline during the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is twice the rate of decline during the period 1993-94 to 2004-05.

Planning Commission’s revised Estimates of Poverty Ratio on the basis of NSSO data, 2011-12:

The Planning Commission’s revised estimates of poverty ratio based on NSSO data, 2011-12 can be seen from the following Table 12.2(d).

The Planning Commission has revised the estimates of poverty lines and poverty ratios for the year 2011-12 following the Tendulkar methodology using the NSS 68th Round (2011-12) data from Household consumer expenditure Survey.

Accordingly, the poverty line at all India level for 2011-12 is estimated at monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of 7 816 (Rs 27 per day) for rural areas and Rs 1000 (Rs 33 per day) for urban areas. Based on these cut-offs the proportion of people living below the poverty line in the country has declined from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12.

In absolute terms there were 26.93 crore people below the poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.72 crore in 2004-05.

However, this current estimate of poverty has triggered controversy among different people. Some groups argue that the poverty ratio of 2011-12 is too low and far from reality. However, the impact of economic growth, agricultural and industrial development and effect of rural uplift and rural employment schemes cannot be totally denied.

Thus it is observed that over a span of seven years the incidence of poverty declined from 37.2 per cent to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 for the country as a whole, with a sharper decline in the number of rural poor. Table 12.2 (e) shows alternative estimates of poverty in India made by different experts and important bodies and also the criteria for determining such poverty line in the country.

Essay # 4. Recent Poverty Debate in India:

In India, recently, a serious poverty debate is going on which is related to the concept and the measurement of poverty. The current debate centres on the estimation of price deflators, reference period for survey and also for determining the basis of poverty line.

Growth of per capita income over 3 per cent per annual during 1990’s and the increasing divergence in the per capita expenditure reflected in NSSO schedules and the national accounts systems have been cited to point out that the NSSO consumer expenditure surveys has under estimated consumption expenditure.

Accordingly, the incidence of poverty is considered to be overestimated. But, on the other hand, serious debate continued on the incidence of poverty after the release of official estimates of poverty by the Planning Commission for 1999-2000. In this report it is found that between 1993- 94 and 1999-2000, overall poverty in India declined by 10 per cent and in rural areas by more than 10 per cent.

On this matter many scholars have questioned about the comparability of the 1993-94 and 1999-2000 estimates due to the changes in the method of data collection. They observed that the incidence of poverty has been under estimated through over-reporting of expenditure by the surveyed households due to changes in the survey design.

Two subsequent studies made by Sundaram and Tendulkar (2003) and Sen and Himangshu (2003) argued that such decline in the incidence of poverty between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 would be in the range 7 per cent to 4.5 per cent respectively as compared to that to 10 per cent estimated officially earlier.

Essay # 5. Poverty Differential among Different States in India :

A high degree of poverty differentials among the various states of India has been continuing from the very beginning. Although various measures were undertaken since the inception of planning for the eradication of poverty throughout the country and some degree of success has also been attained in reducing the poverty ratio in general among all the states but the high degree of poverty differentials still persist among different states of the country.

State-wise poverty ratios have witnessed a secular decline from 1973-74 to 2004-05. The poverty is estimated from the state-specific poverty lines and the distribution of persons by expenditure groups obtained from the NSS data on consumption expenditure.

It is observed that though poverty has declined at the macro level, rural-urban and inter-state disparities at the poverty ratio are clearly visible. The state specific poverty ratios at the national and state levels and the poverty differentials among different states from 1973-74 to 2004-05 can be seen from Table 12.3.

Table 12.3 reveals the poverty ratio of different states. It is observed that the poverty ratio both at the rural and urban level in different states has declined considerably but still a high degree of poverty differentials still exist between backward and relatively developed states of the country leading to mounting regional disparities.

The rural poverty ratio of relatively backward states in 1973-74 which were 67.28 per cent in Orissa, 62.99 per cent in Bihar, 62.66 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 52.67 per cent in Assam, gradually declined to 60.80 per cent in Orissa, 55.70 per cent in Bihar, 53.60 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 36.40 per cent in Assam in 2004-05.

But the present poverty ratios of backward states are still very high as compared to that of relatively developed states like Punjab (22.1 per cent), Gujarat (39.10 per cent) and Kerala (20.2 per cent).

Thus, the rural poverty ratio is still relatively high in Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern states. In Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the urban poverty ratios were in the range of 35.1 to 43.7 per cent in 2004-2005.

But the combined poverty ratio of the backward states during the period 1973-74 to 2004-05 gradually declined from 66.18 per cent to 57.2 per cent in Orissa, 61.91 per cent to 54.4 per cent in Bihar, 61.78 per cent to 48.6 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 51.21 per cent to 34.4 per cent in Assam. But the performance of few other states in this regard has been found quite satisfactory.

The combined poverty ratio of states like Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh which were 59.79, 63.43, 54.94 and 57.07 in 1973-74 respectively, gradually declined substantially to 19.70, 34.3, 28.9 and 40.9 respectively.

Thus, there has been a significant reduction in poverty ratio during the period in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Lakshadweep, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Thus, while some states such as Punjab and Haryana have succeeded in reducing poverty by following the path of modernisation of agriculture and high agricultural growth, others have focused on particular areas of development, e.g., Kerala has focused on human resource development, West Bengal on vigorous implementation of land reform measures and empowerment of Panchayats and Andhra Pradesh on direct public intervention in the form of public distribution of food grains.

The Approach Paper of the Tenth Plan also recorded the projections of poverty level at the end of Tenth Plan prepared by the plan panel. As per this projection, it is found that if macro-economic and sectoral projections for the Tenth Plan (2002-07) are achieved, the poverty ratio in India should fall to 19.2 per cent by the end of plan period.

While the urban poverty ratio is expected to drop to 14.6 per cent, rural poverty ratio is also projected to fall to 21.0 per cent. The poverty projections further show that 90 per cent of the poor will be concentrated in eight states, such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

All India GDP growth targets of more than 8.0 per cent accompanied by high agricultural growth in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi should make the poverty levels negligible in these states. Keeping in mind the migration factor from relatively poorer states to the prosperous ones, it has projected a poverty level of 2.0 per cent in these states by 2007.

Poverty Differentials of Different States as per Planning Commission Estimate on the Basis of NSSO Data, 1999-2000 and 2004-05 :

As per the estimate made by the Planning Commission on the basis of NSSO data, 1999-2000, the poverty differentials among the different states of the country still persist at a wide level.

Orissa has the dubious distinction of having the maximum percentage of BPL population (47.15 per cent) while the Jammu and Kashmir has the least number of such population, i.e., 3.48 per cent. Besides Orissa, the only Other State with over 40 per cent BPL population is Bihar, in which 42.6 per cent of the total population is living below the poverty line (BPL).

The states with more than 30 per cent BPL population are Uttar Pradesh (31.15 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (33.47 per cent), Assam (36.09 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (37.43 per cent), Nagaland (32.67 per cent), Sikkim (36.65 per cent) and Tripura (34.44 per cent).

Other states with below 10 per cent BPL population are Goa (4.4 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (3.48 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (7.63 per cent), Haryana (8.74 per cent), Punjab (6.16 per cent), Chandigarh (5.75 per cent), Daman and Diu (4.44 per cent) and Delhi (8.23 per cent).

However in absolute terms, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of those living below the poverty line at 52.98 million while Daman and Diu has just 6,000 BPL population.

Among those states with more than 10 million BPL population include—Andhra Pradesh (11.9 million or 15.77 per cent), Karnataka (10.44 per cent); Maharashtra (22.79 million or 25.02 per cent), Orissa (16.9 million or 47.15 per cent), Tamil Nadu (13.04 million or 21.12 per cent) and West Bengal (21.34 million or 27.02 per cent).

Thus wide inter-state disparities are visible in the poverty ratios between rural and urban areas as also in the rates of decline of poverty. Among major states like Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, more than 50 per cent of their population lived below the poverty line in 1983.

By 1999-2000, while Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had reduced their poverty ratio by nearly half, Orissa and Bihar continued to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 47 and 43 per cent respectively. In 1999-2000, 20 states and Union Territories had poverty ratios which were less than the national average.

Among other states, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka also succeeded significantly in reducing the incidence of poverty.

Poverty Differentials of Different States as per Planning Commission Estimate on the Basis of NSSO Data, 2004-05:

As per the recent estimate made by the Planning Commission on the basis of NSSO data 2004-05, the poverty differentials among different states of the country still persists at a wide leve.

Among the states, orissa has again the dubious distinction of having maximum percentage of BPL population (52.2 per cent), followed by Bihar (54.4 per cent), which Kerela has the lowest poverty ratio of 19.7 per cent in 2004-05.

The states with more than 30 per cent BPL population as 2004-05 estimates are Madhya Pradesh (48.6 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (40.9 per cent), Maharashtra (38.1 per cent), Assam and Rajasthan (34.4 per cent), West Bengal (34.3 per cent), Karnataka (33.4 per cent) and Gujarat (31.8 per cent).

The states with below 30 per cent BPL population includes-Tamil Nadu (28.9 per cent) , Himachal Pradesh (24.1 per cent), Haryana (22.9 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (29.9 per cent), Punjab (20.9 per cent), and Kerela 19.7 per cent.

Thus there remains wide poverty differentials among the different states of India as per 2004-05 estimates.

This situation underscores the need for rapid growth of output and employment coupled with strengthening of the special programmes of poverty alleviation and employment generation. Thus this problem of poverty has to be dealt in the framework of the strategy of development laying emphasis on those sectors whose growth makes a significant impact on the income level of the underemployed.

Thus the findings of the study made by Minhas, Dandekar and Rath, Bardhan and others revealed that most of the people living below the poverty line belonging to landless agricultural labour households with small holdings, land-less non-agricultural rural labour households and small land operators with les than 1 hectare of land holdings.

Accordingly, Danekar and Rath observed tha, “The urban poor are only an overflow of the rural p[oor into the urban area. Fundamentally, they belong to the same class as the rural poor. However, as they live long enough in urban poverty, they acquire characteristics of their own. Little is known of their and labour in the growing cities.”

Thus the problem of poverty in India is quite chronic. Inspite of 4 decardes of planning, the problem of poverty is still persisting in the country.

Thus Amartya Sen rightly observed, “The poor is not an economic class, nor convenient category to use for analysing social and economic movements. Poverty is the common outcome of variety of desperate economic circumstances and a policy to tackle poverty must, of necessity, go beyond the concept of poverty. The need of discrimination is essential.”……. “ It is not sufficient to know how many poor people there are, but how exactly poor they are.”

Essay # 6. Poverty Alleviation Programmes:

Although the problem of poverty has been persisting in India since the inception of planning but the serious programmes for the alleviation of poverty were introduced only in recent years. Poverty alleviation was accepted as one of the major objectives of planning since the Fifth Plan.

It is only during the 1970s the programmes like Small Farmer’s Development Agency (SFDA), Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Development Agency (MFAL), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) and Food for Work Programme (FWP) were introduced for benefitting the rural poor. Later on, the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) was introduced in 1978-79.

In order to provide wage employment to the rural poor, the National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and the Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) were introduced during the Sixth Plan. Later on, on April 1, 1989, NREP and RLEGP were merged into a single wage employment programme under Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY).

IRDP is also being implemented by the Government since 1980 as a major instrument of its strategy to alleviate rural poverty. The objective of the programme is to assist poor families in developing skills and inputs to overcome their poverty. So far 41.3 million families have been assisted with a total investment of Rs 19,318 crore. The level of investment per family at the end of March 1993 was Rs 7,141.

Concurrent evaluation of IRDP carried out by the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment reveals that as many as 16 per cent of families assisted under IRDP were able to cross the poverty line of Rs 6,400 during 1989. Again as per preliminary results of concurrent evaluation of IRDP carried out during September 1992 to February 1993, about 50 per cent of assisted families could cross the poverty line of Rs 6,400

During the Eighth Plan 18 million families were assisted under IRDP with plan provision of Rs 3,350 crore. At the end of March 1993, about 21 lakh families living below the poverty / line were given income generating assets with a mixture of credit and subsidy.

Moreover, providing skills to rural youth belonging to families below poverty line and also to enable them to take up self or wage employment, the Training of Rural Youth for self Employment (TRYSEM) was introduced in August 1979.

A total of 26.6 lakh youths and 11.3 lakh women so far have been trained under this scheme, out of which 15.6 lakh youths have been fully employed. In 1992-93 and 1993-94 about 2.8 lakh and 3.04 lakh youths respectively were trained under TRYSEM and under JRY, about 7,821 lakh and 10,237 lakh man-days of employment respectively were generated.

During the first four years of the Eighth Plan (1992-93 to 1995-96), total number of youths trained was 11.47 lakh as against its target of 13.18 lakh and total number of man-days of employment generated under JRY was 365.54 crore as against its target of 362.86 crore. Again during the first four years of the Eighth Plan, total number of IRDP families assisted was 89.13 lakh as against its target of 65.6 lakh.

Family Credit Plan (FCP) is also a useful device to ensure higher investment for a beneficiary family under IRDP to enable the family to cross the poverty line. Under IRDP, all families in rural areas below the poverty line are eligible for assistance.

In 1993-94, two new programmes, namely the Employment Assurance Schemes (EAS) and the Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) were introduced. The EAS is now implemented in 3,175 backward blocks in the country. It aims at providing 100 days of unskilled manual work up to two members of a family in the age group of 18 to 60 years normally residing in villages within the blocks covered under EAS.

It is a need based programme hence no target of employment generation has been fixed. Under EAS/SGRY, total man- days of employment generated in 1993-94 was 494.94 lakh, 4,165.3 lakh in 1998-99, 8,223 lakh in 2004- 2005. Under PMRY, total employment generated in 1993-94 was 0.45 lakh and in 1994-95 was 2.83 lakh, in 2003-2004 was 1.8 lakh as against the target of 3.00 lakh.

The Economic Survey, 2002-03 in this connection observed, “The success of anti-poverty strategy is reflected in the decline in the combined poverty ratio from 54.9 per cent in 1973-74 to 36.0 per cent in 1993- 94. The poverty ratio declined by nearly 10 percentage points in the 5 year period between 1993-94 to reach 26.1 per cent in 1999-2000. While tile proportion of poor in the rural areas declined from 56.4 per cent in 1973-74 to 27.1 per cent in 1999-00, the decline in urban areas has been from 49 per cent to 23.6 per cent during this period. In absolute terms, the number of poor declined to 260 million in 1999-00 with about 75 per cent of these being in the rural areas.”

National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) :

The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) was announced on 15th August 1995 for providing succor to the aged and families below the poverty line. The NSAP for the poor encompasses old age pension, family benefit in case of the death of the bread-winner and maternity benefits.

The NSAP is a centrally sponsored programme with 100 per cent central funding and it is intended to ensure that social protection to the beneficiaries throughout the country is uniformly available without interruption.

The NSAP consists of the following three components:

(a) National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS):

Providing a pension of Rs 75 per month to destitute and to person above 65 years of age living below the poverty line. This was expected to benefit 54 lakh people. In 2006-07, Rs 2,800 crore was allocated for the scheme.

(b) National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS):

This scheme makes provision for lump-sum survivor benefit on the death of the primary bread winner in poor households of Rs 10,000 in the case of accidental death and Rs 5,000 in the case of death from unnatural causes. This scheme was expected to benefit 4.5 lakh families a year.

(c) National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS):

This scheme provides maternity benefit of Rs 300 for expectant mothers per pregnancy up to the first two live births. This scheme was expected to benefit 46 lakh women each year. This programme involves an expenditure of Rs 867 crore in full year. An outlay of Rs 515 crore was provided during 1995-96 and a sum of Rs 725 crore was provided for the above three components of NSAP in 1999-2000 budget.

Targets of Tenth Plan :

Apart from an indicative target of an 8 per cent average GDP growth rate, specific monitor able targets of key indicators have been finalised for the Tenth Plan (2002-07) and beyond. One of these pertains to the reduction in poverty ratio by five percentage points by 2007 by 15 percentage points by 2012.

The poverty reduction target set by the Planning Commission for the Tenth Five Year Plan aimed at achieving a poverty ratio of 19.3 per cent for the country as a whole by 2007, 21.1 per cent for the rural and 15.1 per cent for the urban areas.

Critical Evaluation of Poverty Alleviation Programmes :

But all- these poverty alleviation programmes did not yield the desired result due to some of its shortcomings. These were:

(a) Allocation of funds and determination of targets were made without considering the size of the population and incidence of poverty leading to wrong identification of families;

(b) The selection of schemes was also not done in a rational manner;

(c) Poverty alleviation programmes failed to recognise importance of increased flow of social inputs through nutrition, family welfare, social security;

(d) This programme neglected the disabled, sick and socially handicapped persons;

(e) The present approach was almost blind about the existence of secondary poverty;

(f) The present poverty line crossing criterion for evaluation the income changes occurring below poverty line;

(g) The poverty alleviation programmes ignored the consequences of the earning activities of the poor people in terms of occupational health hazards and adverse ecological factors.

The Government is seriously reviewing its rural anti-poverty programmes in the light of lapses noticed and in the context of formulating the current five year plan. The Planning Commission has constituted a steering Group and six other groups to look into “poverty alleviation and area development programmes in rural India.”

So far, scrutiny of the working of the two major programmes—Integrated Rural Development programme (IRDP) and Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) has thrown up some major areas of concern. While on the positive side, under the IRDP scheme, beneficiaries were selectively chosen for assistance so as not to leave out the really needy.

On the flip side, it has been observed that a second dose of assistance given to beneficiaries was very low. Only 2.38 per cent of the total old beneficiaries were given a second dose, while new beneficiaries received less than 2.16 per cent assistance, implying enough attention has not been paid to providing subsequent doses of assistance to eligible families.

Moreover, the poverty alleviation schemes being administered by the banks must be evaluated and reviewed to ensure that benefits reach the intended target group. There is an urgent need to restructure the existing poverty alleviation schemes for focused and effective implementation as a large number of schemes were being implemented which resulted in “loss of focus”.

There is the need to compress the total number of schemes into two categories, i.e., those which generate employment and those which create assets for the benefit of the community.

Although the poverty alleviation programmes have four major objectives, i.e., generation of employment, creation of assets for community benefit, improvement of productivity and raising the general living standards of the people below the poverty line, but the thrust of all these schemes should be to create assets which directly benefit a large number of people.

Measures to be Adopted :

Success of poverty alleviation programmes not only depends on launching of wage employment and self-employment programmes but it also depends on the improvement of land relations in favour of the cultivators and redistribution of income in favour of the rural poor.

Thus the Approach paper of the Fifth Plan rightly observed that “Employment is the surest way to enable the vast numbers, living below the poverty level, to rise above it. Conventional fiscal measures for redistribution of income cannot by themselves make a significant impact on the problem.”

Thus in order to remove poverty steps must also be taken in the following directions:

(i) To impose ceiling on land and redistribution of ceiling—surplus land among the landless, small and marginal farmers.

(ii) To make provision for proper security of tenure for the tenant cultivators and share-croppers.

(iii) To provide employment to huge number of landless unemployed workers by developing agro-based small scale industries in the wage goods sector.

(iv) To take necessary steps for the reclamation of land and to arrange irrigation facilities for dry lands.

(v) To provide minimum amenities of life in rural areas and also in urban slum areas through Minimum Needs Programme.

(vi) To develop growth centres in order to run various projects like animal husbandry, dairy, fishing, poultry farming, farm forestry etc.

(vii) To ensure that rural development programmes like IRDP, JRY are redressed properly so that they can generate sufficient wage employment and self-employment opportunities to the rural poor. But the present contract system followed for the implementation of these programmes should be stopped and proper institutional framework should be provided so that rural workers can engage themselves with much vigour and responsibility.

Professor Sukhamoy Chakraborty rightly observed that “The solution to the problem of rural poverty will require that small farmers must also be given access to land-augmenting innovation along with a programme of well-conceived public works………………….. many of the specific tasks will need to be done on a decentralised basis.”

In order to implement these measures effectively, it will require a strong political will on the part of the government and active participation of the people with growing consciousness about their rights and responsibilities.

It can be observed further that India must sustain eight (8) per cent growth rate and aim for attaining nine (9) per cent growth rate as otherwise it would not be able to eradicate poverty.

The World Bank report entitled, “India : Achievements and Challenges in Reducing Poverty”, recently observed that the poverty level in India could go down from the current level of about 35 per cent to just 6.3 per cent by the year 2005 if the economy maintains its growth and income distribution levels.

The report further observed, “this would be a tremendous achievement for a country which is home to the largest concentration of poor in the world.”

The Bank noted that Indian economy has grown on an average by six per cent to seven per cent over the past few years. A senior World Bank economist Mr. Zoubida Allaoua, the principal author of the report said, “India has made substantial gains against widespread deprivation over the past 50 years.”

The Bank opined that the Indian Government should push for more growth so as to eradicate poverty within the least possible time.

Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman Mr. C. Rangarajan, while delivering a foundation day lecture at centre for Economic and Social Studies on 22nd February, 2014 observed that pro-poor policies by the government must be aimed at growth in the long run and also ensure flow of investments in the sectors working for poor.

Mr. Rangarajan also advocated public-private partnership model for delivery of social services such as health and education. He further observed that the design of policies has, therefore, to perform delicate balancing act. The pro-poor policies are necessary as they are to widen the opportunities and capabilities of the poor, must be so fashioned as to promote growth in the long run.

Pro-Poor policies should include not only income transfers which by their nature have to be limited, but also flow of investment to sectors and areas where poor work and live. Rural development including agriculture growth thus assumes major importance.

On the delivery of social services, he further argued that the delivery channel need not necessarily be through government administrative mechanism.

“Public-private partnerships in the delivery of these services need to be explored. Which taking advantage of superior administrative efficiency of private institutions, the larger public goals should not be sacrificed. Public-private partnership mode of delivery can thus supplement the direct delivery of services through government institutions.”

Such a model has proved to be a success in India in the case of AIDS programme where non-governmental organisations have played an extremely important role. Thus, one should try to realise seriously that social development and economic growth are not necessarily the same and thus different approaches need to be adopted for such programmes.

Essay # 7. Economic Reforms and Poverty Eradication Programme:

Alleviation of poverty has been considered as an important element in the economic policy of the country since its inception.

To meet the objective of poverty alleviation of a part of our adjustment process under economic reforms, the Government has allocated a higher amount of outlays on elementary education, rural drinking water supply assistance to small and marginal farmers, programmes for the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other weaker sections of the society, programme for women and children and also on infrastructure and employment generation projects.

Effective implementation of grass-root level development programmes requires designing of alternative strategies to empower people to help themselves. The, then Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh was of the view that mere increasing of expenditure on social sectors and rural development, as has been done in the Eighth Plan, was not sufficient to eradicate poverty.

Designing of alternative strategies was necessary since economic reforms and the government efforts to remove poverty are primarily based on self-help.

In recent times, some experts as well as voluntary agencies have expressed concern that Government’s pre-occupation with economic growth may hamper social welfare, including the health sector. But there is need for better appreciation of this alternative approach on this issue.

Dr. Singh during his address to various forums, internationally and within the country, had himself stated that there were several areas of concern about effective implementation of grassroots development programmes. These involved active participation of the people in the design and implementation of rural development schemes.

Dr. Singh observed recently, “People at all times have to beat the centre of our concern and when we talk about people, our priority has to be the poorest among them. When we talk of encouraging private investment, we are under no illusion that the private entrepreneurs would go to the remote, far-flung or the poorest areas of our country to build schools, hospitals, roads or build drinking water facilities. What we are doing is to throw open certain sectors to private entrepreneurship so that the sources of the State that are released may be diverted to meeting the more basic human needs of the people.”

‘The emphasis is to use market forces where they can be productive enough to yield better results. At the same time, strengthening of the role of the State is sought in those areas where market forces cannot be relied upon to achieve social and economic objectives.

In the medium term, a high growth rate of six to seven per cent is needed to create enough job opportunities for all the new entrants to the labour force. Resources required for meeting the needs of the poorest and improving outlays on poverty alleviation can be mobilised only when the required growth momentum has been built up.

But the Government cannot depend on growth itself to trickle down speedily to the poor. Hence, there is need for more direct attack on the problem of mass poverty.

First and foremost, it is sought to make the whole growth process more labour-intensive. Expansion of exports which are labour-intensive, relies on the country’s endowment of skills and natural resources, will open up new employment opportunities.

Leading French economist, Mr. Guy Sorman, while delivering a lecture on “Development and civilization: is economic liberalization the right solution for India?” observed recently (February, 1995) that liberalization must be accompanied by policies to remove poverty for it to be successful in India.

He said, “Liberalization is fine but is not enough” …………… “Liberalization process would take years to percolate down to the grass roots and people would have not have patience to wait that long.”

He further said that unless the Government spent its surplus on redistribution of resources, including public distribution, drinking water, basic education and health care, the whole process could go away. Of late, there has been wide ranging controversy about the impact of economic reforms on the poor.

One set of experts are alleging that the reforms have accentuated destitution and widened disparities and others are maintaining that such negative situations, if any, are purely coincidental and having little correlation with the new policy measures.

This sort of controversy was sparked off when a recent study of economic reforms and their impact on the poor people revealed that rural poverty in India rose sharply in recent years. The study conducted by Prof. S.P. Gupta revealed that the population living below the poverty line steadily rose from 39.0 per cent in 1988- 89 to 40.69 per cent during July-December 1992.

Findings of Prof. Gupta’s study came as a great deal of embarrassment to the Government, Economic Survey (1995-96) continued to record the official figure of poverty ratio from 25.49 per cent in 1987-88 to 18.96 per cent in 1993-94. But the Planning Commission did not prepare the estimates of poverty on the basis of 47th and 48th rounds of N.S.S.

Findings of Prof. Gupta were also corroborated by two eminent economists, Prof. S.D. Tendulkar and Prof. L.R. Jain. Tendulkar and lain, in their study reported that rural poverty increased from per cm in July 1990-June 1991 to 42.06 per cent in July-December 1991 and then to 48.07 per cent during January- December 1992.

Moreover, the UNDP estimates of poverty also revealed that the percentage of population lying below the poverty line was 40 per cent in 1992. The above evidence on trends in rural poverty have added a new dimension to the debate on economic reform process in India.

While the critics argued that economic reforms have accentuated the marginalization of the poorer people in the rural areas, the proponents of economic reforms and new economic policy changes argued alternatively to defend the reforms.

For example, the critics pointed out that average monthly per capita consumption of cereals declined from 14.4 kgs in 1987-88 to 13.5 kg in 1992. Data available from Sample Registration System (SRS) were also cited to show that the crude death rate of population has started to go up in the early 1990s both in urban as well as in rural areas.

But the defenders of the new economic policy have utilised the NSS data on consumption of square meals. The percentage of rural households having two square meals a day increased from 88.3 per cent in 1990-91 to 92.3 per cent in 1992.

Accordingly, they argued that people were being fed better and this did not get reflected in the consumption of cereals as more and more people were switching over to the consumption of non-cereal food items to meet their caloric requirements.

Whatever may be argument in favour or against the impact of economic reforms on poverty, there is one point which is quite striking. During the 1980s, there was a consistent decline in the proportion of people living below the poverty line.

The official estimates showed that there was a considerable fall in the poverty ratio from 48.3 per cent in 1977-78 to 37.4 per cent in 1983-84 and 25.5 per cent in 1987-88. Again the expert Group’s corresponding figures depicted the poverty ratio at 51.8 per cent, 44.8 per cent and 39.3 per cent respectively during the same years.

Main point that arises here is that whether this regressive trend has any correlation with the ongoing economic reforms. In this connection, Tendulkar and Jain argued that the new economic policy changes have not directly contributed any increase in rural poverty, though they have admitted that there has been fiscal compression induced squeeze in anti-poverty spending which was directly related to reforms.

“In fact if one considers outlays under the IRDP, this decline from Rs 809.49 crore in 1990-91 to Rs 773.09 crore in 1991-92 and Rs 662.22 crore in 1992-93, as a result there was a sharp decline in the number of beneficiary families from 28.98 lakh to 25.37 lakh and 20.69 lakh over the same period.”

Considering this criticism, the outlay on IRDP was nearly doubled in 1993-94 to Rs 1,093 crore and thereby 25.39 lakh families were assisted by this programme. But in 1994-95 this programme could assist only 21.82 lakh families and during the first eight months of 1995-96, the number of assisted families under the IRDP was only 9.01 lakh families.

Another important point raised by Tendulkar and Jain is that there has been the possible erosion of purchasing power of the poor due to rising trend in the prices of food observed during 1990s.

Although the economic reform measures cannot be said to be solely responsible for such event but there are sufficient reasons to believe that strong linkages exist between the availability of food grains, PDS off take, food grains prices and poverty ratio. In spite of consistent rise in food grains production, most of this increased production has been channelized to fill up the buffer stock of the Government.

The stocks of food grains have not been offloaded from the PDS outlets as the issue prices have more or less similar to the open market prices. This like issue prices is mostly related to the government’s policy of raising the procurement prices frequently for compensating the farmers against cuts in fertilizer subsidy.

Although in the pre-reform period, the Government tried to bridge the widening gap between procurement price and issue price through allotment of food subsidies, but the present policy of adopting fiscal austerity also forces the government to reduce the gap through the like of issue prices.

Thus the fiscal compression- induced cuts in outlay for the social sector have indicated that economic reforms have started to exert adverse impact on poverty.

The Government has revamped programme for raising the incomes of the people living below the poverty line, particularly in rural areas and the public distribution system has been extended to the most backward block for supply of essential articles of mass consumption to provide a measure of protection to the poor against inflation.

The liberalisation programme has helped agriculture. Besides, as excessively high protection to industry comes down, the relative profitability of agriculture improved. Impediments to trade in farm products were removed. New incentives have given boost to farm exports, The rising trend in agro, horticulture, aquaculture and other exports has generated new employment opportunities in the rural sector.

Moreover, an adequate flow of institutional rural credit to agriculture is vital for the development of the rural sector and this flow at present is very low in relation to need. Thus considering the situation, several new schemes for social uplift and poverty alleviation were launched by the Government during the recent years of economic reforms.

These included:

(a) Employment Assurance Scheme for providing 100 days of unskilled manual labour to the rural poor, in the 2,475 backward blocks including those that are flood prone in the country;

(b) Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana aimed at providing employment to unemployed youth through the creation of micro-enterprises;

(c) National Social Assistance Programme which encompasses old age pension, family benefits in case of death of the bread earner and maternity benefits;

(d) Rural Group Life Insurance Scheme, with a subsidized premium;

(e) National Programme of Nutritional support to Primary education (also known as Mid-Day Meal scheme) aimed at providing a nutritious meal to children in primary school;

(f) Mahila Smridhi Yojana aimed to promote the saving habit among rural women; and

(g) Indira Mahila Yojana aimed at more effective empowerment of women.

Moreover, the nation-wide Public Distribution system for food grains and other essential commodities has since been strengthened, with the revamped PDS now operating in 1,775 backward blocks and expected to be extended to all 2446 blocks under the Employment Assurance Scheme.

The World Bank in its publication titled “IDA in action 1993-1996” observed in this connection that though there are still too many poor people in India, but the country has achieved “significant progress” in poverty eradication, “India’s performance in reducing poverty has been modest compared to some countries in east Asia, for example Indonesia and Thailand.”

Thus, to achieve success in the poverty eradication programmes along with the economic reforms introduced in the country, alternative strategies for empowering the people to help themselves are to be designed.

A mere increase in the amount of expenditure on social sectors and rural development will not be sufficient to eradicate poverty rather a change in strategy in the direction along with sincere and active participation of the people in the design and implementation of rural development schemes etc. are needed the most.

Essay # 8. World Bank’s New Perception of Poverty:

The World Development Report (WDR), 2000-2001 released by the World Bank on 14th September, 2000 in Washington provided a new perception to poverty with an agenda sensitive to the needs of attacking poverty by promoting opportunities, facilitating empowerment and furthering security.

The report also mentioned about two new initiatives—a highly enhanced poor countries debt relief initiative and a comprehensive development framework.

The report sought to expand the understanding of poverty and its causes, while building on the Bank’s past strategy, drew heavily from the South-Asian experiences and Dr. Amartya Sen’s ideas of empowering the poor. The report admits that poverty remained a persisting dilemma and belied the improvement in human conditions with global wealth, global connections and technological capabilities.

The report observed that of the World’s 6 billion people, 2.8 billion lived on less than $ 2 a day and 1, 2 billion live on less than $ 1 a day with 44 per cent of the deprived ones living in South Asia alone.

Exacerbating the crisis of poverty is an overwhelming concentration of conflicts in poor countries, widening gaps between the rich and the poor countries leading to increasing worldwide income disparity and failure of reform programmes to deliver according to the expectations.

The scope of the report has substantially broadened perception of poverty, having drawn from the first- ever “Voices of the Poor” study based on experiences narrated by more than 60,000 poor women and men in 60 countries.

The experiences so gained dictated the World Development Report’s shift of emphasis in its approach to tackle poverty from the over-reaching emphasis of the 1950s on large investments in physical capital and infrastructure to the 1970s on health and education, the 1980s on economic management and the 1990s’ stress on governance and institutions.

The report proposed opening of opportunities by improving access to financial markets for the poor, raising resources and making public spending pro-poor by reducing military spending. Empowerment moved away from its perception of a solely economic process to an outcome of interaction of economic, social and political forces, and had to be achieved by making state institutions more responsive to the needs of people.

Related Articles:

• Suggestions for Removal of Poverty from India
• Income Distribution in India: Pattern and Inequalities
• Main Causes of Poverty in India
• Problem of Poverty in India and Remedies to Eradicate It

Understanding Poverty in India: Causes, Estimation, and Challenges

Table of Contents

(Relevant for Economics Section of General   Studies Paper Prelims/Mains)

Poverty signifies a state or circumstance wherein an individual or a community lacks the necessary financial means and fundamental requisites to achieve a basic standard of living. It indicates that the earnings derived from employment fall to such a minimal extent that fundamental human necessities remain unattainable.

As per the World Bank’s perspective, poverty denotes significant deprivation in overall well-being and encompasses multifaceted dimensions. This encompasses inadequate income levels and the incapability to secure essential commodities and services vital for survival with dignity. Moreover, poverty encompasses limited access to proper healthcare and education, deficient availability of clean water and sanitation facilities, insufficient physical safety, absence of empowerment, and limited potential and opportunities to enhance one’s quality of life.

Within India, as of 2011, around 21.9% of the population resides below the national poverty threshold.

In 2018, nearly 8% of the global workforce and their families were constrained to subsist on an income of less than US$1.90 per individual per day, in line with the international poverty benchmark.

Poverty estimation in india

• Poverty assessment in India is conducted by NITI Aayog’s task force, employing data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI). The poverty line in India is determined by calculating the poverty threshold, which relies on consumption expenditure rather than income levels.
• In India, the evaluation of poverty is based on consumer expenditure surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation. A household is classified as poor if its expenditure falls below a specified poverty line. The extent of poverty is gauged through the poverty ratio, denoting the proportion of the impoverished population to the total population, presented as a percentage and commonly referred to as the head-count ratio.
• The Alagh Committee (1979) established the poverty line considering a daily minimum caloric intake of 2400 and 2100 calories for adults in rural and urban areas, respectively. Subsequent committees, such as the Lakdawala Committee (1993), Tendulkar Committee (2009), and Rangarajan Committee (2012), have contributed to refining poverty estimation methodologies.
• According to the Rangarajan committee’s findings (2014), the poverty line is set at a Monthly Per Capita Expenditure of Rs. 1407 in urban regions and Rs. 972 in rural areas.
• Population Explosion: India’s population has consistently surged over the years. In the past 45 years, it has grown at an annual rate of 2.2%, signifying an average addition of approximately 17 million individuals to the country’s populace each year. This surge further escalates the demand for consumer goods substantially.
• Diminished Agricultural Productivity: A pivotal factor contributing to poverty is the low productivity within the agricultural sector. This situation is multifaceted. Primarily, it stems from fragmented and divided land holdings, lack of access to capital, ignorance regarding modern farming technologies, reliance on conventional cultivation techniques, and losses during storage.
• Inefficient Resource Utilization: The prevalence of underemployment and concealed unemployment, particularly in the agricultural domain, has resulted in diminished agricultural output and a corresponding decline in living standards.
• Limited Economic Growth Rate: Economic advancement has been sluggish in India, particularly during the initial 40 years following independence, prior to the economic liberalization reforms in 1991.
• Escalating Prices: Persistent inflation in the country has augmented the hardships endured by the impoverished. While a small portion of the population has benefited, those from lower income strata have borne the brunt, struggling to meet even their most basic needs.
• Unemployment: Unemployment stands as another notable contributor to poverty in India. The surging population has led to a concurrent surge in job seekers, but the growth of job opportunities has not kept pace with the escalating demand.
• Shortage of Capital and Entrepreneurial Ventures: The insufficiency of capital and entrepreneurial activities has resulted in low investment levels and insufficient job creation within the economy.
• Social Factors: Beyond economic factors, various social barriers obstruct the eradication of poverty in India. Some of these hindrances include inheritance laws, the caste system, and certain entrenched traditions.
• Colonial Exploitation: The two-century-long British colonization and dominion over India had a detrimental impact, causing the decline of traditional handicraft and textile industries. The colonial policies converted India into a mere supplier of raw materials for European industries.
• Climatic Influences: The majority of India’s impoverished population resides in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, among others. Natural calamities such as frequent floods, disasters, earthquakes, and cyclones heavily impact agriculture in these regions.

The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index-2018, issued by the UN, highlighted that around 271 million individuals transitioned out of destitution between 2005-06 and 2015-16 within India. The poverty rate within the nation has nearly halved, plummeting from 55% to 28% over the course of a decade. Nevertheless, a substantial segment of India’s population still resides below the Poverty Line.The swift expansion of the economy and the integration of technology into social sector initiatives have played a pivotal role in significantly reducing extreme poverty within the country.Despite the rapid strides made in terms of growth and advancement, an unacceptably large portion of our populace continues to grapple with extensive and varied forms of deprivation. Consequently, addressing poverty in India necessitates a more comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy.

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Poverty in India, Types, Causes & Latest Updates about Poverty in India

According to NITI Aayog's CEO, less than 5% of Indians are now below the poverty line. Read about Poverty in India, Types, Causes & Latest Updates for UPSC Exam.

Table of Contents

Poverty in India

When poverty is characterized by a severe shortage of basic necessities including food, clothing, and housing it is said to be as Poverty. It is frequently characterized by social marginalization, a lack of opportunity for personal development, and a lack of access to the resources and services necessary to maintain a respectable quality of living. Rapid population growth, slow economic development, unemployment, income disparity, price increases, political considerations, and social factors are some of the causes of poverty in India. We shall go into great detail on the causes of poverty in India in this essay.

Poverty levels below 5% in India

According to NITI Aayog’s CEO, less than 5% of Indians are now below the poverty line, with extreme destitution nearly eradicated, based on the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. Rural incomes are rising faster than urban ones, narrowing the urban-rural consumption gap. Lower food spending and increased expenditure on consumer goods suggest improved incomes and changing lifestyles. With a rise in diverse food consumption, poverty is estimated below 5%. Social welfare schemes and rising consumption indicate destitution is almost eliminated, with over 25 crore people lifted out of poverty. India’s growth appears broad-based, challenging narratives of rural stagnation.

Poverty in India Background

Before the 1990s, when India had a closed economy, all of its residents had access to the resources they needed through the public distribution system. However, because of budgetary limitations and policy changes brought about by India’s entry into the global economy, the government was only able to deliver the resources that were required to the target population—those who were deserving of government aid.

The government eventually adopted the Targeted Public Distribution System as a result. In other words, individuals who fall below the poverty line received food that was subsidized by the government. Given that poverty has a wide range of causes and characteristics; it is challenging to define it precisely. It is different from city-country, rural-urban, etc. To put it another way, different viewpoints are used to define poverty.

However, the overall notion is that someone is considered to be living in poverty when they have less access to and affordability for necessities like food, clothing, and a place to live, healthcare, education, etc. Purchasing Power Parity and nominal relative basis are used by the UN and the World Bank to calculate poverty. As a result, different perceptions lead to different poverty estimations.

Types of Poverty in India

Absolute poverty.

It is the inability to obtain necessities for sustaining life, such as food, clothing, housing, etc. If a person cannot meet their fundamental necessities, they are seen to be poor. Countries designate a specific sum of money necessary to purchase a certain number of important food items based on a list of these things. People are considered poor and below the poverty line (those earning less than the amount designated for buying these products) if they are unable to purchase these items. It is referred to as absolute poverty.

Relative Poverty

Contrarily, individual poverty in India is contrasted. For instance, if I make Rs. 100 and my neighbour makes Rs. 200, I am significantly poorer than my neighbour.

Ability-Based Approach: Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize winner, has advanced this theory. It examines poverty from the perspective of a person’s capabilities. To conduct a successful professional life and make a living, a person has to be educated and in good health. Lack of options for obtaining education and good health might make it difficult for someone to get employment, which can result in poverty. Some therefore urges the government to concentrate its spending and decision-making on enhancing public health and education.

Causes of Poverty in India

In India, poverty has several causes and is now one of the main social problems. In India, a sizable portion of the population suffers from poverty. In India, consumption expenditure is used to estimate poverty rather than income levels. Rapid population growth, slow economic development, unemployment, income disparity, price increases, political considerations, and social factors are some of the causes of poverty in India.

Poverty in India: Economic Causes

The main economic causes of poverty in India include a low tax base, high levels of tax evasion, and wealthy individuals avoiding paying taxes. the creation of a vicious cycle whereby impoverished individuals pay less taxes, which in turn results in less money being spent on assistance programmes for the poor.

Poverty and the creation of problems like Naxalism, which feeds poverty further, are both caused by regional disparity, as seen in North East and East India. The economic causes of poverty in India are corruption and leaks in government schemes and programmes. Many Poverty Alleviation Programmes have been launched by the government in India, however due to a lack of understanding, people are not taking advantage of them.

Despite the fact that more than 50% of the population is employed in agriculture, it only accounts for 15% of GDP, concealing unemployment in the industry. Higher unemployment rate in India is one of the major cause of poverty at some extent. It demonstrates that the agricultural industry is where the majority of the impoverished are concentrated. Growth in unemployment that began after 1990, when, despite an increase in GDP, the majority of jobs were generated in skilled industries, preventing revenue from trickling down to the lower socioeconomic echelons of society.

Poverty in India: Social Cause

Social factors like untouchability, caste system, etc., are major Causes of Poverty in India.

• Untouchability: People from lower castes are denied democratic rights in several of the nation’s less developed regions. They are cast aside by society, which contributes to one of India’s causes of poverty by forcing them into poverty.
• Caste System: The caste system divides society and keeps people from looking for employment outside of their caste. As a result, the wealthiest get richer and the poor get poorer.
• Unethical use of Power: When power is abused, poor people suffer a number of negative effects. One of the main causes of poverty in India is the corrupt government.

Poverty in India: Geographical Causes

In the past 45 years, India’s population has grown by 2.2% year, directly affecting the demand for resources. The fertility of the soil varies from place to place and differs from one location to another. It causes barren fields and is one of India’s primary causes of poverty. In terms of poverty, the differences between urban and rural life have a variety of effects.

Poverty in India: Climatic Factors

Another factor contributing to India’s poverty is the country’s unstable political environment. A flood is a type of natural calamity that can significantly lower agricultural productivity. Poverty can result from this, which the government rarely attempts to combat. Drought is another climatic condition that contributes to poverty in India in addition to floods. Droughts are a frequent cause of poverty in most nations since they can endure for a very long time. Seasonal rainfall irregularities can also cause problems with poverty. One of the factors contributing to poverty in India is the disruption of predicted rainfall and agricultural output in several regions of the country.

Poverty in India Latest Update

According to a recent government estimate, India has seen a significant decline in poverty, with roughly 135 million people — or 10% of the population — fleeing it in the five years up to March 2021. According to the research, 343 million people in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, were the most people who have moved out of poverty.

According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), poverty levels decreased most significantly in rural areas. Malnutrition, education, and sanitation are just a few of the 12 major characteristics that make up the MPI, and people who fall short in three or more of these categories are referred to as “MPI poor.”

Sharp drop in poverty

According to the report’s analysis of the 2019–21 National Family Health Survey, the percentage of the population living in poverty decreased from 25% in 2015–16 to 15% in 2019–21. The results are in line with a previous report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which claimed that in 2021, 16.4% of Indians lived in multidimensional poverty, down significantly from 55.4% in 2005.

Additionally, the UNDP projections showed that in India, the percentage of people living below the $2.15 per day poverty threshold had dropped to 10% in 2021.

Government’s role

The central government has put policies in place to help the underprivileged population, providing free food grain to about 800 million individuals, or about 57% of the nation’s 1.4 billion inhabitants. Additionally, states have provided considerable sums to subsidise electricity, healthcare, education, and other crucial services.

Poverty in India UPSC

Poverty is a problem that affects the entire country, not just one individual. It should also be addressed as quickly as feasible by using the proper solutions. In addition, eradicating poverty is now essential for the long-term, inclusive development of the population, society, nation, and economy. The UPSC syllabus includes the issue of poverty in India; hence applicants must be knowledgeable with all aspects of it. We have discussed the UPSC notes on the causes of poverty in this article to assist candidates as they study for the UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains exams.

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Poverty in India FAQs

What is poverty in india briefly.

As per the methodology of the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report, the population below the poverty line in India was 354 million (29.6% of the population) in 2009–2010 and was 69 million (21.9% of the population) in 2011–2012.

What is the main poverty in India?

The Major Reasons for Poverty in India are the rising population, slow economic development, unemployment, unequal distribution of income and resources, etc.

What is poverty?

A poor household is defined as one with an expenditure level below a specific poverty line. The incidence of poverty is measured by the poverty ratio, which is the ratio of the number of poor to the total population expressed as a percentage.

What is the cause of poverty in India?

Lack of Capital and Entrepreneurship: The shortage of capital and entrepreneurship results in low level of investment and job creation in the economy. Social Factors: Apart from economic factors, there are also social factors hindering the eradication of poverty in India.

What are the causes of poverty in India?

Unequal distribution of land and other resources, less job opportunities, low growth rate of incomes, failure in promotion of economic growth and population control perpetuated the cycle of poverty.

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Essay on Causes of Poverty in India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Causes of Poverty in India in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Causes of Poverty in India

Introduction.

Poverty in India is a significant issue affecting millions. It’s a complex problem with multiple causes.

Population Growth

Rapid population growth is a major cause of poverty. More people means more resources are needed, leading to scarcity.

Lack of Education

Insufficient education prevents people from securing good jobs, keeping them in poverty.

Unemployment

High unemployment rates also contribute to poverty. Without jobs, people can’t earn money to support themselves.

Social Inequality

Poverty in India is caused by various factors. Addressing these issues is crucial for poverty reduction.

250 Words Essay on Causes of Poverty in India

India, despite its economic growth and development, is still grappling with the issue of poverty. It is a complex problem with a myriad of causes, deeply rooted in the country’s historical, social, and economic fabric.

Historical Factors

India’s history of colonization significantly contributed to its poverty. The British Empire exploited India’s resources, leading to economic stagnation and widespread poverty. The repercussions of this exploitation continue to affect the country’s economic scenario.

Social Factors

India’s rigid caste system also exacerbates poverty. Lower caste individuals often face discrimination and are denied access to resources and opportunities. This social stratification hinders upward mobility, perpetuating cycles of poverty.

Economic Factors

Economic inequality is another major cause. Despite India’s rapid economic growth, the benefits have not been evenly distributed. The wealth disparity between the rich and the poor continues to widen, leading to persistent poverty among the lower-income groups.

Addressing poverty in India requires a multi-faceted approach. Economic policies should aim to reduce inequality and promote inclusive growth. Social reforms are needed to dismantle discriminatory practices and ensure equal access to opportunities. By tackling these issues, India can make significant strides towards eradicating poverty.

500 Words Essay on Causes of Poverty in India

India, despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, grapples with the persistent issue of poverty. A significant portion of the population still lives under dire conditions. The causes of poverty in India are complex and multi-faceted, spanning from historical, social, economic, and political factors.

Caste-based discrimination is another significant factor contributing to poverty. The caste system, a deeply entrenched social hierarchy, often limits access to resources and opportunities for lower-caste individuals, perpetuating their state of poverty. Additionally, gender inequality, marked by a preference for male children and discrimination against women in access to education, health, and employment, further fuels poverty.

India’s economic structure is characterized by a large unorganized sector, which includes informal labor and small-scale industries. These sectors, marked by low wages, job insecurity, and lack of social security, are breeding grounds for poverty. Additionally, the unequal distribution of land and resources, with a small elite owning a large portion of the wealth, exacerbates economic disparities.

Political Factors

Rapid population growth is another significant factor contributing to poverty in India. High fertility rates, especially among the poor, lead to larger families with more mouths to feed, straining the limited resources and perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Moreover, it places immense pressure on the already strained public services, such as education and healthcare.

In conclusion, the causes of poverty in India are deeply intertwined, with historical, social, economic, and political factors acting in concert. Addressing poverty in India thus requires a comprehensive approach that acknowledges and tackles these interrelated factors. It necessitates not only economic reforms but also social and political changes, including the eradication of caste and gender-based discrimination, the improvement of governance, and the promotion of sustainable population growth.

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Poverty in India Essay for School Students in English [Easy Words]

January 13, 2021 by Sandeep

Essay on Poverty in India: People who are unable to satisfy basic necessities of life like food, water, shelter and education are considered unprivileged and face poverty. They may not be able to afford even a single square meal for their families. They are deprived of healthy and nutritious food. Population increase, migration to cities and rampant unemployment are some of the reasons for growing poverty in India. Increasing literacy and providing sustainable living conditions for the poor can curtail poverty.

Essay on Poverty in India 500 Words in English

We have provided Poverty in India Essay in English, suitable for class 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10. This essay is useful for UPSC aspirants too!

India is the world’s largest democracy and fastest-growing economy. It is one of the chief developing nations with an international level of influence. Yet, it is still viewed as a poor man’s country. This is because a large population of our country is still living below the poverty line. Even after almost seventy-two years of independence, poverty has plagued our nation. Our Union, as well as State governments, have collaborated with many private and public sector institutions. Together they have been able to roll out successful schemes to keep their citizens satisfied.

They are trying their best to provide us with our daily requirements. Yet this task has not helped remove poverty at all. The situation of poverty in India cannot be solved by judging it by its face value. It is essential to understand the nature of polity in India through a historical context. That way, we would be able to find reforms that can be implemented to curb this social evil.

Origin of Poverty in India

From the earliest kingdoms to the Mughal era, India has always had a rich history. Historians had given the Indian sub-continent the title ‘Golden Bird’. The vast reserves of gold and resources were the major indicators of a prospering economy during that era. Over time, invaders plundered these resources, and the economical health of this golden bird rapidly deteriorated. The most significant damage was done by the colonials. They entered our land as traders but slowly established their monopoly over various regions and services, and the entire sub-continent was then in their control.

Around the 19th and the 20th century, poverty bloomed under the British Raj. Industrial expansion and agricultural exports were increasing day by day. Farming was forced upon every labourer in India even when they were not farmers by profession. Though employment existed in the form of farming, farmers were being underpaid. While Nawabs and Maharajas enjoyed wealth and privileges, most of these workers could not even buy one proper meal a day. By 1943, poverty had reached a point where millions of people died of starvation, disease, and destitution (during the Bengal famine). Sir Antony MacDonnell, a civil servant of British India, quoted in the 1900’s “people died like flies”.

Poverty in Free India

Post-independence, India was divided into two different countries. This caused an inflow of refugees along the western border. This further aggravated the condition of poverty prevailing in the nation, according to B.S. Minhas, an economist, about 65% of the Indian population was living in poverty during the 1950’s. In the 1960’s, a new poverty line was set for the country to be at ₹ 20 a month. The estimated percentage of the population below this line was found to be 44%. The following decades noticed the common man’s frustration about the nation’s poor economic condition.

Slogans like ‘Garibi Hatao’ were being raised, and people were desperate to improve society’s condition. Over the years, many committees redefined the poverty line as per the changing dynamics of the Indian economy. At present, as per the World Bank estimates, 5.4% of our population is still suffering from extreme poverty. The figures have improved since the last century. Poverty can only be abolished if the developmental schemes keep evolving according to the country’s needs.

Causes of Poverty in India

Many factors directly contribute to the continual rise of poverty in India. To address and solve them, we need first to identify these factors. Here we have listed down some of these causes:

• Demography of a country plays a vital role in its state of poverty. Rural areas have larger families who owe to a lower per capita income. Ultimately, this results in a low standard of living.
• The increasing urban population has raised the rate of poverty in our country. The migration of rural people to urban areas has diluted out the wages. People eventually get closer to the poverty line.
• One of the major economic causes includes the surge in unemployment. The survey reports of 2015 say that 77% of Indian families lack a regular source of income.
• India is marked for its unequal distribution of assets. These assets and shares are disproportionately distributed among masses having different economic levels. 20 % of our population is reaping the seeds of 80 % of the total wealth.
• Maximum economic value cannot be attained when we have an abundance of the unskilled labour force in our country. Moreover, the caste system has caused marginalization and discrimination of specific portions of our society. Some places still exist where lower caste people are treated as untouchables.
• Besides, corruption is one of the leading causes of poverty. The poor are being neglected, whereas the wealthy can bribe their way to get their jobs done.

Effects of Poverty in India

The effects of poverty are far-fetched. One of its most disturbing effects includes the overall health conditions. Poor people are often malnourished. Children are devoid of a balanced and nutritious diet. Their poor immune system makes them prone to several ailments. Poverty makes them susceptible to anaemia, impaired vision, cardiac issues, etc. This is why 38 out of every 1000 infants die before turning 1.

India’s economy is correlated to its poverty rate. Poverty determines the possibility of rendering adequate amenities to our society’s underprivileged people. A poverty-ridden society is vulnerable to violence and crimes. Poor people indulge in criminal activities to feed themselves. Apart from that, homelessness is a typical outcome of poverty. This risks the safety of women and promotes child labour. It also increases terrorism.

Solutions for Eradicating Poverty in India

The following measures will help us fight against poverty in India:

• Increasing employment opportunities in India is a beneficial option.
• Farmers must be provided with proper agricultural resources. It will help them make a profit and will control their migration to urban regions (in search of jobs).
• Growing population must be checked. Schemes promoting birth control must be implemented.
• The Government must invest in the poverty-stricken states of India.
• Free education and healthcare units must be set up.
• Public Distribution System must be effective in its duty. People below the poverty line must be able to access free food and fresh water.
• Illiterate labourers must be provided with skill-based training so that they can make a better living out of it.

English that goes straight to the heart

Essay on Poverty in India

Poverty is the inability to secure the minimum human needs of food, clothing, housing, education, and health. When a person is unable to fulfil these basic needs, it leads to pain and distress.

Even after 74 years of Independence, India is still struggling with the problem of poverty. After going through this ‘ Essay on Poverty in India’ you will learn about the Features of Poverty in India, the Causes of Poverty in India, and Anti-poverty measures taken by the government of India to reduce the poverty in India.

Features of Poverty in India

Variations:  In the mid-seventies, the poverty ratio (which was more than 50%) got reduced to 22% by the end.

Trend:  There has been a secular decline in the poverty ratio. Because of the increase in population, the number of poor people remained stable for a long period of time.

Interstate variations:  More than 90% of India’s poor are living in Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat, Kerala, Haryana, Goa, and Punjab have a low poverty ratio.

Vulnerable groups:  Among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households. On the other hand, among the social groups, the most vulnerable groups are scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

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Inequality of income within a family:  Women, female infants, and elder people suffer more than other members of the family. They are the poorest of the poor.

Rural and urban poverty:  Nearly 75% of poor people live in rural areas. Many poor people from rural areas migrate to urban areas in search of jobs. However, the industrial and service sectors cannot provide sufficient jobs to these poor people.

Causes of Poverty in India

Inequality in the distribution of income and wealth:  During the plan periods, the national income of India has been increasing, but it has not been distributed properly among the different sections of people. The majority of the income of the economy has been enjoyed by the rich. These inequalities in the distribution of wealth and income have worsened the problem of poverty in India.

Underdevelopment of an economy:  Physical and natural resources are underutilized because of a lack of technology, capital, and entrepreneurial ability. Therefore, the productive capacity and gross domestic product of the economy are low. Primitive technology of production occurs in the agricultural sector. They lack irrigation facilities, fertilizers, and a high-yielding variety of seeds. This backwardness in agriculture has given rise to rural poverty.

Price inflation:  Upward trends in the consumer price index during the plan periods led to a fall in the real income of fixed and low-income earners. It decreases purchasing power and hence a lower standard of living and a higher incidence of poverty.

High rate of population growth:  Because of the increase in population, the dependency burden has increased. Hence, the provision for their minimum needs becomes a crucial problem. This high growth rate of the population also signifies lesser availability of health facilities and other amenities and therefore a lower standard of living.

Illiteracy:  Because of a lack of literacy, Indian farmers fail to learn new methods of cultivation, and adopt new tools and implements. Also, the village moneylenders succeed in cheating them more easily. On the other hand, urban people are employed as unskilled workers and receive very low wages in return. They mostly live in slums and they lead miserable lives.

Social causes:  Many social factors such as the caste system, religious faith and beliefs, and joint family system have hindered the process of economic growth.

Political causes:  The policies of the colonial government have ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of textile industries. Even after Independence , the government failed to protect the interest of the poor.

Anti-Poverty Measures in India

The anti-poverty strategy of the government is based on the promotion of economic growth and targeted anti-poverty programs.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), September 2005

• 100 days assured employment every year to every household in 200 districts; will be extended to 600 districts later.
• One-third of jobs are reserved for women.
• The Central Government will establish National Employment Guarantee Funds.

National Food for Work Programme (NFWP), 2004

• Launched in 150 most backward districts.
• Open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and manual skilled labour.
• 100% centrally sponsored scheme and food grains free of cost. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY), 2000
• Additional central assistance to states for basic services.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), 1999

• To assist poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP), 1995

• To create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.
• To create 25 lakh jobs for the program under the Tenth Five-Year Plan.

Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), 1993

• To create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns.
• To help set up small businesses and industries

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Poverty in India: Reasons, Responses, Solutions

From Current Affairs Notes for UPSC » Editorials & In-depths » This topic

Note: This article is dynamic i.e., updates are automatically shown from recent current affairs at the bottom of the article.

This topic of “Poverty in India: Reasons, Responses, Solutions” is important from the perspective of the UPSC IAS Examination , which falls under General Studies Portion.

What is Poverty?

• Prior to the 1990s when India was a closed economy, the public distribution system provided necessary resources to all the citizens. However, due to the financial constraints and policy changes after the commencement of Globalisation in India, the government provided necessary resources to the target population i.e., those who deserve governmental assistance.
• This lead to the Government’s adoption of the Targeted Public Distribution System. That is, the Government provided subsidised food to those who come under Below Poverty Line.
• It is difficult to give the exact definition of poverty as it has numerous causes and characteristics. It differs from nation-nation, urban-rural, etc. in other words, the definitions of poverty are based on perspectives.
• However, the general idea is that when an individual has lesser accessibility and affordability to certain essentials like food, clothes, a place to live, healthcare, education, etc., then he is said to be living in poverty.
• The UN and the World Bank calculate poverty through Purchasing Power Parity and nominal relative basis.
• Therefore the poverty estimation differs during varying perceptions.

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How was poverty estimated in India?

Estimation of poverty in british india:.

• In India, the first-ever Poverty estimation was done by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1901 which was published in his book “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India”
• The National Planning Committee of 1936 has estimated poverty in India during the Colonial rule. It calculated poverty linking nutrition, clothing, and housing. This method was used in Independent India also. The poverty estimation by the National Planning Committee showed a grim picture of British India’s Economy

Estimation of poverty in Independent India:

• A working group was set up in 1962 to estimate the poverty line of the country.
• This estimation was based on the minimum calories required to survive and the cost estimates of the minimum calories in Rural India. According to this, the average poverty line is Rs.20 per month. Based on 1960-61 prices.
• Alagh Committee: Until 1979, poverty was calculated based on the income of the citizens. In 1979, based on the recommendation by a committee headed by Y K Alagh, poverty was estimated based on the calories consumed by the population. According to the committee, poverty estimation differs in rural and urban areas. In the rural area, if a resident consumes less than 2400 calories per day, then he/ she belongs BPL population. In an urban area, if a resident consumes less than 2100 calories per day then he/she suffers from poverty. This is an assumption that the urban population needs lesser calories as they are not involved in physical works like that of the rural population. The Alagh committee was the first in India to define the poverty line.
• Lakdawala Formula: This was proposed by Lakdawala Committee that was headed by D.T.Lakdawala. This is also based on household per capita expenditure. Lakdawala committee used the same method used by the Alagh committee. However, it included certain criteria that were missing in the latter. Health and education were considered during the estimation. This committee used CPI-IL (Consumer price index for Industrial Labourers) and CPI-AL (Consumer price index for Agricultural labourers to determine the poverty line. In this method, the average of the minimum necessary per capita household expenditure is calculated to estimate the poor. The obtained value is the base for the poverty line and anyone who lives in a household with per capita expenditure lesser than the obtained average belongs to the BPL. Through this method, it was estimated that 36% of the population were BPL in 2004-2005 and 22% of the population under BPL in 2011. Poverty in India was estimated using this method until 2011.
• Suresh Tendulkar Committee: This committee was set up by the Planning commission in 2005. The methods recommended by this committee are used in the current times. It urged the shift from a calorie-based model and inclusion of monthly expenditure on education, health, electricity, and transport. It introduced the new term “Poverty Line Basket” to determine and estimate poverty. It called for the uniformity of the poverty line basket for both urban and rural areas. If a person does not have access to any of the goods mentioned under the poverty basket then he/she is suffering from poverty. This method uses the cost of living as the basis for identifying poverty. However, the resulted estimation was very low and resulting in public outcry. This lead to the formation of the Rangarajan Committee.
• Rangarajan Committee: Formed in the year 2012, this committee was chaired by Rangarajan. This too adopted calorie-based calculation of the poverty level. This had limitations as it calculated only the absolute minimum necessities. This did not include comfortable living standards as a necessity.
• Current status of poverty line estimation: The above cases show the complexity and difficulty in the determination of the poverty line. Currently, the Indian government still hasn’t found a solid solution to estimate the poverty level of the country. The task was given a 14 member task force headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman, Aravind Panagaria. They too have failed and have recommended setting up of a new specialised panel to debate the issue.

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What are the causes of poverty (Indian perspective)?

• Colonial exploitation: India under the colonial hegemony was forced to de-industrialize resulting in increased raw material production and a decrease in the export of value-added goods like traditional handicrafts and textiles. The natives were forced to buy British goods, thus discouraging them from manufacturing indigenously. This led to massive unemployment. The droughts, diseases, and others increased the plight of the Indians during that time.
• Increase in the population : the rapid increase in the population due to a decrease in the mortality rate and an increase in the birth rate can be an asset for the Indian economy. However, in the present scenario, this is turning out to be a liability due to massive unemployment and an increase in the dependence on those working populations. The massive population must be converted to human capital to promote the growth of the economy.
• Natural Calamities : In India, the maximum of the population who belong to BPL is from states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The reason behind this is that these states are prone to natural disasters and also most of the population in these states are from SC/STs thus making them unrepresented. The natural calamities in these states hamper the agricultural progress and economic development of these states.
• The rise of unorganised sectors : many sectors in the Indian economy are unorganised. This brings in the problem of labour exploitation. The increase in demand for work also causes job insecurities.
• Failing Agricultural sector : the agricultural sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors of the Indian economy. Farmer suicides and protests are on the rise due to the increasing debt and decrease in production. This, in the long run, would result in them suffering from poverty. This sector employs a maximum of the Indian population but provides little profit.
• Lack of investment : The investment provides more job opportunities. For this, the Indian economy must be favourable for foreign investment. However, some parts of India remain unfavourable due to corruption , political instability, militancy etc.
• Social factors : Illiteracy, unrepresented minorities, social norms, caste systems are still prevalent in certain parts of India.
• Lack of skilled labour : the population can be an asset to the economy if it is utilized efficiently. This can be done through human capitalization. Measures to improve the literacy of the population are very slow. Some, due to the lack of sufficient skills are not accepted in the workforce. This results in unemployment and poverty.
• Corruption: Many measures have been taken by the government to eliminate poverty. However, there is still a lack of political will. The corruption by those in power also contributes to poverty.
• Inefficient use of resources : India is a country that has abundant natural resources which, if utilized efficiently, without wastage, can be turned into an asset.
• Lack of entrepreneurship : There are many activities in India that can be of asset to the economy. For example, some tribes have rich art and culture which can be utilized for the tribes’ growth and development through proper entrepreneurship. However, due to a lack of leadership and entrepreneurial skills, they go to waste. The tribes remain one of the most vulnerable sections of Indian society.
• Lack of infrastructure : Many parts of India still remain isolated despite the rapid economic growth. There are several villages in India that still don’t have access to basic commodities like electricity, thus resulting in poor standards of living. They don’t even have proper roads or railways. Their contribution to the economy goes to waste due to inaccessibility.
• Recession induced by coronavirus pandemic .

What is the current status?

• The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index published by the UN Development Program has estimated that multidimensional poverty in India has fallen by 27.5% between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Multidimensional poverty means the estimation of poor not only based on income but also several factors such as poor health, poor working conditions, etc.
• According to World Poverty Clock , close to 44 Indians are escaping from extreme poverty each minute.
• As of 2011, 21.9% of the Indian population belongs below the poverty line.
• The unemployment rate as of April 2021 is 7.1%. This is a huge problem as unemployment is the direct cause of poverty in the country. The recent years saw a rapid increase in infrastructural developments like roads and housing projects for the alleviation of the poor. This might help boost investments in the country increasing job opportunities.
• According to a World Bank working paper, extreme poverty in India dropped to 10.2%  in the  pre-Covid year of 2019  from as much as  22.5% in 2011  .

Covid induced poverty according to Pew report

• The poverty rate in India likely increases to 9.7% in 2020, up sharply from the January 2020 forecast of 4.3%.
• From 2011 to 2019, the number of poor in India was estimated to have decreased to 78 million from 340 million.
• Poor: People with incomes of USD 2 or less a day.
• Increase in India accounts for nearly 60% of the global increase in poverty.
• Record increase in  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)  participants as proof that the poor were struggling to find work.
• Middle Class: people with incomes of around Rs. 700-1,500 or USD 10-20 per day.
• The middle-income group is likely to have decreased from almost 10 crores to just 6.6 crores.
• The huge majority of India’s population falls into the low-income group.
• Low Income Group: people earning about Rs.150 to 700 per day.
• Rich: Includes the people who earn more than Rs.1,500 a day.
• The lockdown triggered by the pandemic resulted in shut businesses, lost jobs, and falling incomes, plunging the Indian economy into a deep recession.

What are the measures taken by the government to alleviate poverty?

• Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana :
• It was launched on April 1, 1999.
• This program merged Integrated Rural Development Program, Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Million Wells Scheme (MWS), Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA) and Ganga Kalyan Yojana.
• Its objective is to alleviate the beneficiaries from BPL.
• It helps promote the self-employment of the rural poor.
• The fund sharing between the Centre and the State is at the ratio of 75:25.
• This scheme aims at working in clusters to provide inclusive and effective aid to the rural poor.
• The rural poor are organized into SHGs to provide training, capacity building and providing assets to generate income.
• This scheme was renamed as National Rural Livelihood Mission in 2011.
• This was finally merged to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodyaya Yojana to provide skills training for the poor. This scheme also provides subsidies and shelters for the homeless. The vendor markets are developed to promote job in the rural areas.
• Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana:
• This scheme replaced the erstwhile Jawahar Rozgar Scheme.
• It was launched in April 1999 to generate employment in rural areas through infrastructure development.
• Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana:
• It has two components: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Grameen) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Urban)
• It was launched in 2015.
• It unites schemes like Ujjwala yojana (provides LPG to BPL), access to toilets, water, drinking water facilities and Saubhagya Yojana (electricity).
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005:
• Launched on February 2, 2005
• It provides 100 days of guaranteed employment to rural households.
• 1/3 rd of the jobs reserved for women.
• If the jobs are not available for the applicants, and they were without jobs within 15 days, then they will be given unemployment allowance.
• This guarantees employment opportunities to the rural population and accountability of the government.
• Under this, National Food for Work, which was launched in 2004 was subsumed in 2006.
• The National Food for Work provided additional resources and assistance that are absent under Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana. Under this program, 150 districts were identified as backward by the Planning Commission. They were the beneficiaries of this program. Food security , employment through need-based social, economic, and community assets
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana :
• Launched by the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship in 2015.
• It is a scheme aimed at the enhancement of skills based on the demand of the economy.
• This scheme is implemented through Nation Skill Development Corporation (NSBC).
• Training and assessment fees are paid by the government.
• The training provided under this scheme is based on National Skill Qualification Framework and industry-level standards.
• The beneficiaries include college graduates and school/ college dropouts.
• Rythu Bandhu Scheme: This was a scheme implemented in Telangana to provide financial assistance of Rs.4000 per acre per season to all land-owning farmers.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi : This scheme aims to provide financial assistance to provide working capital support to all the landholding farmers. This brings in the idea of universal basic income for the farmers in India. Read more
• Social security schemes
• Atmanirbhar bharat abhiyan
• Production linked incentive scheme
• Garib kalyan rojgar abhiyaan

Way Forward:

• The government must provide transparency and accountability to various organizations that are responsible for the implementation of the Welfare Schemes.
• Infrastructure development and skills development must be made a top priority.
• More govt expenditure in health, nutrition, and education.
• The problem of the inability to determine the poverty line must be resolved to help the target population.
• Direct income transfer to the needy is an immediate solution. Universal Basic Income should also be considered.
• Investment in Agriculture by the government is necessary to decrease rural poverty. Subsidies address only short-term issues. Also, there is a need to develop technologies, with the help of which farmers can practice all-weather agriculture.
• Employment-oriented growth:  create jobs in modern sectors and promote labour-intensive industries.
• Reduce corruption for efficient service delivery.
• Resilience for poor households to withstand major shocks: through holistic, multi-faceted intervention designed to help people lift themselves from extreme poverty by providing them with the tools, skills, and resources required to deal with the challenges that keep them trapped in a state of destitution. In addition to providing assets such as livestock, the government should also provide livelihood and financial skills training to make these assets productive; personal coaching to instill confidence and hope; basic health care for families, and more.

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Essay on Poverty in India: Causes, Effects and Solutions

Poverty in India

Introduction: Poverty refers to a situation when people are deprived of basic necessities of life. It is often characterized by inadequacy of food, shelter and clothes. In other words, poverty refers to a state of privation where there is a lack of essential needs for subsistence.

India is one of the poorest countries in the world. Many Indian people do not get two meals a day. They do not have good houses to live in. Their children do not get proper schooling.

Poor people are the depressed and deprived class. They do not get proper nutrition and diet. Their conditions have not sufficiently improved even long after over 65 years of our Independence.

Poverty in urban India: Just like most of the growing and developing countries, there has been continuous increase in Urban population.

• Poor people migrate from rural areas to cities and towns in search of employment/financial activity.
• The income of more than 8 crore urban people is estimated to fall below poverty line (BPL).
• In addition to this, there are around 4.5 crore urban people whose income level is on borderline of poverty level.
• A income of urban poors is highly unstable. A large number of them are either casual workers or self-employed.
• Banks and Financial institutions are reluctant to provide them loan because of the unstable income.
• Five states that constitutes around 40% of all urban poor people of India are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.
• Around 35% of the total population of the four metro cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai) consists of slum population.
• A large portion of people living in slums are illiterate.
• The initiatives taken to deal with the problem of urban poverty has not yielded the desired results.

Poverty in rural India: It is said that rural India is the heart of India. In reality, the life of people living in rural areas is marked with severe poverty. Inspite of all the efforts, the condition of poor villagers is far from satisfactory. The report on Socio-economic and Caste Census (2011) reveal the following facts:

• SCST: Of all the rural households, around 18.46 percent belongs to scheduled castes, and around 10.97 belongs to scheduled Tribes.
• Major source of income: Manual causal labour jobs and cultivation are the major sources of income for rural people. Nearly 51 percent of all households are economically engaged in manual casual labour and nearly 30 percent of them is engaged in cultivation.
• Deprived: Around 48.5 percent of rural households are deprived according to the census.
• Assets: Only 11.04 percent of families own a refrigerator while there is a vehicle (including two-wheeler, boat, etc. )in around 29.69 percent of the rural houses.
• Income Tax: Only 4.58 percent of rural households pay income tax.
• Land ownership: Around 56 percent of village households doesn’t own a land.
• Size of rural houses: The houses of around 54 percent rural families consists of either one or two-rooms. Out of them, around 13 percent lives in a one-room house.

Also read: Short essay on Poverty in Indian Villages

Causes of poverty

The growing population inflates the problem of poor techniques used in Agriculture. Further, there is unequal distribution of wealth. As a result, the poor people are often exploited by the wealthy community. The most important causes of Poverty in India are poor agriculture, growing Population, gap between rich and poor, corruption and black money.

Poor agriculture: India is mainly an agricultural country. About 80% people of our country depend on agriculture. But our agriculture is in a bad way. Farmers are poor and uneducated. They do not know the modern methods of farming. They have no good facilities of irrigation. They do not get seeds and fertilizers in time. Thus, the yield is poor. Agriculture is not profitable today. We face the shortage of food. We have to import it. So, poor agriculture is one of the causes of India’s poverty.

Growing population: Our population is growing rapidly. But our resources are limited. The growth in population creates problems for us. Today, our population is 1.20 billion; tomorrow we will be 1.21 billion and so on. We need more food, more houses, and more hospitals for them. So we have no money to spend on development projects. The ever-growing rate of population must be checked. If not, we may not be able to remove India’s poverty.

Gap between the rich and the poor: The widening gap between the rich and the poor is also responsible for India’s poverty. The rich are growing richer. The poor are growing poorer. This economic gap between the two must be reduced. Our social system should be changed. The poor people must get all help to reap the fruits of Independence.

Corruption and black-money: There are corruptions in every walk of life. There is inefficiency in offices. People have become selfish. They neglect the national interests. Black money causes the problem of rising prices. Some people have all the privileges. But many others are suffering. Black money affects our economy. It causes poverty.

Also read: Causes of Rural and Urban Poverty in India

Effects of poverty

• Illiteracy: Poor people constitutes greater share of illiterate population. Education becomes extremely difficult when people are deprived of basic necessities of life.
• Child Labor: In India, a large number of young boys and girls are engaged in child labour. Also read, article on Poverty and Child labour in India.
• Nutrition and diet: Poverty is the leading cause of insufficient diet and inadequate nutrition. The resources of poor people are very limited, and its effect can be seen in their diet.
• Poor living condition and Housing problems: The don’t get proper living conditions. They have to fight the hardship of poverty to secure food, clothes and shelter. A large number of poor families live in houses with one room only.
• Unemployment: Poor people move from villages to towns and form one town to another in search of employment/work. Since, they are mostly illiterate and un-skilled, there are very few employment opportunities open for them. Due to unemployment, many poor people are forced to live an unfulfilled life.
• Hygiene and sanitation: These people have little knowledge about hygiene and proper sanitation system. They are not aware of the harmful consequences of not maintaining proper hygiene. The government is taking initiatives to make available clean and safe water, and proper sanitation system to them.
• Feminization of poverty: Women are the worst victims of poverty. Poverty effects greater number of women then men. The total of poor women outnumbers the total population of poor men. The causes include low income, gender-inequality, etc. They are deprived of proper-diet, medicines and health treatment.
• Social tensions: Poverty is often characterized with income disparity and unequal distribution of national wealth between the rich and the poor. Concentration of wealth in the hands of few rich people lead to social disturbances and revolts. Fair or even distribution of wealth leads an overall improvement in general standard of living of people.

We have to solve this problem of India’s poverty.

• Farmers must get all facilities for irrigation.
• They should be trained and educated.
• Agriculture must be made profitable.
• The ever-rising population should be checked.
• Family planning schemes should be introduced.
• More and more industries should be set up to meet the needs of our country.
• Corruption must end. Our offices should work efficiently.

These are some of the ways  by which our poverty can be removed.

Also read: How to Stop Poverty in India

Poverty is a national problem and it must be solved on a war footing. The government is taking a number of steps to mitigate poverty. Eradication of poverty would ensure a sustainable and inclusive growth of economy and society. We all should do everything possible and within our limits to help alleviate poverty from our country.

Also read: Complete Essay on Poverty in India

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Essay on Poverty: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

• Updated on  
• Oct 14, 2023

Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens. Here are some essays on poverty which will give you insights about this topic.

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay on Poverty in 100 words
• 2 Essay on Poverty in 200 words
• 3.1 Reasons Behind Poverty
• 3.2 World Poverty Conditions
• 3.3 Role of NGOs to Eradicate Poverty
• 3.4 What Can be Done by Us?

Essay on Poverty in 100 words

Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy.

In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line. 

Also Read: Speech on Made in India

Essay on Poverty in 200 words

Poverty is like a parasite that degrades its host and eventually causes a lot of damage to the host. It is basically the scarcity of basic needs that leads to an extremely degraded life and even low life expectancy. It includes a lack of food, shelter, medication, education, and other basic necessities. Poverty is a more serious circumstance where people are forced to starve. It can be caused by a variety of factors depending upon the country. 

Every country that is hit with pandemic diseases, experiences an increase in poverty rates. This is because of the fact that poor people are unable to receive adequate medical care and hence are unable to maintain their health. This renders the people powerless and even puts their liberty in jeopardy. This is because of the fact that poor people can become trapped in a vicious cycle of servitude. The condition of poverty is a distressing one that causes pain, despair, and grief in the lives of the ones it affects. 

This is also a negative scenario that prevents a child from attending basic education. It’s the lack of money that prevents people from living sufficiently. Also, it is the cause of more serious social concerns such as slavery, child labour, etc. Hence action is needed on the same with utmost sincerity. 

Essay on Poverty in 300 words

Poverty is a multifaceted concept that includes several aspects such as social aspects, political elements, economic aspects, etc. It is basically associated with undermining a variety of essential human attributes such as health, education, etc. Despite the growth and development of the economies of countries, poverty still exists in almost every one of them. 

Reasons Behind Poverty

There are several contributing reasons behind poverty in a nation. Some of them are mentioned below:-

• Lack of literacy among citizens
• Lack of Capital in the country
• Large families and a rapidly growing population
• Limited employment opportunities

There are even urban areas where the slum population is increasing. These are deprived of many basic amenities such as sanitation, drainage systems, and low-cost water supply, etc. 

World Poverty Conditions

According to UNICEF , around 22000 children lose their lives each day due to poverty. There are approximately 1.9 billion children in developing countries in the world and India is also among them. Out of these, approximately 640 million don’t have a proper shelter, 270 million are living without medical facilities, and approximately 400 million don’t have access to safe water. This worldwide situation is growing at a fast pace. 

Role of NGOs to Eradicate Poverty

The approaches by NGOs basically include helping the poor by providing various public services such as medical services etc.

They also play a major role in mobilizing the services recommended by the government. They have various approaches and strategies that directly help the poor in various ways.

What Can be Done by Us?

We help in eradicating poverty by increasing employment opportunities.

Ensuring financial services and providing the same is another such measure that can be taken.

Recognizing social entrepreneurs as people of influence, conveying to them the seriousness of this situation, and then eventually making people aware of the same is another thing that can be done. 

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Writing an essay on poverty in 200 words requires you to describe various aspects of this topic such as what causes poverty, how it affects individuals and society as a whole, etc. The condition of poverty is a distressing one that causes pain, despair, and grief in the lives of the ones it affects.

An essay on poverty may be started as follows:- Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens.

Poverty in 100 words: Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy. In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line.

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Deepansh Gautam

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Essay on Poverty in India 

Essay on Poverty in India

What is Poverty? Poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient money to meet basic needs such as food and shelter. Poverty is a situation in which a person is homeless and has very little money. Due to the growing population in urban areas, India’s poverty rate is rising. The most important fact is that huge numbers of people live in poverty, with the majority living on the edge of it. Poverty in India is mostly observed in rural regions due to a large number of uneducated and unemployed people within the growing population.

Many people cannot afford proper food for their daily lives, and because they do not have their own homes, they sleep on streets or footpaths. As a result, more people require more food, money, and shelter, but poverty grows rapidly due to a lack of these resources. This is why the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, making it difficult to bridge the gap. Poverty has several consequences, including poor housing, illiteracy, increased child labor and unemployment, and poor hygiene. As a result, these poor individuals cannot afford a balanced diet, decent clothes, or a good education for the simple reason that they do not have enough money.

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Ways to Reduce Poverty :

Poverty may be reduced by providing sufficient education and facilities to farmers, allowing them to become more profitable and not feel the need to migrate to cities in search of work. Also, uneducated individuals should receive a good education to improve their lives, and family planning is also necessary for getting out of poverty. Poverty in our country dates back to ancient times, when the poor were not given the same privileges as the wealthy, and they were even denied access to religious places. Unemployment, a lack of education, poor resource utilization, corruption, and poor government policy are all major causes of poverty.

In India, poverty is high when compared to other nations due to the poor growth rate of per capita income per person. Due to a lack of career prospects, many individuals work as rickshaw pullers, construction laborers, domestic servants, and other low-wage jobs, which leads them to live in slum areas.

In addition, lack of land resources has been one of the key reasons for poverty in India; even small farmers in our nation are poor since they cultivate but do not receive fair pay in terms of profit, resulting in poverty.

The population of India as a Major Cause of Poverty :

Since the beginning of time, poverty has been an unavoidable problem. Under British colonial authority, poverty in India worsened from the late 19th century through the early 20th century, peaking in the 1920s. During this time, the colonial government de-industrialized India by restricting the production of finished garments and other goods by Indian craftsmen.

From then till recent times, the situation has been quite the same or has even worsened in many places. In 2013, the Indian government reported that 21.9% of the country’s population lived below the official poverty line. In other words, India, which accounted for 17.5% of the world population, had 20.6% of the world’s poorest people in 2013. Rural areas are home to a huge number of poor people. Poverty is more severe among members of scheduled castes and tribes in the country’s rural areas.

Population Trends in India :

India’s population has been rapidly increasing. In 1991, India’s population was around 84.3 crores, with a high rate of poverty; now, our country’s population is around 130 crores, with the population nearly doubling in the last three decades, but not enough has been done to control poverty in our country. As the population grows, so does unemployment, and poverty is just a reflection of unemployment. More capital is necessary for developing industry, providing adequate transportation, and other projects, as a result of which the country’s deficiency is underdeveloped and more people live in poverty. Lack of skilled labor also contributes to poverty since less-skilled workers lack industrial training and education and miss out on opportunities that more skilled workers can avail. Lack of infrastructure means that transportation and communication have not been properly developed, resulting in farmers receiving fertilisers for cultivation late and industries receiving power and raw materials not on time and thus, end products not being properly marketed and reaching customers on time. Hence, to escape poverty, our government must be more serious, and citizens must share equal responsibility.

Conclusion : Remarkably, as a result of rural-to-urban migration, the incidence of rural poverty has fallen steadily. First and foremost, population growth should be strictly controlled to tackle the serious problem of poverty. Other approaches to fight this problem include expanding work possibilities, educating people, eliminating black money, decentralized planning, and assisting women and youth in becoming self-sufficient. Empowering the weaker and most backward sections of society is also expected to help reduce poverty. We are not failing to achieve our goals owing to a lack of resources or technical support, but rather due to a lack of execution of our plans and programs.

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More Money Can’t Solve Poverty

• Daily Economy
• Free Markets

I first came to economics out of a concern for poverty. I had been attracted to classical liberalism for its uncompromising defense of the rights and dignity of individuals, along with a healthy skepticism about power. Everything made sense to me: constitutional constraints, limited government, rule of law, political and economic freedom. One thing held me back: what about the poor? Could civil society provide sufficient relief? Might welfare be an exception, a collective action failure to be remedied by a limited state? 

I still remember discovering a quotation, drawn from a 1988 paper by economist Robert Lucas . It was one of a half dozen or so quotations that seems to define one’s own life better than one could ever do oneself: “Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow like Indonesia’s or Egypt’s? If so, what, exactly? If not, what is it about the ‘nature of India’ that makes it so? The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering. Once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else.”

It turns out that the story is as simple as it is beautiful; it is the story that Angus Deaton has dubbed “ the great escape ” from poverty. It is a story of ideas unleashing markets and technology (what Deirdre McCloskey has dubbed “ the bourgeois virtues “). Poverty was the natural condition of humanity for 99.9 percent of its 200,000-year existence. Sometime around 200 years ago, some people in some countries started to escape. Gradually, more people in those countries, and people in more countries, escaped too. The late Hans Rosling offers an enthusiastic, almost giddy, visualization of the story.

When faced with bunk whining that capitalism is evil, because it didn’t include everybody immediately, I share Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech:

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

After 199,800 years of poverty, capitalism — free markets, classical liberalism, the Enlightenment project, call it what you will — started lifting people out of poverty. It has not fully succeeded. Not yet. After all, it has not been given much time. And it faces skeptics and enemies everywhere. Freedom House reports that we are in the 18 th year of democratic decline around the world. A decade of growth in economic freedom was erased in 2020, as governments around the world addressed the pandemic with spending and regulation (which were supposed to be temporary). Anti-globalization forces on the left and right are threatening to push back 70 years of progress since World War II, the increasing “ extent of the market ” that lifted billions out of poverty. In 1820, almost 100 percent of the world’s one billion people were living in extreme poverty. In 1950, it was about 75 percent of the world’s two billion people. Today, it’s less than 10 percent of the world’s seven billion. Three cheers for markets! 

The Poor with Us Always

Despite this stunning progress, poverty remains. Why? Matthew Desmond, a sociologist at Princeton University, thoroughly examines the question. The book has serious flaws, but it offers a wake-up call.

Desmond reminds us that one in nine Americans is poor. He walks us through poverty and its daily assaults on stability, growth, health, and morale. It is expensive to be poor: fines accumulate on unpaid vehicle registrations; jobs are lost from unaffordable car repairs; mass incarceration kills income; the unbanked are saddled with high-interest payday loans; the poor are excluded from affluent neighborhoods, and stuck in a cycle of eviction and neglected housing; because public schools are financed by local property taxes, the poorest don’t get a good basic education; health insurance is tied to full-time work, so preventive care is often neglected, and medical catastrophe can lead to bankruptcy. 

To be sure, governments at all levels are spending — a lot — on poverty. The US welfare state (as a percentage of GDP) is the second biggest in the world, after France. But the welfare state is a sieve, and welfare programs are poorly designed and cumbersome.

Desmond is probably exaggerating the problem; it’s unclear whether he’s intentionally playing with statistics to bolster his case, or if — as a sociologist — he is more concerned with pathos than logos . For example, he pooh-poohs the drop in the price of almost everything, because “[y]ou can’t eat a cell phone.” Yet food expenditures fell from one third of income to 9 percent in the last century.

Unfortunately, the book suffers from two fatal flaws. First, Desmond does not understand markets, and sees the world as a zero-sum game; second, he does not understand the unintended consequences of intervention.

Desmond asserts that poverty persists because “we” — the middle class and the wealthy — benefit from it. Consumers want cheap stuff and corporations want high profits, so wages are kept low. Unions are repressed by greedy corporations. The gig economy leaves workers unprotected, but it’s convenient and cheap. We don’t want poor people living next to us, so we keep them out with zoning laws. Corporations and “the wealthy” have rigged the system to avoid paying their “fair share” of taxes. The wealth “hoarded” by the wealthiest excludes the poorest and serves as an excuse not to implement real change. Et caetera . In sum, “Defenders of the status quo, this pro-segregationist propertied class, have shown themselves to be willing to do the tedious work of defending the wall.” “Our abundance causes others’ misery.” Well.

The problem is reality: markets are a not a zero-sum game, but a positive-sum game. Jean-Baptiste Say and Henry Ford famously saw the link between worker and consumer. The real problem is that the poor are excluded from markets, mostly by the same well-intentioned government programs that Desmond champions. 

Desmond would solve poverty in America with “ambitious interventions” — “we should go big.” But he ends up proposing more of the same government interventions that cause poverty in the first place (and that he himself admits are inefficiently administered). Lest I appear to be a market radical or a bourgeois apologist for my comfortable life and the taxes I refuse to pay to help the poor, let’s look at some examples.

Unions increase wages for their members — at the expense of non-members. They are a drag on productivity and growth, leading to a less dynamic economy and lower employment. Sustainable wage increases come from productivity gains and human capital accumulation, not legalized bullying. Alas, teachers’ unions have completely deflated high school education; federal intervention is gutting higher education. The poor need fewer unions, more vibrant labor markets, and better education.

Inflation-adjusted prices have dropped significantly over the past fifty years — with the notable exception of three sectors: healthcare, education, and housing. Desmond laments this. But he does not recognize that these are three of the most subsidized and regulated sectors of the economy. Subsidies increase demand, and thus prices. Regulation decreases supply, increasing prices. Clearly, there is a problem. Clearly, even more government isn’t the solution. Consider that — before Obamacare — almost half of healthcare was already paid for by government funds. Consider the higher education bubble, where federal intervention has driven up prices and driven down quality.

Desmond rightly laments the injustice of exclusionary zoning regulations. Unfortunately, he also prescribes inclusionary zoning (forcing builders to include low-income housing in any new project). The unintended consequences should not be hard to predict. And let us not forget that massive government intervention to increase home ownership among the poor has already been tried. Pre-2007 US housing policy — the deadly cocktail of Community Reinvestment Act, lower lending standards and moral hazard through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and federal encouragement of subprime loans – did indeed briefly increase home ownership among the poorest Americans. They were also the ones who suffered the most when the inevitable crash followed the boom.

Payday loans are ugly, but they are often the only available option. Regulating them would make things worse, killing credit or driving the most vulnerable into black markets. Instead of banning them, we should make them irrelevant. Alas, federal and state regulations limit banking competition, driving up prices. The Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 capped debit card interchange fees. In the spirit of Frédéric Bastiat , what is ‘seen’ is a policy to help the poor. What is not seen is the increase by a whopping million of unbanked Americans , who were forced out when banks recuperated their losses by increasing fees on other services. Banks were able to do so because Dodd-Frank ended up increasing US banking concentration (as I demonstrate in a working paper with my AIER colleague Michael Makovi).

The COVID rescue packages that Desmond would like to make permanent may have worked in the short run. But they cost the federal government $5 trillion it didn’t have. So the Federal Reserve monetized the debt, driving inflation to 40-year highs. While inflation is now tamed, prices remain 20 percent higher than they were four years ago — with disproportionate effects on the poor, of course.

Although he isn’t an economist, Desmond did his homework on minimum wage. He gleefully concludes that George Stigler’s seminal work on the disemployment effects of minimum wages — along with pretty much all of microeconomic theory — was debunked by the famous 1994 Card and Krueger paper. But the arguments in that paper are, at best, “tiny pulls in the intellectual tug-of-war to accurately predict the outcome of a minimum wage policy change. And there are more… and stronger, tugs on the side that says minimum wage increases hurt employment.” Back to Bastiat, minimum wages are good for the workers who can secure them and bad for the workers who are priced out of the labor market — and especially those who are permanently excluded from their first job, with disastrous, lifelong consequences. Witness understaffed European stores and the proliferation of kiosks to replace expensive fast-food workers. As Henry Hazlitt explained, “we cannot make a man worth a given amount by making it illegal for anyone to offer him less. We merely deprive him of the right to earn the amount that his abilities and opportunities would permit him to earn, while we deprive the community of the moderate services he is capable of rendering.”

The failure of government anti-poverty programs is captured in a single fact that Desmond completely overlooks. The US poverty rate has indeed dropped a bit since 1964 , when President Johnson declared a War on Poverty, and started a six-decade spending spree. But the real story happens before 1964. As markets were liberated to work their magic — after the twin assaults of the New Deal and the wartime economy — US poverty dropped dramatically. From a high of almost 35 percent after World War Two, the poverty rate had already fallen to 19 percent in 1964. It continued its downward trend over the next few years, then has stagnated between 10 percent and 15 percent ever since.

Getting in the Way of Growth

Markets are the world’s greatest anti-poverty program. Alas, the government keeps bumbling in the way. Part of this stems from the unintended consequences of good intentions — and part of this stems from cronyism. Desmond rightly points out that the top 20 percent of earners receive $35,000 in annual government benefits, while the bottom 20 percent receive only $26,000. He is playing a bit with the numbers, as he includes not just direct transfers, but also tax deductions, which the middle class is better at capturing . But he has a point; everybody has a snout in the trough of wealth redistribution, as political activity is increasingly rewarded over economic activity. As I have written in this space , it “is no coincidence that three of the five richest counties in the US (and nine of the top 20) are located in the Washington, DC area — an area with little native industry, beyond spewing regulatory externalities.”

The fundamental problem is not a lack of funding to address poverty, as Desmond would have us believe, but government failure. Mass incarceration, qualified immunity of police, and overcriminalization co-exist with failure to provide security and rule of law in poorer neighborhoods. State interventions have rendered high school education largely useless and college too expensive. Labor laws, minimum wages, occupational licensing, and other regulations with regressive effects deny workers the opportunity earn a living and work their way out of poverty. Zoning laws and a thousand subsidies and regulations drive up housing prices, keeping the poor out of thriving neighborhoods, and out of good schools that are linked to real estate. The welfare state has crowded out a once-vibrant and effective civil society (Desmond is surprisingly silent on civil society and private charity, as he is so enamored with state solutions).

Art Thou for Us, or For Our Adversaries?

Given the book’s tragic flaws, Desmond’s emotionalism, accusations of complicity in exploitation of the poor, and with-me-or-against-me fallacy, end up being grating, rather than inspiring. Still, he is describing a real problem, and unintentionally making the case for markets.

It’s not always clear which bad policies come from the unintended consequences of good intentions, and which are naked attempts at rent-seeking. But it doesn’t matter. It’s time to stop rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The poor deserve nothing less than the opportunity to participate in the great escape.

Nikolai G. Wenzel

Nikolai G. Wenzel is Professor of Economics at Universidad de las Hespérides and Associate Research Faculty Member of the American Institute for Economic Research.  He is a research fellow of the Institut Economique Molinari (Paris, France) and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Related Articles – Books, Free Markets, Regulation

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Janmashtami 2024: 10 लाइनों में जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध कैसे लिखें|10 Lines on Janmashtami in hindi

10 Lines on Janmashtami in Hindi: हिन्दु धर्म में श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी भारत के प्रमुख त्योहारों में से एक है। कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी का त्योहार भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के जन्मदिन के रूप में मनाया जाता है। यह पर्व भारत सहित विश्व के विभिन्न हिस्सों में धूमधाम से मनाया जाता है। खासतौर पर बच्चों और युवाओं में इस पर्व को लेकर विशेष उत्साह रहता है।

भगवान श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी के दिन श्रीकृष्ण के जीवन और उनकी बाल लीलाओं पर विभिन्न प्रकार के कार्यक्रमों का आयोजन किया जाता है। ये कार्यक्रम उत्सव की भांति मानाये जाते हैं जो सभी वर्ग के लोगों को प्रेरित भी करते हैं। श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी पर श्रीकृष्ण के उपदेश जीवन में सही मार्ग पर चलने की शिक्षा देते हैं। स्कूलों और घरों में इस दिन विशेष कार्यक्रमों का आयोजन होता है, जहां बच्चे विभिन्न तरीकों से श्रीकृष्ण की लीलाओं का चित्रण करते हैं।

बच्चों के लिए जन्माष्टमी पर 10 पंक्तियों में लेख प्रतियोगिता का भी आयोजन किया जाता है। ये प्रतियोगिता उन्हें भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के आदर्शों से भी परिचित कराता है। इस लेख में, हमने तीन अलग-अलग सेटों में 10 पंक्तियां में श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध प्रस्तुत कर रहे हैं। इन्हें पढ़कर बच्चे 10 लाइनों में जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध लिख सकते हैं।

ये सेट जन्माष्टमी के महत्व, भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के जीवन और उनकी शिक्षाओं पर केंद्रित हैं। बच्चों के लिए यह लेखन न केवल शैक्षिक रूप से श्रेष्ठ होगा, बल्कि उन्हें भारतीय संस्कृति और परंपराओं के बारे में भी जागरूक करेगा।

प्रारूप 1: 10 लाइनों में जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध कैसे लिखें

• जन्माष्टमी भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के जन्म का पर्व है।
• इसे पूरे भारत में बड़े हर्षोल्लास के साथ मनाया जाता है।
• यह पर्व भाद्रपद मास की अष्टमी तिथि को मनाया जाता है।
• श्रीकृष्ण का जन्म मथुरा के कारागार में हुआ था। रात्रि 12 बजे श्रीकृष्ण के जन्म के समय, विशेष पूजा और आरती होती है।
• इस वर्ष जन्माष्टमी का त्योहार 26 अगस्त को मनाया जायेगा।
• इस दिन भक्तजन व्रत रखते हैं और श्रीकृष्ण की पूजा करते हैं।
• मंदिरों को विशेष रूप से सजाया जाता है और भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की लीला की झांकियां निकाली जाती हैं।
• मथुरा और वृंदावन में जन्माष्टमी का विशेष महत्व है।
• दही-हांडी का आयोजन महाराष्ट्र में बहुत धूमधाम से होता है।
• यह पर्व हमें धर्म, भक्ति और सत्य की राह पर चलने की प्रेरणा देता है।

प्रारूप 2: 10 लाइनों में जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध कैसे लिखें

• श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी हिन्दू धर्म का महत्वपूर्ण पर्व है क्योंकि इस दिन भगवान श्रीकृष्ण का जन्मोत्सव मनाया जाता है।
• लोग श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी पर दिनभर व्रत रखते हैं और रात को श्रीकृष्ण की आराधना करते हैं।
• इस दिन मंदिरों में विशेष पूजा और झांकियों का आयोजन होता है।
• श्रीकृष्ण की बाल लीलाओं का स्मरण किया जाता है।
• दही-हांडी की प्रतियोगिता में सभी वर्ग के लोग उत्साह के साथ भाग लेते हैं।
• श्रीकृष्ण ने अपने जीवन में धर्म और कर्म का संदेश दिया।
• मथुरा, वृंदावन और गोकुल में जन्माष्टमी का विशेष आयोजन होता है।
• इस दिन श्रीकृष्ण के भक्त भजन-कीर्तन और रासलीला का आयोजन करते हैं।
• जन्माष्टमी का पर्व बच्चों से लेकर बड़ों तक सभी के लिए विशेष होता है।

प्रारूप 3: 10 लाइनों में जन्माष्टमी पर निबंध कैसे लिखें

• जन्माष्टमी भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के जन्म जयंती के रूप में मनाई जाती है।
• इस वर्ष का त्योहार 26 अगस्त को मनाया जा रहा है। यह पर्व हमें भगवान कृष्ण की बाल लीलाओं और उपदेशों का स्मरण कराता है।
• श्रीकृष्ण ने गीता में कर्मयोग और भक्ति का मार्ग दिखाया है।
• इस दिन लोग मंदिरों में जाकर श्रीकृष्ण की पूजा करते हैं।
• मथुरा और वृंदावन में इस पर्व का विशेष महत्व है।
• दही-हांडी की परंपरा श्रीकृष्ण के माखन चोरी की लीला से जुड़ी है।
• रात्रि 12 बजे श्रीकृष्ण का जन्मोत्सव धूमधाम से मनाया जाता है।
• इस दिन मंदिरों में रासलीला का आयोजन भी होता है।
• जन्माष्टमी का पर्व हमें प्रेम, भक्ति और सत्य की शक्ति का एहसास कराता है।
• भगवान श्रीकृष्ण का जीवन हमें धर्म और नैतिकता की राह पर चलने की प्रेरणा देता है।

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FoodAnthropology

Wisdom from the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition

Review Essay: Caste and Cookbooks

Shahu Patole. 2024. Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada. Anna He Apoorna Brahma. Translated by Bhushan Korgaonkar. Gurugram, Haryana: Harper Collins India, Paperback, 386 pages, ISBN-13: 978-9356295834

Reviewed by Krishnendu Ray (New York University)

Editor’s Note: This in-depth review essay, which reflexively considers the relationship of cooking and caste in India, will be published in parts over the next 3 weeks.

            Shahu Patole’s The Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada : Anna He Apoorna Brahma (2024) is arguably the most important cookbook to come out of South Asia. That is for several reasons. It represents a gastronomy of the oppressed that has been silenced precisely on the grounds of its provisioning, cooking and eating practices. If Dalits were a country, they would be counted among one of the most populated nations in the world.

I have a collection of more than a hundred cookbooks, and have leafed through dozen others, but I have never done so with a Dalit cookbook. In more than two decades of work with food and everyday cooking I have never worked with a Mahar text. So, for me, it is the most exciting thing to run my fingers over the rough texture of this book, prop it up in my kitchen, and work on its subtle material and socio-cultural iterations. It represents one of the more important events in the history of cookbook publishing, in part because it violates almost every rule, we (South Asian elites) have normalized about Indian cooking at home and abroad.

This review essay is broken up into three parts: the first position’s me as a caste Hindu reviewer of a Dalit cookbook; the second outlines a historiography of caste as a changing classificatory system experienced phenomenologically in some relationship to class and race; and the final section delves into the specificity of the book at hand.

Dalit scholars argue that caste Hindus may consider themselves caste-less yet they benefit from the caste system. The invisibility of their caste is a privilege, just as being unaware of race is an entitlement only a few can afford. So, let me frame my caste experience before I discuss Dalit cooking, which is represented in this cookbook as a particular kind of relationship between work, care, social geography, and discrimination.

I have been told that my gotra name Ghose locates me among the Shudras, which is lower caste. But we have been an upwardly mobile group over the last few centuries. This cluster of jatis has climbed the class, hence caste, hierarchy with the Nawabs of Bengal as Kayasthas (scribes). They derive their lineage from migrants from the middle-Gangetic valley in present day Uttar Pradesh. Those were some of the earliest groups to learn Persian to be hired as record keepers for rulers and administrators. That was followed by a similar anglophone strategy under the British, to score professions of writing, so necessary for a modern bureaucratic administration. They graduated over time to become tax-collectors and landowners. Although caste, jati, gotra and varna are not exactly congruent systems of classifying people, I am underplaying their difference here to underline their convergence. [1] Some of the Kayasthas became zamindars. A Persian term for landowners, the British incorporated zamindars into their governance structure as revenue collectors. From that we acquired the non-caste title of Ray Mahashaya (some branches of the family claim the title of Khans), which was shortened by my great-great-grandfather to Ray, letting go of the grandiose Mahashaya, once he lost his zamindari under land reform legislation in independent India. That is the name with which my paternal grandfather Madhusudhan migrated to Balasore, Odisha from Midnapore, under the tutelage of another branch of the Rays, to become a small town second-grade criminal lawyer (mukhtar).

Madhusudhan was brought up by his mother after the early demise of his father, the story goes, by making and selling artisanal puffed rice, among other things. So, there was some downward economic mobility that was staunched with his marriage into the family of my better-off grandmother. It was his 9th grade education that led to his career in law. He made a good living for a large family of thirteen children from the 1930s but was reduced to penury in the last decade of his life from 1955 to 1965, when he died penniless in his early sixties.

As a caste group we are exemplars of what the sociologist M.N.Srinivas (1965) called the process of Sanskritization that allowed my ancestors to acquire power, profession, wealth and prestige, along with prejudice. Persianization and anglophonity played similar roles to Sanskrit in consecrating the social location of our jati cluster in the modern period.

Parts of India my ancestors come from, that is Bengal and Odisha, were mostly populated by Brahmin and Muslim elites, Shudra peasantry and occupations, Muslim cultivators and fisherfolk, outcaste and tribal groups, with non-existent intermediate caste categories from the Kshatriya and Vaishya varnas. [2]  

For those at the bottom of the hierarchy caste operates as a barrier, it prevents access to water, streets and resources for livelihood, education, employment and marriage. For the more dominant groups, caste operates as an opportunity, affording networks, pathways and privilege (Jodhka, 2016; Mosse, 2018; Vaid, 2014). Importantly, caste shapes interactions between different groups, governing who one can eat with, accept food from, marry, and how to relate to casted others. While some scholars suggest that the significance of caste is declining (Béteille, 2012; Kapur et al., 2010), others suggest that the picture is more complex and contested (Bhoi and Gorringe 2023, p. 3).

Most of the sociological studies on caste are about rules of commensality, so food and marriage are central to modes of defining it. My father and mother (the latter from the jat of Giris) married outside of considerations of caste. Technically that makes me an outcaste, but who is going to police that (given my residence far from home and access to other forms of capital). To marry against caste rules, they had to elope 300 kilometers to the big city of Calcutta in the early 1960s, from where they returned to be grudgingly accepted by their families.

The ideology of the Odia Giris is analogous to the story of the Bengali Kayasthas. In their narration they count their lineage back to Rajput and Maratha settlers along the banks of the Subarnarekha River, who were the enforcers for the Peshwa rulers. They called themselves Raju, which has sometimes been classified among Other Backward Castes. In matters of caste and jati there is constant self-fashioning and other sniping. Elements of the Rays consider the Giris to be inferior in social hierarchy either due to their linguistic capital (Bengali versus Odia) or caste prejudice.

Having broken the rules, my parents never taught my brother and me about caste. Some of the caste pride among the Rays of the earlier generation had already weakened with the loss of zamindari. Economic reform and redistributive politics do have desired cultural consequences. We had two uncles who continued to have grandiose dreams of Ray Mahashaya but were considered odd by the rest. By then room had opened in Gandhian and Nehruvian modern India to disavow caste as a part of a nationalist ideology. I had to learn about caste from the previous generation – mainly from my paternal grandmother – and discussions with my family, especially my brother, an aunt, and a younger uncle, who are better informed of the narrative histories of the lineage.

Who is Dalit

            Given that personal history, framed within the limits of a hierarchical but Sanskritizing world we aspired to live in, I knew little about the specificities of Dalit foods, until my exposure to Patole’s Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada (2024). It is one among a recent slew of writing (Rege et. al. 2009, Guru 2009, Masoodi 2016, Kumar 2020) and stories on YouTube and Instagram channels (SMCSChannel 2015), that has opened the discussion on subaltern Indian cuisines. [3] New platforms where old forms of gatekeeping have collapsed, and new self-assertive classes of the dominated, have provided this important opening into Indian cooking.  

            Dalit is a relatively recent term of political autonomy asserted by former untouchables and outcastes (Valmiki 2003: 84, Mukherjee 2003: xviii). It is a form of self-classification, such as African American in the US context, for what was defined in various languages by the upper castes as Achut, Avarnas, Pariahs, etc. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi invented the term harijan – god’s people – as a part of the nationalist mobilization against the British and to stem Dalit separation into a separate category from the Hindus. With the adoption of the Indian constitution on 26th January 1950, untouchability was abolished, but it continued to be practiced by the upper castes with varying degrees of efficacy and intensity, analogous to the use of race after the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. Gandhi’s endearing term Harijan was considered patronizing by those who identify as Dalit. The root of Dalit is from dal, which is to grind down, also referencing the various legumes in Indian cuisines, a metaphor and a metonym for oppression. In the wake of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s re-classification, one of the earlier usages of Dalit was at a 1958 conference on literature organized in Bombay (Mukherjee 2003: xviii). In 1972 a group of Marathi writers formed the Dalit Panthers, inspired by the Black Panthers. The state of Maharashtra has been an important center of Dalit self-assertion, analogous to the equally powerful association of anti-Brahmin Dravidian identity among Tamils. In contrast, Bengal and Odisha have not witnessed such idioms of self-assertion of the oppressed. [4]   

There is a long history of cross-fertilization between African American movements for civil rights and the Dalit movement in India. That goes back to B. R. Ambedkar’s (1891-1956) Ph.D. at Columbia University, and his interest both in the U.S. Constitution, especially the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868), and Dewey’s Pragmatism (Mukherjee 2003: xviii; Stroud 2023). That distance from vernacular Indian life and language allowed him the room to develop a critique. After his Ph.D., Ambedkar returned to India to become the minister of law and penned a draft of the Constitution in 1949, which outlined affirmative action in government jobs and higher education, for people who came to be reclassified as the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Those contractions, SC and ST and reservations based on that classification, continue to be the currency of political activity in India. Affirmative action in India preceded the US case, where it was implemented first with Executive orders under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

So far, I have positioned myself while making two arguments. I belong to a group of upwardly mobile lower castes. That upward mobility, by class and ritual status, is often made invisible because of static notions of caste, and over-emphasis on middle-classness in most modern Indian cookbooks. Which is why I have gone on for a bit about my family, that allows me to illustrate the dynamic socio-economic fate of caste in modern India. As Surinder Jodhka notes (2023: 333) “castes are collective identities, but the collective is experienced very differently by individuals from different caste groups. To those located in positions of domination, the higher-ups, are often unaware of the fact that their ‘everyday’ is also shaped and inured by the privileges that they inherit because of the habitus of their caste group. Its apparent absence in many contexts could be proof of its overarching presence. Spaces of privilege often self-identify as sites of ‘merit’, devoid of any social identity.” So, my habitus which as Pierre Bourdieu says blinds us to our location in a hierarchy, must be pegged to make sense of Dalit ways of cooking, feeding and eating. In the next two sections I discuss the anthropology of caste and then the specificity of the cookbook under discussion.

References:

BBC News. 2024, Aug 2. “The Dalit Kitchen – Documenting the culinary history of a marginalised community,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcJ9_or9UBE

Béteille, Andre. 2012. “The Peculiar Tenacity of Caste.” Economic and Political Weekly , 47(13), 41–48 https://www.epw.in/journal/2012/13/special-articles/peculiar-tenacity-caste.html

Bhoi, Dhaneswar and Hugo Gorringe. 2023. “Introduction,” Caste in Everyday Life: Experience and Affect in Indian Society . Springer International Publishing AG, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6

Chandra, Uday, Geir Heierstad, and Kenneth Bo Nielsen. Eds. 2016. The Politics of Caste in West Bengal. New Delhi: Routledge, https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-of-Caste-in-West-Bengal/Chandra-Heierstad-Nielsen/p/book/9780815376606?srsltid=AfmBOopteq6-INyg54Xnnm-IGc26r3guHrX-G8q40LaZ7gqq43YaoWL3

Guru, Gopal. 2009. Food as a Metaphor for Cultural Hierarchies . Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania. https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/research/Food%2Bas%2Ba%2BMetaphor%2Bfor%2BCultural%2BHierarchies%2B-%2BGopal%2BGuru%2B%28working%2Bpaper%29.pdf

Jodhka, Surinder Singh. 2016. “Ascriptive Hierarchies: Caste and Its Reproduction in Contemporary India.” Current Sociology , 64(2), 228–243, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011392115614784

Jodhka, Surinder Singh and James Manor. 2018. “Introduction,” in S. Jodhka & J. Manor (Eds.), Contested Hierarchies, Persisting Influence: Caste and Power in Twenty-First Century India (pp. 1–36). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9789386689603

Jodkha, Surinder Singh. 2023. “Afterword.” In Dhaneswar Bhoi and Hugo Gorringe, eds., Caste in Everyday Life: Experience and Affect in Indian Society . Springer International Publishing AG, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6

Kapur, Devesh, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett, and D. Shyam Babu. 2010. “Rethinking Inequality: Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the Market Reform Era,” Economic and Political Weekly , 45(35), 39–49, https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/35/special-articles/rethinking-inequality-dalits-uttar-pradesh-market-reform-era.html

Kumar, Vinay. 2020. “Blood Fry & Other Dalit Recipes from My Childhood,” Goya India https://www.goya.in/blog/blood-fry-other-recipes-from-my-dalit-childhood

Masoodi, Ashwaq. 2016, Sept 16. “A Story of Culinary Apartheid,” Mint https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/wJzDhGEE4csaX2BjhjHMsL/A-story-of-culinary-apartheid.html

Mosse, David. 2018. “Caste and Development: Contemporary Perspectives on a Structure of Discrimination and Advantage,” World Development , 1(10), 422–436, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X18301943

Mukherjee, Arun Prabha. 2003. “Introduction,” in Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki, New York: Columbia University Press, https://cup.columbia.edu/book/joothan/9780231129725

Rege, Sharmila, Sangita Thosar, Deepa Balkisan Tak and Tina Aranha. 2009. Isn’t this plate Indian? Dalit Histories and Memories of Food . Pune: University of Pune Press.

SMCSChannel. 2015. Caste on the Menu Card. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQYRinzRGXU

Srinivas, M.N. 1965. Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India . Bombay. Asia Publishing.

Stroud, Scott R. 2023. The Evolution of Pragmatism in India. Ambedkar, Dewey, and the Rhetoric of Reconstruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo186009677.html

Vaid, Divya. 2014. “Caste in Contemporary India: Flexibility and Persistence,” Annual Review of Sociology, 40(1), 391–410, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2475573

Valmiki, Omprakash. 2003. Joothan. An Untouchable’s Life. New York: Columbia University Press, https://cup.columbia.edu/book/joothan/9780231129725

[1] To complicate things even further, “While the Brahminic idea of varna hierarchy did originate in the ancient past, it did not go without contestation. A wide variety of shramanic traditions flourished too. In many instances, they too subscribed to certain forms of hierarchy” (Jodhka 2023: 334).

[2] Just to take the observations of a commentator on one region of Bengal, one could have lower castes such as Rajbanshi, Namshudra, Bagdi, and Paindra and Muslim cultivators would be classified along caste lines such as Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals, and Pathans. I am keeping that social complexity outside the frame of this analysis here to get around too much clutter for an outsider non-South Asian audience.

[3] Dr. Vandana Swami, Professor at Easwari School of Liberal Arts (ESLA), Department of Sociology and Anthropology, provided a comprehensive list of writings and audiovisual material for my perusal. Thanks to Dr. Ishita Dey for productive comments on an earlier version of this essay and detailed references. I have incorporated both their suggestions into this version. I am greatly obligated to their help in developing a thorough review of the literature and platforms.

[4] In Bengal the puzzle remains “how a tiny majority of upper castes (about 10 per cent in the early twentieth century) were able to exercise a remarkable hegemonic hold over the rest of the population. There have been no bahujan political parties in West Bengal, as in north India, nor has there been an anti-Brahmin movement, as in south India” (Banerjee in Chandra, Heierstad and Nielsen 2016: xiv)

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GCSE AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol, (full marks) Grade 9 example essays

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

24 August 2024

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3 example essays for GCSE AQA English Literature - A Christmas Carol. The example essays are on: poverty, social responsibility and redemption. These essays are only for example purposes - for you to be able to look and see the type of style and content necessary for a grade 9, and are not intended for people to copy into their exams, for which I am not to be held accountable. For authenticity purposes, I have achieved a grade 9 and full marks in all of my GCSE English Literature examinations 2022, and all 3 of these essays were written by me for practise (not used in my final exam!!). I am not to be held accountable for any small errors.

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