problem of poverty in india essay

Poverty in India Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty in india.

Poverty refers to a situation in which a person remain underprivileged from the basic necessities of life. In addition, the person does not have an inadequate supply of food, shelter, and clothes. In India, most of the people who are suffering from poverty cannot afford to pay for a single meal a day. Also, they sleep on the roadside; wear dirty old clothes. In addition, they do not get proper healthy and nutritious food, neither medicine nor any other necessary thing.

Causes of Poverty

The rate of poverty in India is increasing because of the increase in the urban population. The rural people are migrating to cities to find better employment. Most of these people find an underpaid job or an activity that pays only for their food. Most importantly, around crores of urban people are below the poverty line and many of the people are on the borderline of poverty.

Besides, a huge number of people live in low-lying areas or slums. These people are mostly illiterate and in spite of efforts their condition remains the same and there is no satisfactory result.

Furthermore, there are many reasons that we can say are the major cause of poverty in India. These causes include corruption, growing population, poor agriculture , the wide gap of rich and poor, old customs, illiteracy, unemployment and few more. A large section of people are engaged in an agricultural activity but the activity pays very less in comparison to the work done by employees.

Also, more population needs more food, houses and money and in the lack of these facilities the poverty grows very quickly. In addition, being extra poor and extra rich also widens the gap between the rich and poor.

Moreover, the rich are growing richer and the poor are getting poorer creating an economic gap that is difficult to fill up.

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Effects of Poverty

It affects people living in a lot of ways. Also, it has various effects that include illiteracy, reduced nutrition and diet, poor housing, child labor, unemployment , poor hygiene and lifestyle, and feminization of poverty, etc. Besides, this poor people cannot afford a healthy and balanced diet, nice clothes, proper education , a stable and clean house, etc. because all these facilities require money and they don’t even have money to feed two meals a day then how can they afford to pay for these facilities.

The Solutions for Ending Poverty

For solving the problem of poverty it is necessary for us to act quickly and correctly. Some of the ways of solving these problems are to provide proper facilities to farmers . So, that they can make agriculture profitable and do not migrate to cities in search of employment.

Also, illiterate people should be given the required training so that they can live a better life. To check the rising population, family planning should be followed. Besides, measures should be taken to end corruption, so that we can deal with the gap between rich and poor.

In conclusion, poverty is not the problem of a person but of the whole nation. Also, it should be deal with on an urgent basis by the implementation of effective measures. In addition, eradication of poverty has become necessary for the sustainable and inclusive growth of people, society, country, and economy .

FAQs about Poverty in India Essay

Q.1 List some ways to end poverty in India. A.1 Some ways to end poverty in India are:

• Develop a national poverty reduction plan
• Equal access to healthcare and education
• Sanitation facility
• Food, water, shelter, and clothing facility
• Enhance economic growth with targeted action

Q.2 Which is the poorest state in India? A.2 Chhattisgarh is the poorest state of the country.

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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 In India Essay

Poverty is a situation in which people do not have enough money for basic necessities or survival, such as food and shelter. Due to the poor income of the people, they cannot even meet their basic needs. Here are a few sample essays on the topic of ‘poverty’.

• 100 Word Essay On Poverty In India

Poverty is the financial state of the individual or family in which they are unable to meet their basic needs in life. A poor person does not earn enough to buy basic necessities such as a 2-time meal, water, shelter, cloth, the right education, and many more. In India, overpopulation and underdevelopment is the main cause of poverty. India's poverty can be decreased with a few effective programs, in which the government should focus on developing the rural areas by providing primary education, implementing population control policies, creating jobs, and providing basic necessities at subsidized rates. Poverty is a very serious problem in the whole world and many efforts are being made to eradicate poverty.

200 Word Essay On Poverty In India

500 word essay on poverty in india, causes of poverty, poverty situation in india, how to solve poverty in india.

Poverty is defined as a situation wherein a person or family lacks the money to fulfil basic needs. Poor people don’t have good enough money to make a decent living; they don't have the funds for housing, nutrition, and schooling which are vital for survival. So, poverty can be understood absolutely as a lack of money, or extra extensive, obstacles to everyday human life.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that poverty is the worst form of violence. Poverty has been proven as the biggest hurdle in the development of India. Since 1970, the Indian government has made eradicating poverty a priority in its 5-year plans. Policies are made to ensure food security, housing, and employment through more access to increasing salary employment and enhancing access to simple social services. The Indian authorities and non-governmental corporations have initiated numerous new programs to relieve poverty, like easy entry to loans, enhancing agricultural techniques and price supports, and providing vocational skill training to people so they can get jobs. These measures have helped eliminate famines, reduce absolute poverty ranges, and decreased illiteracy and malnutrition.

The occurrence of rural poverty has declined in the past years because of rural-to-city migration. A severe limit on population growth is necessary to address the issue of poverty.

Poverty is a condition in which a person lacks basic necessities of life. This consists of food, water, clothes, and shelter. Moreover, people living on or below the poverty line don’t have enough money to buy even a single meal a day. They somehow survive with whatever they could discover on the street – salvaging food from the trash, sleeping on park benches or the roadside and depending on the charity of those with more resources.

There are many factors that are responsible for poverty. The principal causes are unemployment, illiteracy, increasing population, and lack of proper schooling and training. Humans are no longer able to earn a livelihood since they are unable to find and obtain employment. They're not able to feed their family. The other causes of poverty include war, natural disasters, political instability, and many others.

India is undoubtedly one of the most populous democracies, and its economic structure is rapidly increasing. India is still considered a developing country as opposed to a developed one. Poverty is one such issue, which creates hurdles in the development of India. A good sized portion of the population in India lives in poverty. Even 75 years after gaining our freedom, we still have problems, and poverty has troubled our country. India has a very excessive rate of poverty, which affects its progress.

Many business and public region organizations have effectively labored with the federal and state governments to cope with this difficulty. Their principal aim is to abolish poverty in India completely. Together, they have been able to put into effect some effective policies to partly eliminate this intense issue and maintain the happiness of their people.

If you want to make an actual change and a difference in society, then some measures should be taken that assist the population living beneath the poverty line. The main two reasons for poverty in India are illiteracy and unemployment. Only with appropriate education and monetary aid can this hassle be solved. In India, education and population control is the strongest weapon against poverty. The best way to eradicate poverty is through educating the masses.

Moreover, actions taken by the government can help in eradicating the situation of poverty in India to a greater extent. Some of the options available are—

Increasing the variety of jobs available in India

The employees who lack literacy should receive advanced schooling.

The public distribution system needs to carry out its responsibilities adequately.

The underprivileged should receive free food and water.

Controlling population growth is necessary and also introducing birth control promotion plans is important.

Farmers should have access to appropriate agricultural resources. They can also improve their profit with this technique. They won't migrate to metropolitan regions looking for food as a result.

Poverty is a major problem of the country and it must be addressed on an urgent basis through the implementation of powerful measures. In addition, the eradication of poverty has turned out to be important for the sustainable and inclusive boom of people, society and the economy.

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Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or  MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.  

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process. 

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Escaping and Falling into Poverty in India Today

Amit thorat.

Jawaharlal Nehru University

Reeve Vanneman

University of Maryland, U.S.A

Sonalde Desai

Amaresh dubey.

The study examines the dynamic nature of movements into and out of poverty over a period when poverty has fallen substantially in India. The analysis identifies people who escaped poverty and those who fell into it over the period 2005 to 2012. The analysis identifies people who escaped poverty and those who fell into it over the period 2005 to 2012. Using panel data from the India Human Development Survey for 2005 and 2012, we find that the risks of marginalized communities such as Dalits and Adivasis of falling into or remaining in poverty were higher than those for more privileged groups. Some, but not all of these higher risks are explained by educational, financial, and social disadvantages of these groups in 2005. Results from a logistic regression show that some factors that help people escape poverty differ from those that push people into it and that the strength of their effects varies.

Introduction

The Indian economy has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two decades of its liberalized journey. The world economic crisis notwithstanding, both rural and urban poverty fell substantially over this time period although some debate remains over the magnitude of this fall. Official estimates show a decline from a high of 37% in 1993–94 to 22% in 2011–12, a decline of 15 percentage points 1 .

Though everyone agrees poverty rates have fallen over time, we are less certain about who are the people who have risen out of poverty most rapidly and what advantages they enjoyed that might have helped explain their upward mobility. Moreover, despite the overall decline in net poverty rates, many others have newly fallen into poverty but have been almost forgotten in academic and policy discourse ( Krishna 2010 ).

Poverty analysis in India has largely depended upon cross sectional data, relying on the ‘thick’ quinquennial and the ‘thin’ annual consumption expenditure surveys by the NSSO. Though highly useful for a continuous monitoring of national progress, these cross-sectional surveys do not allow for examining the dynamics of household outcomes. The lack of national panel data has prevented us from asking what household characteristics increase the odds of exiting or entering poverty? How does occupational diversification affect the risks of poverty? Are historical caste disadvantages reproduced in recent poverty dynamics? The completion of the second wave of the India Human Development Survey () presents a unique opportunity to observe the movements into and out of poverty by Indian households across the country during a rapidly changing economy. We find that traditional caste and religious differences remain a major impediment for escaping poverty and an equally strong risk for falling into poverty. In contrast, educational attainment and a salaried position offer protection against the danger of falling into poverty but somewhat less help in escaping once there. Urban location offers similar protections against falling into poverty but almost no advantage in escaping poverty after holding constant the educational and occupational advantages typical of urban households.

Background and motivation

Contemporary poverty in India has always been underpinned by the age-old divisions of caste and religious differences. Patterns of poverty and underdevelopment show consistent intergroup differences over time, even during phases of growth and development. India’s class differentials have historically mirrored the traditional caste differentials. Brahmins and other forward castes have been the traditional decision makers through their ownership of land and capital, while Dalits (Scheduled Castes) have more often worked as landless labourers. Indigenous tribal groups ( Adivasis ), often set apart geographically and socially from the rest of India, have typically been the poorest of the poor.

Despite aggressive affirmative action policies by the Government of India and despite substantial improvements in incomes among all Indians, poverty continues to be concentrated among these most traditionally disadvantaged groups. A recent report based on the 2004–2005 India Human Development Survey ( Desai et al. 2010 ) found that while Forward Caste Hindus experienced a 12% poverty rate, Dalit poverty was more than two and half times as high (32%) and a crippling 50% of Adivasis were poor. Intermediate castes (OBCs – Other Backward Classes) had, not surprisingly, intermediate levels of poverty (23%). Comparable estimates of poverty ( Thorat & Dubey, 2012 ) based on data from National Sample Survey also show similar inter group differences. While the head count ratio (HCR) for the Dalits and Adivasis were as high as 32% and 30%, they are only 17% for the Forward caste Hindus.

Religious differences in poverty are more complex owing to different levels of urbanization, education, and non-agricultural employment. Nevertheless, 31% of minority Muslims were poor, a rate not much different from Dalits (IHDS, 2005). Other minority religious groups, Jains, Sikhs, and to a lesser extent Christians, have been relatively prosperous; together their 2005 poverty rate was only 12%, about the same as Forward Caste Hindus.

Panel literature and analysis

Poverty analyses in India have depended largely on the cross sectional National Sample Surveys (NSS) consumption expenditure data collected every five years 2 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Panel data analysis has been less common; what has been available has used mostly selected rural samples from NCAER ( Mehta and Bhide 2003 ) and from ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ( Singh and Binswanger 1993 ; Gaiha and Imai 2004 ). The last available year from ICRISAT is 2008 and from NCAER, 1998–99. Lacking sufficient panel data, others ( Krishna 2010 , Hattlebakk 2014 ) have developed retrospective methods for inquiring about transitions into and out of poverty.

Social Background

These earlier panel analyses of rural poverty persistence confirmed that the most disadvantaged groups also realized the lowest rates of escape from poverty. The evidence is clearest for Adivasis, while Dalits and especially OBCs occasionally show escape rates more similar to forward castes. For example, Mehta and Bhide (2003) studying 3139 rural households found that while 63% of “Upper Caste” households who were poor in 1970–71 were no longer poor a decade later, only 37% of Dalits and, even fewer, 30%, of Adivasis had managed to escape poverty during that time. Escape rates for OBC households, 43%, fell between these two extremes. Dhamija and Bhide (2013) extended the analysis of the same NCAER data to 1998–99 and also found that both Dalits and Adivasis were less likely to escape poverty, although the coefficient estimating the log odds of escape for Adivasis, −1.18, was over twice that for Dalits, −0.56 (2013: 692).

Krishna (2003) using retrospective accounts for 6,376 Rajasthan households found that while 45% of previously poor Upper Caste households had escaped poverty a generation later, 42% of poor OBC households, 33% of Dalit households, and only 31% of Adivasi households had been able to escape. Using similar methods with 2245 Gujarat households, Krishna et al (2005) found escape rates of 22% for “General” Hindu households, 18%, for Dalits, and 15% for Adivasis. More surprisingly, the lowest rates of escape in Gujarat were found among poor OBC households, only 12% of whom escaped poverty. Hattlebakk (2014) using a similar retrospective method with 754 households in two Orissa districts found similar rates of escape for poor OBCs (50%) and Dalits (58%) but much lower for poor Adivasis (17%). Unfortunately, the sample size of poor forward castes was too small to estimate escape rates.

The analyses most similar to what we report here were calculated by Krishna and Shariff (2011) using income, not expenditure data, from a national panel of 13,593 rural households interviewed in 1993–94 and 2004–05. They found the familiar hierarchy of escapes associated with higher caste status: Dalits and Adivasis (46%), OBCs (53%), and forward castes (60%). Interestingly, in a multivariate state fixed effects regression controlling for other household characteristics, these caste differences proved to be not statistically significant. Their results do not indicate so much a lack of caste differences in escaping poverty but rather that a reasonably comprehensive set of intervening variables can explain much of why caste status is related to escapes from poverty.

There has been less research attention to caste differences in falling into poverty, despite widespread acknowledgement that poverty rates are a product of both escapes and descents. Bhide and Methta (2008) using the NCAER data found evidence for higher rates for Adivasis falling into severe poverty and for Dalits falling into moderate poverty. Dhamija and Bhide (2013) , analyzing the same data in a multivariate model, found only non-significant caste differences after controlling for other household and area characteristics. The retrospective methods in smaller state-specific samples generally find higher descent rates for disadvantaged castes than for forward castes although the differences among the disadvantaged castes varies from one location to another. Krishna and Shariff’s all-India data found large caste differences for falling into poverty with 43% of non-poor Adivasis and Dalits falling into poverty a decade later, 36% of OBCs and 23% of forward castes.

Religious differences have usually been smaller. Mehta and Bhide (2003) found 48% of poor Hindus had escaped poverty compared to 40% of poor Muslims. Krishna and Shariff found only 45% of Muslims escaped poverty between 1994 and 2005, comparable to the low rates for Dalits and Adivasis (46%). And 39% of nonpoor Muslims fell into poverty during this period, only slightly less than for Dalits and Adivasis (43%) and well below the higher caste risk (23%).

Economic and Educational Background

A review of the existing panel data literature on India as well as other countries suggests that in rural areas, households that escaped poverty over time, were those that managed to increase their land holding or to use existing land more intensively either by increasing irrigation or crop diversification, found off-farm work, increased skill or education, acquired more assets, or reduced family size. At the same time those households that fell into poverty were the ones that lost land or operational area, experienced cropping shocks, increased family size, did not accumulate wealth, did not reduce liabilities, had members who fell ill, suffered a natural calamity, belonged to lower caste, were landless, mostly less educated and could not easily change occupation ( Adelman, Subbarao and Vashishtha, 1985 ; Baulch and McCulloch 2002 ; Gaiha 1989 ).

The panel studies reviewed above, while suggestive, have various limitations: all are rural, several are based on small or local samples, and poverty definitions vary widely from one study to another and rarely conform to the standard NSS definition. This study will use a nationally representative panel data of 38,853 households for India, the India Human Development Survey ( Desai et al., 2010 ), fielded in two waves, 2004–05 and 2011–12. This is the only nationally representative panel that has collected data on household incomes and consumption expenditures, and also includes data on many other socio-economic indicators that might protect households from poverty.

We concentrate on the prior characteristics of households that would predispose them to escape from or descend into poverty, particularly the socio-religious profile of these households. We also try to identify the economic and social resources households have to resist poverty: the household’s main source of income, level of education, land ownership, social and financial capital, and household composition. For caste and religion, we first report reduced form differences in exits and entrances and then use lagged logistic regressions to investigate the conditional effects of household characteristics in exposing households to risks of falling into poverty or chances of escaping it. We are also interested in understanding how much of the caste and community disadvantages are explained by these household characteristics.

When considering poverty transitions, we need to take account not only of the levels of income and its determinants, but also the steadiness of that income. Steadiness and high levels are easily conflated because they often (but not always) co-occur. Salaried positions in India usually pay better than wage labour, but their advantage in poverty transitions stems also from the greater steadiness of that income as compared to hourly wages. Households with steady incomes avoid the poverty transitions that come from more volatile income sources. Cross-sectional analyses of poverty that miss the churning of exits from and entrances into poverty also miss the importance of steady incomes for protecting households from poverty.

Household characteristics that are relatively enduring properties should be especially important in protecting against falling into poverty: capital of all types – financial, physical, human, and social – can buffer a household against the risks of falling into poverty during bad years. Agricultural capital might seem to be an exception to that benefit because of the inherent volatility of agricultural production due to weather and climatic conditions. But even in agriculture, landowners are better protected from falling into poverty than are agricultural labourers who are the first to suffer from failed crops. Perhaps, more importantly, irrigation can buffer the consequences of rainfall failures and protect cultivators from falling into poverty.

Bank accounts can also provide protection against the volatility of Indian incomes; they not only can hold savings to smooth consumption spending, they can provide better access to credit. Access to banking continues to expand in India, but at the time of the first IHDS survey only a third of Indian households had an account, making this a potentially important difference for families avoiding falling into poverty. And while access to future borrowing may provide a means for households to maintain their living standards, current debt may also create a risk for falling further behind. The retrospective studies described above frequently identify debts as a common path into household poverty.

Human capital, because it remains with a worker through good times and bad, can act also as insurance against descents into poverty just as physical capital can. A college degree or a secondary school diploma remains a credential workers take with them from position to position.

Finally, social capital, like financial and human capital, can be a household resource that may help protect households from falling into poverty during bad times or help efforts to rise out of poverty after setbacks. Memberships in formal organizations, especially micro-credit societies, can provide specifically economic assistance for upward mobility; and more general informal contacts with local influentials can provide the social safety nets that protect against sudden descents or that extend a hand up when trying to recover from a setback.

Of course, the steadiness of income, the buffer of a stock of capital, or the credential that protects employment is not as much assistance if that income hasn’t been sufficient to prevent poverty in the first place. A steady but poverty level income is poor consolation. For this reason, we expect these predictors of steady income to be more important as protection against falling into poverty than assistance in escaping poverty.

Data Source

IHDS began as a multi-topic panel study of 41,554 households from 33 states and union territories across 1503 villages and 971 urban neighbourhoods. The survey was designed to be nationally representative at its inception. In 2011–12, all of the 2004–5 households as well as any households separating from the root household but residing in the same area were selected for re-interviews.

Comparison of IHDS data with other reputable data sources such as the Census, National Sample Surveys (NSS) and National Family Health Survey (NFHS) shows that the IHDS compares well with these sources on common items ( Desai et al. 2010 ). For example, the NSS estimates poverty rate to be 37 per cent in 2004–5 and 22 percent in 2011–12; IHDS estimates are similar at 38 percent in 2004–5 and 21 percent in 2011–12.

IHDS2 reinterviewed 83 percent of the original IHDS1 households that housed 85 percent of the Indian population -- 92 per cent of households in rural areas and 76 per cent in urban areas. Attrition was lower among larger, rural households, especially those who owned agricultural land. Attrition was also slightly higher for the non-poor, 13 percent, than for the poor, 9 percent. These differences raise the question of a possible selection bias in our results since we can analyse poverty transitions only for households interviewed in both surveys. Appendix Table 2 presents results from a probit analysis of attrition from which we calculated the inverse Mills’ ratio included in all the analyses of poverty transitions.

Appendix Table A2

Probit analysis of attrition between survey waves.

The IHDS panel collected data on household consumption expenditures using an abridged schedule, similar to the one used by the NSS for their Employment Survey. We convert reported consumption of 47 different items (slightly revised to 52 items in 2012) to monthly per capita consumption expenditures. Head count poverty ratios have been calculated using per capita household consumption and the official poverty line (Tendulkar Committee poverty lines 3 ).

These poverty line have been used by the Planning Commission, Government of India for estimating poverty ratios. (2009, see also Himanshu 2010 ). While the Planning Commission acknowledged the multi-dimensionality of poverty, it maintained the historical reliance on survey consumption data but revised the Rupee cutoff values away from a calorie criterion towards a broader basket of food, health, and education expenditures.

Our analysis compares the poverty status of a household in 2012 (round two) to its status in 2005 (round one). For poor households in round one, we investigate whether they escaped poverty or remained poor; for non-poor households, we investigate whether they fell into poverty or remained non-poor. Thus our dependent variable is the poor or non-poor statuses of a household in round two given that the household was non-poor or poor in round one. For new household splits in round two, we trace back their poverty status to the origin household in round one.

We investigate round one household characteristics, focusing especially on caste and religion. In the multivariate models, we add highest adult education in the household, main source of income, land owned, irrigated land or not, household composition, social networks, and state dummies (see means in Appendix Table 1 ).

Descriptive Statistics

Source: Authors’ calculations from the Indian Human Development Survey.

Note: Observations have been weighted according to weights in the file to reflect the 2011 Indian population.

• Caste – We divide all households into four groups, Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), Dalits (Scheduled Castes), OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and Forward Castes (all others). We use this fourfold classification for both Hindu and non-Hindu households because in other analyses not reported here we find that the differences between self-reported caste groups among Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and others largely parallel those among Hindus.
• Religion– We include four groups: Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, and all others which includes Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, Tribals, others, and none (not reporting any religious affiliations)
• Highest Educated Adult – This variable gives the highest level of education attained by any adult aged 21 or over in the household; for the few households with no adult, we used the education of the person designated as the household head. We divide years of educational attainment into six groups.
• Main Income Source – IHDS collected detailed income data from over 50 possible sources. We group these into eight major sources (farm, agricultural wage labour, non-agricultural labour, regular salaried, self employment, family business, property or pension income, remittances, and government benefits) and classify the household according to the source of the largest income share.
• Land Class – We first divide households into those who do and do not own agricultural land, and then for those with land, we calculate the logarithm of hectares owned. In order to avoid missing values, non-landed households are assigned a low value on landsize (0.1 hectares), thus constraining the landed/landless dummy coefficient to compare nonlandowners with very small landowners and reserving the analysis of land size only to households with some land. We also included a dummy variable for whether any of the household’s land was irrigated.
• Bank account – An “eligible woman” in the household, an ever-married woman 15–49, was asked whether the household had a bank account and whether her name was on the account. Approximately 1 in 6 households did not include an eligible woman so the survey has no information on whether the household had a bank account or not. This information is important enough that we tested the role of bank accounts for these eligible woman households, substituting the mean (0.36) for missing data and adding a dummy variable to identify the households with missing data. 4
• Member of credit/savings group – IHDS asked whether a household was a member of any of nine different types of organizations; we focus on membership in a “credit/savings group”.
• Debts – Households were asked to report how much they currently owed others, from which we calculated a simple dichotomy of any debt versus no debt.
• Social Networks – This variable captures whether a household is acquainted with a government official, a teacher or school staff, or a medical official.
• Household structure – Household size is the total number of persons in the household and the dependency ratio is the number of non-working household members per working members of the household.
• We also included 21 state dummies to control for the wide range of regional differences in levels of and changes in poverty. We collapse several smaller states with small survey samples into regional groups, narrowing the number of states from 31 to 22.

We begin by reporting simple cross-tabulations of poverty rates, exits, and entrances by caste, religion, and other background variables. We compare groups using simple percentage differences, but as will be quickly apparent, those statistics can be misleading when groups are starting at such different levels of poverty.

The more analytic part of the paper uses a dynamic logistic regression model that takes as the dependent variable the poverty status (0/1) of households in time t (the 2012 IHDS survey) separately for households who were poor or nonpoor at time period t −1 , factoring in a range of control.

• Y t =Poverty status in current period.
• Y t −1 = Poverty status in initial time period.
• X t −1 = Set of controls in initial time period (social group, education etc.)
• λ t−1 = Inverse Mills’ ratio
• ε t = Error term

The logistic regressions have the advantage of comparing groups by their log odds of escaping or entering poverty, comparisons that are not so closely determined by their initial poverty levels, as are percentages differences. For example, a group with a 20% poverty head count ratio that fell to 10% experienced the same change in log odds as a group that began with a 50% poverty rate that fell to 31%. Although the former group changed by only 10 percentage points, its poverty rate was cut in half; while the latter group had a 19 percentage point change but its poverty rate was reduced by only 38%.

All analyses are weighted by the sample weights in the IHDS2 files to reflect the national population. We also correct the standard errors to account for clustering into the 2435 primary sampling units.

Robustness checks

Our main analyses use the conventional Indian measure of household poverty that is based on consumption expenditures per capita using a poverty line drawn by the Tendulkar Commission. There are many other possible ways of identifying Indian poverty, and it is possible that our results would differ with different poverty definitions. We re-compute the analysis for some although certainly not all of these possibilities. Instead of adjusting for household size by using a per capita measure of consumption, we also use an “equivalenced” measure that divides total household consumption by the square root of the number of persons in the household – an adjustment more common in poverty measures in high-income countries. We also construct a measure of “severe poverty” with a cutoff at 80 percent of the official line and a measure of “near poverty” with a cutoff at 125 percent of the poverty line. Finally, we take advantage of the wide range of economic indicators available in the IHDS by using household income and household assets as measures of economic standing, drawing the poverty lines at a level to identify an equivalent percentage of the population as with the more conventional consumption measure.

Descriptive statistics

Poverty decline.

As with other data sources, we find that the head count ratio fell substantially over time from a high of 38 percent in 2004/05 to 21 percent in 2011/12, a drop of 17 percentage points. The decline was pervasive: all groups showed declining poverty over this period, although not always by equal amounts. By one measure, more poverty reduction happened in rural areas, which saw a 17 percentage point fall from 42 percent to 25 percent, as compared to 15 points in urban areas from 28 percent to 13 percent. However, the urban rate fell by more than half while the rural rate fell by slightly less than half so by that metric urban areas did better. The simplest overall summary is that poverty fell substantially in both rural and urban areas although the urban advantage was maintained.

A comparison across caste groups also shows substantial drops for all groups but the largest percentage point fall for Adivasis (23 points, see Figure 1 ). Dalits and those from other backward classes (OBC) experienced similar percentage drops of 18 to 20 points while Forward castes experienced only a 12 percentage point drop. The most vulnerable groups have had larger percentage point declines than the better-off groups, though these reductions are from very high poverty levels in the first round. So, while Forward castes and OBCs have had poverty rates fall almost in half, for Adivasis poverty declined by only a little over a third. And despite the major reductions, poverty levels are still very high for the Adivasis. Similarly, despite significant reductions for OBCs and Dalits, the caste differentials persist.

Poverty Incidence in 2005 and 2012 across Social Groups (IHDS).

We find that Muslims have done well, registering a 21percentage point reduction, 4 percentage points more than the Hindus. Close behind are the other minority religions and the Hindus with 16 and 17 percentage point reduction. Sikhs and Christians together show low reductions; this is not unexpected as these are already low poverty communities.

Escaping and Falling into Poverty

Nationally, escaping poverty among the previously poor was far more likely than falling into poverty among the previously non-poor. That difference was an important reason for the decline in poverty over the seven years. Of the 38 percent of the population who were poor in 2005, 25 percent had escaped by 2012, almost two-thirds of the previously poor. Slightly offsetting this, only 8 percent of the population newly fell into poverty, only a little over one eighth of the 62 percent of the population who had been non-poor. These panel results demonstrate substantial churning over time among the poor. Most households who were poor in 2005 had left poverty by 2012; some of this may be quite transient poverty, however, there remains much persistent poverty as well. The majority (61 percent) of poor households in wave two had also been poor in wave one. The growing prosperity pulled many households out of poverty but also left an unfortunate minority who benefited little from the economic growth. Altogether, 13 percent of all Indians were poor in both surveys.

In what follows, we focus on the escape rates of those who were previously poor, and the descent rates of those who were previously non-poor. These rates provide a better comparison of caste and other differences in the relative chances of poverty transitions than do the total population percentages that are more strongly determined by the initial, often very different, poverty rates.

Escape and descent rates are similar for rural and urban India, although urban areas enjoy an advantage of higher rates of escape and lower rates of falling into poverty. In urban India 71 percent of the poor in 2004–05 escaped poverty by 2011–12, whereas only 64 percent of the rural poor escaped poverty over the same period. At the same time about 16 percent of the rural nonpoor in 2004–05 had fallen into poverty by 2011–12, as compared to only 8 percent in urban areas.

The share of those escaping poverty varies even more significantly across social groups ( Figure 2 ). Escaping poverty is closely tied to traditional privilege. The largest shares are from amongst the Forward Castes (73 percent of the previously poor had become nonpoor by 2012) followed by the OBCs with 70 percent escaping poverty. The Dalit poor fared less at 63 percent escaping over seven years. But by far the most disadvantaged were the Adivasi poor among whom only 48 percent managed to leave poverty between the two surveys.

Percent of those Escaping & Falling into Poverty in 2011/12 compared to 2004/05, by Social Groups (All India, IHDS)

The risk of becoming newly poor follows the same pattern of immiseration across social groups. Among Adivasis who were not poor in 2005, 24 percent had become poor by 2012. Dalits follow next with 19 percent of the previously nonpoor falling into poverty. But only 14 percent of nonpoor OBCs had become poor between the two surveys, and an even lower 9 percent for Forward castes.

Thus, despite the fact that poverty incidence has fallen substantially and large numbers have managed to escape it, the handicap of historic exclusion and continued marginalisation is still felt by the most disadvantaged groups; fewer amongst them are able to lift themselves out of poverty and more of them risk falling back into it. Some of the differences among social groups and between rural and urban residents probably reflects the fact that non-poor Dalits and non-poor rural residents may be closer to the poverty line than others and thus have a higher risk of falling back below that line. In the multivariate analyses, we can control for those differences.

Lagged Logistic Regression

Large segments of the Indian population have moved out of poverty, but which household characteristics enabled them to escape poverty or put them at risk of falling into poverty? We run two lagged logistic regressions to tease out some of these effects. First, we measure the odds of a person who was poor in wave one becoming non-poor in wave two, given demographic, economic and social characteristics of the household in wave one. Then we measure the odds of a person becoming poor in wave two given that the person was not poor in wave one. We proceed stepwise for each equation, first calculating a reduced form model to investigate variations across caste and religion and between urban and rural areas. These models also control for the household’s economic distance from the poverty line, state fixed effects, and a selection effect based on attrition between the two surveys. Then we add controls for social background and economic resources that may explain the group and rural-urban differences: highest adult education, main income source, bank and credit resources, landholding, irrigation, social capital, dependency ratio, and household size.

Urban/rural differences

Table-1 gives the odds ratios of escaping and falling into poverty in wave two, separately for those who were poor and nonpoor in wave one. For the social group characteristics reported in the reduced form models, the results are similar to the bivariate results reported above with some interesting exceptions.

Regressions of 2004–5 to 2009–10 poverty transitions, on 2004–5 characteristics.

Source: Authors’ analysis of India Human Development Surveys.

First, urban households’ advantages noted above are found only for the risk of newly falling into poverty. Among the nonpoor in 2005, urban residents had less than two-thirds the odds of becoming poor in the second wave as did rural residents of the same expenditure level, living in the same state. The volatility of rural incomes is clearly reflected in this difference, but the non-significant difference for escaping poverty suggests also that urban poverty may be as persistent as rural poverty.

Rural residents’ higher risk of falling into poverty is more than explained by their disadvantages in education, income sources, and other resources. In the full model with all these controls, urban residents have almost twice the risk of falling into poverty as equivalent rural residents.

And their chances of escaping poverty are only about half that for similar rural residents. As we will see below, urban residents’ greater human, social, and financial capital cushions them from poverty transitions; except for these advantages, their poverty transitions would be even higher than for rural residents.

Social groups and religion

Caste differences also follow the bivariate results reported above, but unlike the rural-urban differences, the regression results show that caste differences are quite similar for falling into and escaping poverty. The enormous handicap of Adivasis is shown well in these coefficients. Adivasis had just 40 percent of the odds that Forward Castes had of escaping poverty. At the same time, they were two and a half times as likely as Forward Castes to newly fall into poverty. Surprisingly little of these higher risks are explained by Adivasis’ lower educational, social, and economic resources. In the full model, Adivasis still had 49 percent of the odds of equivalent Forward Castes of escaping poverty and 1.7 times the risk of newly falling into poverty.

Dalits also were disadvantaged both in escaping and avoiding poverty between the two surveys. They had just 64 percent of the chance that Forward Castes had of escaping poverty and were two times as likely to fall into poverty; not as disadvantaged as Adivasis, but still substantially more at risk than Forward Castes or even OBCs. Interestingly, most of the Dalit disadvantage can be explained by their lower resources included in the full model. Their lower odds of escaping poverty rise from 64 before controls to a non-significant 88 percent after; and their higher risk for newly falling into poverty drops from 2.0 times to a non-significant 1.1 times after controls. The smaller risks after controls may be an optimistic result; to the extent these social and economic resources are subject to policy interventions or to Dalits’ own efforts, we can expect their higher poverty rates to eventually disappear.

OBCs were not very different from Forward Castes: they were not significantly different from the Forward Caste odds of escaping poverty. Their odds of falling into poverty are 1.24 times the odds for Forward Caste,, a difference that is entirely explained by their lower resources.

Muslim disadvantages in poverty transitions are somewhat different. As shown in the reduced form models of Table 1 , Muslims have slightly lower odds of escaping poverty and slightly higher risks of falling into poverty than Forward Caste Hindus. Their relative disadvantages are most similar to the relative risks facing OBCs. But their position looks quite different after controls for their 2005 resources are included in the full model. Compared to Forward Caste Hindus in a similar educational, social, and economic position, their odds of escaping poverty are 0.789 times the odds for Forward Castes, while their chances of falling into poverty are 1.407 times that for Forward Castes. That is, controls for their resources shows Muslims to be more, not less, vulnerable to poverty transitions.

Resources: Education

Education is the quintessential human capital credential and provides strong and consistent protection against falling into poverty. A household with a college graduate is 0.56 times as likely to fall into poverty than an equivalent illiterate household (i.e., illiterate households are over two times as likely to fall into poverty as a household with a college graduate). Even for households who were poor in 2005, those with higher education were able to escape more often, but the education effect on avoiding poverty is larger and extends further down the schooling ladder than the education effect on escaping poverty. As Table 1 shows, difference between educated and illiterate households in escaping poverty is statistically significant only when an adult household member has a college degree, in contrast, even completion of primary education significantly reduces the odds of falling into poverty and this effect increases at higher levels of education. Compared to illiterate households, the odds of escaping poverty are 0.814, 0.618 and 0.435 respectively for households with 5–9 grades of education, 10–11 grades and college degree respectively.

More education is also part of the reason why urban residents escape poverty more often than rural residents and why Forward Castes escape more often than Dalits. None of these differences are completely explained by education. Logistic regressions controlling only for education (not shown) suggest that substantial differences would remain even if the groups had equal education. But educational differences are perhaps the most susceptible to policy intervention among the resources we study so their importance in reducing (although not eliminating) age-old social disadvantages should not be understated.

Income sources

Part of the reason education provides protection against poverty is that it may provide entrance to stable jobs. Employees with a regular monthly salary have lower odds of falling into poverty than all other households. These salaried jobs have the dual advantage of paying well and paying steadily. Only 20% percent of salaried households were in poverty to begin with in 2005. And the chances of the other 80% percent entering poverty after seven years were among the smallest for any type of household.

However, for the 20% percent of salaried households already in poverty in 2005, their salaried positions were not nearly as good a benefit for escaping poverty by 2012. Poor salaried households were not significantly more likely to exit poverty than were poor cultivating households. For the poor, a steady salary may also mean steady poverty. The salaried advantage is a low frequency of initial poverty because of higher than average incomes and low risk of falling into poverty because of the steadiness of incomes, but a steady salary is not much comfort if a household is already at a poverty level.

There are surprisingly few differences among other sources of income in households’ odds of transitioning into or out of poverty once initial economic and social levels are held constant. Cultivators appear to have no more or no less chance of falling into or escaping from poverty than do business households or those depending on wage labour. Wage labour households are more likely to start out poor, but holding constant that initial level, they are no less likely than equivalent cultivating or business households to escape poverty – nor no more likely to fall into poverty if starting as non-poor. Nor are households primarily receiving remittances, government benefits, or property income very different, although our samples of those households are especially small so any conclusions about their transitions must be especially tentative.

Among cultivators, there is some evidence that larger landowners may have been better off due to their asset stability; the more land owned the lower the risks of falling into poverty and the greater the chances of escaping poverty. But more importantly, access to irrigation reduced subsequent poverty risks for cultivators, as they are not dependant on seasonal rains for their water needs. As Table 1 shows, landowners with irrigation are 0.651 times as likely to fall into poverty as compared to those landowners who depend on seasonal rains. Irrigation was even helpful for cultivators escaping poverty, increasing their odds to 1.277 times the odds of more rain-dependent cultivators.

As would be expected, bank accounts help prevent falls into consumption poverty and are significant also for rising out of poverty. The expansion of banking across India offers a major opportunity to reduce the volatility of poverty transitions. Membership in a credit society appears less successful in smoothing out consumption volatility in order to avoid poverty. The IHDS results also confirm the importance of debt as a source of falling into poverty: Nonpoor households who report having some debt in 2004–5 have a 26 percent greater chance of having fallen into poverty seven years later; debts did not lower or raise the chances of poor households escaping poverty between the two surveys.

Household Structure

Larger households have less chance of falling into poverty and more chance of escaping poverty once there. More people may mean more labour resources for the future and a greater flexibility to utilize all household resources. Similarly, a higher dependency ratio in 2005 also raises the chances of escaping poverty or not falling into poverty in the next seven years. This may seem counter-intuitive at first since cross sectionaly, the fewer household members who work, the more likely the household is to be in poverty. But some of these dependents in 2005 can later enter the labour force, especially young men who finish their education, thus enabling the household to escape poverty or to avoid falling back into poverty. And young women may finish their schooling and marry out of the household thus raising the per capita consumption levels. Measurement issues may play a role in the household size relationship since the poverty line is drawn on the basis of consumption per capita, so that larger households have a larger denominator. But, as we see in the robustness checks, poverty measures with lower penalties for household size also show larger households had higher rates of transition out of poverty and less chance of falling into poverty.

Selection effects and distance from the poverty line

Not surprisingly, the further above the poverty line a household is, the lower its risk of falling into poverty seven years later. And poor households closest to the poverty line are the ones most likely to escape poverty. Some of this beneficial effect can be attributed to other characteristics of those households, higher in per capita consumption: they tend to be better educated, more likely to have a salaried job, and more likely to own irrigated land. But the remaining importance of absolute levels of per capita consumption reminds us that the poor and the nonpoor are not discrete categories but necessarily somewhat arbitrary lines drawn in a consumption continuum. Controlling for the a household position on this continuum is nevertheless important since other differences, for instance, between Dalit and Forward Caste households, are often more a result of the fact that poor Dalit households are much poorer than the poor Forward Caste households. It is as much their greater poverty than their Dalit status that holds them back from escaping poverty or increases their risks of falling back into poverty.

The probability of a household being re-interviewed is positively related to a higher risk of falling into poverty or not escaping poverty. Re-interviewed households are in some ways similar to households at greater risk. This may be somewhat surprising since poverty in 2004–5 is correlated with attrition between the two surveys. Re-interviewed households have much in common with the measured social and economic characteristics of households at less risk of falling into poverty. Larger rural households with more land were more often re-interviewed in 2011–12; households with less property ties to their villages and neighbourhoods were more likely to have left after seven years. The positive association between likelihood of attrition and escapes from poverty only appears after these other factors are held constant. The types of households who were not found – who had migrated out of their original villages or urban neighbourhoods – resembled households who improved their economic position over the next seven years. This resemblance may also suggest that unmeasured characteristics of households who improved may be similar to the unmeasured characteristics of households who left their original homes to make a better life somewhere else. In any case, the results show some evidence of selection effects that temper our results somewhat because out-migrants are not included in the sample.

Poverty definitions have long been an intense focus of debate both internationally ( Atkinson, forthcoming ) and in India ( Deaton and Kozel 2005 ). For our analysis of transitions into and out of poverty, the important question is whether different definitions would yield different conclusions. Our robustness checks vary assumptions about economies of scale, about where to draw the poverty line, and about which economic dimension (consumption, income, or assets) is used to define poverty. Results for each of these measures are reported in Appendix Table 3 . For the most part, the main conclusions described above are not affected by the choice of poverty measure. For example, salaried employment protects against falls into severe poverty or into near poverty; whether consumption, income, or assets are used to rank households; and whether household size is adjusted to a per capita measure or less drastically to an “equivalenced” measure using the square root of household size. Nor do any of these alternative poverty measures reveal much effect of salaried employment on the odds of escaping poverty once there.

Appendix T3.a

Logistic Regression using Alternate Poverty Measures

Some exceptions to the main patterns are understandable. For example, having a bank account protects against falls into consumption poverty or into asset poverty, but not so clearly against falls into income poverty. Also, poverty status between the two surveys is more stable when poverty is measured in terms of household assets rather than household consumption: using asset poverty, only 4 percent of Indians became newly poor between the two surveys and only 19 percent left poverty. The corresponding percentages for consumption poverty were 7 percent and 29 percent.

Our IHDS results reaffirm the conclusions that poverty has indeed fallen substantially over this seven-year period. In addition, they enable us to quantify the household transitions both out of but also into poverty despite the overall trend. We find that the majority (65%) of households who were poor in 2005 had escaped poverty by 2012. This is a remarkable achievement that documents how even the poor shared economic prosperity during these times.

Their successes were only partially offset by the 14% of the non-poor who fell into poverty during this period. These newly poor, however, raise the issue of transient poverty. Not all the poor have always been poor, and public policy responses to the transient poor may need to be quite different from policies for the long-term poor ( Krishna 2007 ). Nevertheless, long-term poverty remains a problem. Despite the fact that most of the 2005 poor had escaped poverty by 2012, most of the households who were poor in 2012 had also been poor in 2005.

Falling into poverty versus Exiting from poverty

A household’s level of human and physical capital is more important in explaining who avoids falling into poverty than explaining which poor households escape poverty. Not surprisingly, more education reduces not only levels of poverty but also especially new entrances into poverty. Higher education also enhances exits from poverty but at a lower rate than reducing new entrants. While neither entering nor remaining in poverty is common among the best educated, education reduces poverty more because it reduces falls into poverty rather than helping families escape. The best educated never experience poverty at all. Or, to observe from the other end, illiteracy both raises the risk of falling into poverty and reduces the chances of escaping, but the effect on falling into poverty is much greater than the effect on remaining in poverty. As a consequence, the illiterate are especially vulnerable to spells of poverty.

Salaried employment reduces poverty in much the same way. Households with a salary income have a steady and reliable source of support that cushions them against economic misfortune. They rarely fall into poverty although on the rare instance when that happens, they are little more likely to emerge quickly than are farmers or business owners.

Irrigated land protects farmers in much the same way as higher education or a salaried income protects all households. Farmers with irrigation are less likely to fall into poverty than small farmers without irrigation, but for the minority who have become poor, these assets are somewhat helpful in escaping poverty.

Rural areas also have higher poverty rates primarily because rural households are more likely to fall into poverty. An agricultural base induces dependency on the fluctuations of seasonal weather patterns, and these fluctuations drive rural households into poverty more frequently than urban households. These fluctuations may be increasing in frequency, such as fluctuations in the Indian monsoon rains, and could be a manifestation of global climate change. However, rural households escape poverty at rates not much different than urban households; in fact in the reduced form model the rural-urban difference is not statistically significant. So, rural poverty is disproportionately a problem of higher risks of falling into poverty. This higher risk is explained by the opportunities available to rural households: less educated, less of a chance for salaried jobs, fewer bank accounts; these and other differences are important enough that in the full model comparing urban and rural households with equivalent characteristics, it is the urban residents who have a higher risk of falling into poverty.

These background factors in 2005 are somewhat better at predicting which households avoid falling into poverty than identifying households who escape from poverty. For the most part, the measures that predict exiting poverty, also predict not falling into poverty, but the odds are generally lower and sometimes not statistically significant. The caste variables are a partial exception to these stronger effects on entrances than exits. Our analysis shows that while Dalits and Adivasis have experienced major movements out of poverty, they still lag behind OBCs and Forward Castes in both rates of exit from poverty and avoiding new falls into poverty. Dalits and especially Adivasis suffer from the worst of both worlds: they have lower rates of escape and higher rates of entry. Much of the disadvantage for Dalits can be explained by their lower levels of human capital, especially their lower education, the lack of salaried employment, and their smaller households. But these same factors do not explain as much of the Adivasi disadvantage. Adivasis remain at a higher risk of poverty – both entries and lack of exits – than equivalent Forward Caste Hindus. They suffer equally from the risks of falling into transient poverty and of remaining there, permanently poor.

Further research

The availability of panel data greatly expands our ability to understand the dynamics of poverty. In this paper, we have concentrated on the prior characteristics of households who escape or fall into poverty. The results help answer the question of who is most at risk of falling into poverty and who has the best prospects of escaping poverty. Many other questions can be asked of these panel data that are beyond the scope of the current paper. One fruitful area for exploration would be to investigate the intervening events between the two surveys that distinguish households who escaped poverty from those who remained; and households who fell into poverty from those who avoided that fate (e.g, Bane and Ellwood 1986 ). Household divisions, deaths and illnesses, new sources of income are among the many events that may propel households out of or into poverty.

Our analyses have also concentrated on the household characteristics that predict entrances into and exits from poverty, but households’ poverty transitions also depend on economic and social factors beyond the borders of the household itself. Transportation connections to employment, climate patterns, industry structure, and civil unrest are examples of the many contextual forces that need to be studied. Differences in public policies and in the implementation of those policies are especially important for poverty transitions. Other research using the IHDS data has shown that participation in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Program may have played a useful role in reducing poverty ( Desai, Vashistha, and Joshi 2015 ).

It is also important to acknowledge that many regressors included in our analyses are endogenous, thus, the observed correlation between these regre ssors and poverty dynamics may well be spurious. For example, many caste associations set up banks, scholarship and hostels for students and food distribution programs. Thus, caste membership may determine education, bank accounts as well as household food consumption ( Desai and Dubey 2011 ). This argues for caution in interpreting these results and re-examining this evidence with panel data that has more than two rounds to better understand the dynamic nature of regressors along with the poverty dynamics.

Transient and Chronic Poverty

A growing literature on the dynamics of poverty has focused more on the questions of chronic poverty and poverty traps than on the questions of entries and exits that we have emphasized ( Shepherd and Mehta 2006 ; Glauben et al., 2012 ; Naschold 2012 ). While analyses of poverty durations are an obvious advance over earlier research that could look only at a single moment of poverty, we believe that identifying which households exit or enter into poverty offers a useful, more dynamic, alternative to earlier work on poverty durations. The characteristics of households who remain poor over the two IHDS waves identify the factors that raise the risk of chronic poverty. Similarly, the characteristics of nonpoor households who subsequently fall into poverty identify who is most at risk of transient poverty.

We also believe that the past poverty literature often pays insufficient attention to transient poverty, as if falling into poverty was less worrisome than remaining in poverty. Is it really worse for one household to be poor for two years than for two households to be poor for a year? Certainly, few have asked the poor themselves which experience is worse (although see Davis 2007 ). One can imagine that under some circumstances, transient poverty might be more distressing for previously nonpoor households than is persistent poverty for the long-term poor. Anirudh Krishna has been especially insistent that we should not neglect falling into poverty: “Falling into poverty is frequent, traumatic, frequently irreversible, and therefore serious enough to merit separate policy attention” ( Krishna 2007 : 1951).

Nor has there been enough research on the consequences of transient versus persistent poverty, for the children being raised in those households, for the physical and mental health of all the household members, or for the marriage bonds that hold nuclear households together or for the filial and fraternal bonds that hold together more extended households (but see Benzeval and Judge 2001 , Baevrea and Kravdal 2013). The sometimes too casual dismissal of transient poverty in the research literature (“being poor at a few moments in time” Barrett and Carter 2013) seems to suggest that poverty consequences must accumulate over time making persistent poverty more of the problem, but that is a largely unexamined assumption. Until we have better data on these consequences, a more balanced approach between new entries into poverty and the inability to escape poverty would leave us in a better position for future understanding.

Poverty research in India has enjoyed a long and distinguished history. We are ready to move to the next stage by better investigating the dynamics of entries and exits into poverty. Poverty is always a misfortune, but because different types of poverty may have different causes and consequences, we need to move beyond more static investigations or even analyses of trends based on repeated cross-sections.

This first look at IHDS panel data suggests that traditional social and economic disadvantage are reproduced in both types of poverty transitions: Dalits and Adivasis are more susceptible both to entry into and lack of escape from poverty than are Forward Castes or even OBCs. But other characteristics prove more important for one type of transition than another. Salaried work and more education are especially important for avoiding falls into poverty but they have less or even no role in predicting escapes from poverty. Our results demonstrate each of these possible relationships and thus reinforce the need to explore poverty dynamics more fully.

Appendix T3. b

• The study examines all India panel data for 2005 & 2012.
• It identifies people who escaped or fell into poverty over this period.
• Dalits and Adivasis face higher risk of falling into poverty then the rest
• Regression shows factors helping escape & falling are different from each other

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our colleagues at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, and especially the IHDS team there for helpful comments, throughout the preparation of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at Jawaharlal Nehru University where we received several useful suggestions. We are also grateful for several useful ideas from World Development reviewers. Our data are from the India Human Development Surveys, 2005 and 2012. These surveys were jointly organized by researchers at the University of Maryland and NCAER. The data collection was funded by grants R01HD041455, R01HD046166, and R01HD061408 from the National Institutes of Health and by a supplementary grant from the Ford Foundation. Data management was funded by the UK government as part of its Knowledge Partnership Program (KPP) and analysis was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

1 These estimates are based on the ‘thick’ rounds of Consumption Expenditure Survey for 2004/05 and 2011/12 conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation. Planning Commission of India Press Release

2 NSS - Consumption Expenditure Data is a large countrywide sample survey conducted every 5 years and collects household level information on rupee expenditure on consumed items. This household consumption expenditure is then used as a proxy for the household’s monthly income.

3 The Government of India appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the Suresh Tendulkar. The Committee reviewed the existing methodology of estimating poverty in India and recommended new poverty lines for the rural and urban areas. ( GOI, 2009 ). For details of methodology, click link to online the report ( Tendulkar Committee Report Online )

4 Thus, the coefficient for having a bank account reflects the importance of banks only for the 82 percent of households with eligible women; we cannot test whether the estimate would be different in other households. The value of the substituted mean, 0.36, has no effect on this coefficient but determines the size of the eligible woman dummy coefficient.

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Contributor Information

Amit Thorat, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Reeve Vanneman, University of Maryland, U.S.A.

Sonalde Desai, University of Maryland, U.S.A.

Amaresh Dubey, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

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Essay on Poverty in india 100, 200, 300, 500 words

Essay on poverty in india.

Essay on Poverty in India : Poverty is one of the major challenges that India has been grappling with for many decades. Despite the significant economic growth that India has seen in recent years, a large proportion of its population continues to live in abject poverty. Poverty is not just an economic issue but a social and cultural issue which affects the lives of people in many ways. In this essay, we will examine the causes and consequences of poverty in India and some of the measures taken to remove it.

1. lack of access to basic resources

2. unequal distribution of wealth., 3. lack of access to education, 4. overcome the issues of poverty, 5. significant challenge, affects of poverty, how to reduce it, essay on poverty in india 500 words, causes of poverty:, consequences of poverty:, essay on poverty in india 200 words, essay on poverty in india 100 words, causes of poverty in india.

Poverty in India is a complex issue for many reasons. One of the primary causes of poverty is lack of access to basic resources such as food, clean water, health care, and education. India is a country with a high population density, and a large proportion of its population lives in rural areas where access to these basic resources is limited. Additionally, India has a high rate of illiteracy and unemployment, which further adds to the problem of poverty.

Another important reason for poverty in India is the unequal distribution of wealth. A small fraction of the population has access to wealth and resources, while a vast majority live in poverty. This inequality is mainly due to historical and social factors that have led to the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few.

The consequences of poverty in India are serious and far-reaching. Poverty leads to malnutrition, disease and premature death, especially among children. It also results in lack of access to education, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Poverty also leads to social exclusion and discrimination, which further marginalises vulnerable communities.

To overcome the issue of poverty in India, the government has implemented several measures. One of the most important measures is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which guarantees 100 days of employment to rural households. The government has also implemented various poverty alleviation programs such as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

However, despite these measures, poverty remains a significant challenge in India. More investment is needed in basic resources such as education, health care and infrastructure. The government needs to address the issue of income inequality by implementing policies that promote equitable distribution of resources. Additionally, greater awareness and social action is needed to address the cultural and social factors that perpetuate poverty.

Conclusion : poverty in India is a complex and multidimensional issue that requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders. While the government has taken several measures to address poverty, more investment is needed in basic resources and policies that promote equitable distribution of wealth. Additionally, greater awareness and social action is needed to address the cultural and social factors that perpetuate poverty. Only through a concerted effort can India tackle the issue of poverty and achieve a more equitable and just society.

Definitely! Poverty in India is a vast and multidimensional problem affecting various aspects of people’s lives. Here are some additional facts and information on poverty in India:

1.Poverty rate: According to the World Bank, more than 134 million people in India live below the poverty line, which is defined as living on less than $1.90 per day. The poverty rate in India has decreased over the years, but it remains a significant challenge, especially in rural areas.

2. Rural-urban divide: Poverty in India is concentrated in rural areas, where access to basic resources is limited. According to a report by the National Sample Survey Office, rural poverty in India is twice that of urban poverty.

3. Education and Poverty: Education is an important factor in reducing poverty, as it helps individuals acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to secure better jobs and improve their standard of living. However, India has a high rate of illiteracy, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

4. Health and poverty: Poverty in India is associated with poor health outcomes, especially among children. Malnutrition is a widespread problem, with 34% of children under the age of five being underweight. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation also leads to the spread of diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid.

5. Women and poverty: Women are more likely to live in poverty than men in India, mainly due to cultural and social factors that limit their access to education, health care and employment opportunities.

6. Social Safety Net: The Government of India has implemented various social safety net programs to address poverty, such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), which provides subsidized food grains to low-income households.

However, these programs have been criticized for their inefficiency and corruption.

7. Sustainable Development Goals: India is committed to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and promote sustainable development. To achieve these goals, the government has implemented various initiatives such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aims to provide access to clean water and sanitation.

In short, poverty in India is a vast and complex issue that requires a multi-pronged approach to address it. While progress has been made, more needs to be done to achieve a more equitable and just society

Alleviating poverty in India requires a concerted effort by various stakeholders including the government, civil society organisations, the private sector and individuals. Here are some measures that can help reduce poverty in India:

1.Investment in basic resources: Investment in basic resources such as education, health care, water and sanitation is necessary to reduce poverty. Ensuring that all citizens have access to these resources will help break the cycle of poverty.

2. Promotion of employment opportunities: Creating employment opportunities especially in rural areas will help in reducing poverty. The government can implement policies that promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the primary sources of employment in India.

3. Promoting Entrepreneurship: Encouraging entrepreneurship can help reduce poverty by creating more employment opportunities and promoting economic growth. The government can provide support to entrepreneurs through funding, training and other resources.

4. Promoting gender equality: Promoting gender equality will help reduce poverty, as women are more likely to live in poverty than men. The government can implement policies that promote women’s education, employment and participation in decision making.

5. Strengthening social safety net: The government may strengthen social safety net programs such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure that benefits reach the intended beneficiaries.

6. Strengthening Governance: Corruption and inefficiency in governance are major barriers to poverty reduction. Government can strengthen governance by implementing policies that promote transparency, accountability and the rule of law.

7. Promote sustainable development: Promoting sustainable development can help reduce poverty in the long run. The government can implement policies that promote sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and environmental protection.

In conclusion, reducing poverty in India requires a multi-pronged approach involving various stakeholders. Ensuring access to basic resources, promoting employment and entrepreneurship, promoting gender equality, strengthening social safety nets, strengthening governance and promoting sustainable development are some of the measures that can do help reduce poverty in India.

Poverty in India is a widespread issue that affects a significant portion of the population. Despite economic growth in recent years, a large proportion of the population still lives in poverty, with inadequate access to basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care. Poverty in India is a complex problem caused by various factors such as caste discrimination, lack of education, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure.

Caste discrimination is one of the major causes of poverty in India. The caste system has existed in India for centuries and is deeply rooted in the social fabric of the country. People from lower castes are often discriminated against and denied access to basic resources and opportunities. This often leads to a cycle of poverty that is difficult to break.

Lack of education is another factor that contributes to poverty in India. Without access to education, people are unable to acquire the skills necessary to secure well-paying jobs. This keeps them stuck in low paying jobs with little hope of upward mobility. Apart from this, lack of education also leads to lack of awareness about basic health and hygiene practices, which leads to more diseases.

Unemployment is also an important contributor to poverty in India. Despite the government’s efforts to create jobs, the unemployment rate remains high, especially among the youth. This leads to a reduction in income, making it difficult for people to afford basic needs such as food, shelter and health care.

Inadequate infrastructure is another factor that increases poverty in India. Poor road network, inadequate health facilities and lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are some of the basic infrastructure problems that affect people living in poverty. These problems make it difficult for people to access basic necessities and increase their vulnerability to diseases and other health problems.

Poverty in India is a complex problem that requires a multidimensional solution. Addressing issues such as caste discrimination, lack of education, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure can go a long way in reducing poverty in India. Additionally, the government needs to focus on creating more jobs and providing a better social safety net for those living in poverty. Only by adopting a comprehensive approach to reducing poverty can India hope to lift its citizens out of poverty and move towards a better future and their vulnerability to diseases and other health problems.

In conclusion, poverty in India is a complex problem that requires a multi-pronged solution. Addressing issues such as caste discrimination, lack of education, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure can go a long way in reducing poverty in India. The government needs to focus on creating more jobs and providing a better social safety net for those living in poverty. Only by adopting a comprehensive approach to poverty reduction can India hope to lift its citizens out of poverty and move towards a better future.

Essay on Poverty in India 300 words

Introduction:

Poverty is a multifaceted issue that has plagued India for centuries. Despite remarkable economic growth and development in recent decades, a significant portion of India’s population continues to grapple with poverty. This essay aims to shed light on the persistent problem of poverty in India, its causes, consequences, and potential solutions.

• Income Inequality: Income inequality is a major driver of poverty in India. The rich-poor divide is stark, with a small elite accumulating enormous wealth while a large section of the population struggles to make ends meet.
• Unemployment: High levels of unemployment, particularly in rural areas, contribute to poverty. Lack of access to quality education and skills training perpetuates this problem.
• Agricultural Dependence: A significant portion of the Indian population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods. Fluctuating crop yields, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of modern farming techniques make agriculture a precarious source of income.
• Social Factors: Caste-based discrimination and social exclusion continue to marginalize certain groups, making it difficult for them to escape the cycle of poverty.
• Healthcare: Poverty leads to inadequate access to healthcare, resulting in higher mortality rates and increased susceptibility to diseases.
• Education: Impoverished families often cannot afford education for their children, perpetuating a cycle of illiteracy and limited opportunities.
• Malnutrition: Poverty contributes to malnutrition, affecting physical and cognitive development, particularly in children.
• Crime and Social Unrest: High levels of poverty can foster crime and social unrest, as individuals may resort to illegal means for survival.
• Education and Skill Development: Investing in quality education and skill development programs can empower individuals to break free from the cycle of poverty.
• Rural Development: Improving infrastructure, agricultural techniques, and providing alternative livelihood options in rural areas can alleviate poverty.
• Social Welfare Programs: Expanding and improving social welfare programs, such as food subsidies, healthcare access, and direct cash transfers, can provide immediate relief to those in need.
• Reducing Income Inequality: Implementing progressive taxation and wealth redistribution policies can help bridge the income gap.
• Addressing Social Discrimination: Stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and promoting social inclusion can reduce the impact of caste-based discrimination.

Conclusion:

Poverty remains a formidable challenge in India, affecting millions of people across the country. To eradicate poverty, it is essential to address its root causes, including income inequality, lack of education, and unemployment. A multi-pronged approach that combines economic development with social welfare programs and efforts to reduce discrimination is crucial to uplift the impoverished sections of society. Only through sustained efforts can India hope to overcome the scourge of poverty and provide a better future for all its citizens.

India, a country known for its rich cultural heritage and economic potential, also grapples with a severe and persistent issue – poverty. With a population of over 1.3 billion, India is home to one-third of the world’s poor. Poverty in India is a complex problem that has deep-rooted causes and far-reaching consequences.

One of the primary causes of poverty in India is the vast income inequality. While India has witnessed significant economic growth over the past few decades, this growth has not been inclusive. A small section of the population has reaped the benefits of economic progress, leaving a large majority of people behind. This inequality is exacerbated by factors such as lack of access to education, healthcare and job opportunities, especially in rural areas.

Furthermore, India’s high population density and limited resources make poverty a persistent challenge. The lack of basic infrastructure, inadequate sanitation facilities and unreliable access to clean drinking water further perpetuate poverty cycles.

Poverty in India has multifaceted consequences, affecting not only the economic well-being of individuals but also their health, education and overall quality of life. It also hinders the country’s overall development and social progress.

Addressing poverty in India requires a comprehensive approach that includes equitable economic policies, improved access to education and healthcare, rural development initiatives and social safety nets. Empowering marginalized communities, investing in skill development and promoting job creation can help break the cycle of poverty.

In conclusion, poverty remains a pressing issue in India, impacting millions of lives. It is essential for the government, civil society and international organizations to work collaboratively to address the root causes of poverty and uplift the disadvantaged populations, ensuring a brighter and more equitable future for all Indians.

Poverty in India remains a pressing issue with multifaceted challenges. Despite economic growth, a significant portion of the population still lives below the poverty line. Factors contributing to this include unequal distribution of wealth, limited access to quality education and healthcare, and a lack of employment opportunities, especially in rural areas. Additionally, social disparities, such as caste and gender discrimination, exacerbate the problem. Addressing poverty requires comprehensive strategies encompassing economic reforms, social programs, and inclusive development initiatives. By tackling these root causes, India can strive towards a more equitable society, improving the lives of millions and fostering sustainable growth.

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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.

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• 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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Counselling

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

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.

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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.

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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Essay on Poverty and Unemployment in India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Poverty and Unemployment 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 Poverty and Unemployment in India

Introduction.

India, a country with a rich culture and history, faces significant challenges. Two of the most critical are poverty and unemployment.

Poverty in India

Poverty is a widespread issue in India. Despite economic growth, many people live below the poverty line, struggling to meet basic needs.

Unemployment in India

Unemployment is another major issue. Many individuals, particularly the youth, are unable to find jobs, leading to economic instability.

Connection between Poverty and Unemployment

Poverty and unemployment in India are interconnected. Unemployment leads to poverty, and poverty, in turn, hampers the ability to find or create jobs.

Addressing poverty and unemployment is vital for India’s development. Through education, skill development, and economic policies, India can overcome these challenges.

250 Words Essay on Poverty and Unemployment in India

India, a country with a rich cultural heritage and diverse economy, faces significant challenges in poverty and unemployment. These two issues are intertwined, each feeding into the other, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

Poverty in India is a multifaceted issue. Despite India’s impressive economic growth, a significant portion of the population still lives below the poverty line. The World Bank reports that 22% of India’s population lives below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day. The poor lack access to basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare, which hampers their ability to break out of the poverty cycle.

Unemployment is another critical issue plaguing India. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reported an unemployment rate of 7.11% in December 2020. The lack of job opportunities, coupled with a rapidly growing population, exacerbates the issue. The absence of stable income sources pushes families into poverty, thereby increasing the poverty rate.

The Interconnection

Poverty and unemployment are intrinsically linked. Unemployment leads to a lack of income, pushing people into poverty. Conversely, poverty can lead to unemployment as those in poverty often lack the resources to gain the necessary skills or education for employment.

Addressing poverty and unemployment in India requires a multifaceted approach. This includes improving access to education, creating more job opportunities, and implementing social safety nets for the most vulnerable. Only through a comprehensive strategy can India hope to break the cycle of poverty and unemployment.

500 Words Essay on Poverty and Unemployment in India

India, a country known for its diverse culture and rich heritage, has been grappling with two significant socio-economic challenges: poverty and unemployment. These twin issues have been persistent, hampering the nation’s growth and development, and affecting millions of lives.

Despite the economic growth India has witnessed over the past few decades, poverty remains a pervasive issue. According to the World Bank, around 22% of India’s population lives below the poverty line. The reasons for such extensive poverty are manifold.

The country’s vast population exacerbates its poverty problem. With limited resources and high population density, it becomes challenging to provide adequate facilities to everyone. Furthermore, the unequal distribution of wealth is a significant contributor. The rich continue to amass wealth, while the poor struggle to meet their basic needs.

India’s rural areas bear the brunt of poverty. Lack of infrastructure, inadequate access to education and healthcare, and limited job opportunities contribute to rural poverty. The agriculture sector, which employs a significant portion of the rural population, is often unstable due to unpredictable weather patterns and lack of modern technology, leading to financial instability.

Unemployment, closely linked with poverty, is another pressing issue. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reported that the unemployment rate in India was 7.11% in 2020. The problem is not just the lack of jobs, but also the quality of jobs available. A significant portion of the employed population is engaged in low-paying jobs, often in the informal sector, without any job security or benefits.

The education system plays a role in the unemployment issue. Despite having a large number of graduates every year, many are not employable due to a gap in skills and industry requirements. The rapid advancement in technology also threatens job security, as automation may render many traditional jobs obsolete.

Combating Poverty and Unemployment

Addressing poverty and unemployment requires comprehensive and long-term strategies. Improving the quality of education and aligning it with industry needs can enhance employability. Skill development programs targeting the youth can equip them with the necessary skills for the job market.

Investing in rural infrastructure can alleviate rural poverty. Providing access to quality healthcare, education, and creating job opportunities in rural areas can improve living conditions and reduce poverty.

Social security schemes can offer a safety net for the economically vulnerable population. Direct cash transfers, food security schemes, and pension schemes for the elderly and the disabled can provide immediate relief to those living in poverty.

India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation requires addressing its poverty and unemployment issues. With targeted policies, investments in education and infrastructure, and social security schemes, India can hope to alleviate these problems. The road is long and challenging, but with concerted efforts, a poverty and unemployment-free India is an achievable goal.

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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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Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Problems of Poverty in India | Essay for Children

January 12, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Some people think poverty is a curse; but it is not always so. Many great men of the world have come from the poor families. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri and Abraham Lincoln are the examples of it. Many may be poor in materialistic way but spiritually and mentally they are not poor.

Poverty depends on one’s own thinking. Man learns many things from poverty. He doesn’t become greedy like the rich people. He believes in simple living and high thinking. He is lesser sinner than the rich ones. His desires are few. He leads a contended life: but a few have these feelings.

Many people think that poverty is the root cause of many social evils like begging, theft, prostitution , etc. A poor man in the hope of becoming rich does big crimes which brings great disasters to him. There are two types of classes in our society, the rich class and the poor class.

A poor man is born in poverty and dies in poverty. But a poor man leads an honest, a truthful and courageous life. He is bold enough to face the hardships of his life.

Table of Contents

Poverty: An Evil?

People moan about poverty as a great evil; and it seems to be an accepted belief that if people had plenty of money, they would be happy, satisfied and useful and get more out of life.

As a rule, there is more genuine satisfaction in life and more obtained in life in the humble cottage of the poor man than in the palaces of the rich. If you read the list of the “Immortals who were not born to die,” you will find that most of them have been born poor.

History of Poverty In India

India had been in the top of the list of having the maximum number of poor people in the world once. Thus, many plans have been started to help the poor. Panchayati Raj has been started after passing a law in favour of it.

Does Unemployment Lead To Poverty?

One of the main reasons of India’s poverty and backwardness is the problem of unemployment. The population is increasing and it is not possible for the government to give suitable job to every young man but situations can be created to adjust them in some self employment schemes.

Some small scale industries, cottage industries can be started in the assistance of the government. These companies can be given financial aids, sales facilities, raw materials, etc. Unemployed person should be trained for such type of industries.

Effects of Poverty: Population Increase

Poverty is the root cause of population explosion. As the population increases, the poverty prevails in the society. It gives rise to a bigger problem. This problem can be solved only when poverty is removed. Poor people begin to believe in superstitions and become orthodox. The increase in population should be checked by enacting some laws.

World Bank’s Initiative Towards Poverty in the World

A World Bank-supported higher education project is providing university scholarships for almost 1,000 students from impoverished families in Cambodia. And many such programs and policies are conducted in order to eradicate poverty completely all over the world.

Statistics On Poverty In India By World Bank (Data According To Year 2012)

According to India’s Poverty Profile (year 2012), every 1 in 5 Indians is poor. India had the largest number of poor people in any country in 2012, but its poverty rate was lowest among countries having large number of poor population.

The low income states are a home to 45% of India’s population whereas 80% of India’s poor live in rural area. Casual labor is the main source of income for the poor. The most heart-wrenching data is how the poor spends its income. The poor spends more on fuel, food and light while he/she spends just 6% on health and education; which eventually results in lower access to basic services.

Only 6% of India’s poor people have access to tap water and further only 21% to sanitation facilities. According to Global Hunger Index report (2017), India has a serious hunger problem and is ranked 100 th out of the 119 developing countries on the index

Skill India Initiative

India is the world’s fastest growing economy, expected to grow at 7.2 percent in 2017-18. The government of India has ambitious plans to transform India into a competitive, high-growth middle-income country.

The plans to transform the Indian economy have resulted in an increased demand for skilled labor over the past few years. The recently-launched National Skill Development Mission aims to train approximately 400 million people across the country by 2022.

Poverty And Unemployment Alleviation Programs In India

Some of the important programs in order to eradicate poverty from the country are

• Integrated Rural Development Program : providing assets to the poor for self-employment
• National Rural Employment Program: creating employment opportunities by building   community assets
• Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Program : providing 100 days of assured employment in a year to rural landless labor families

To set all these things in right order, it is necessary to remove poverty. As long as there is poverty, there is ignorance and illiteracy and a country cannot progress.

Poverty cannot be removed in one night. It is a long and a gradual process. It can only be wiped out step by step. Education facilities should be provided to all so that their outlook might be broadened. The exploitation of the poor people should be stopped.

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Poverty in India Essay for Students and Childern

Poverty in India Essay: Poverty is when you lack basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing. Check Poverty in India Essay in 800, 500 and 250 words

October 10, 2023

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Poverty in India Essay: Poverty means not having enough money to afford basic things like a home, healthcare, and education. It’s a tough situation where people struggle to meet their basic needs because they lack money. This essay explains what poverty is, why it happens, and what is being done to fight it in India. It’s helpful for students who want to write good essays and do well in exams.

Poverty in India Essay 800 Words

Below we are covering Poverty in India Essay in 800 Words.

Poverty is the condition where a person lacks enough money to meet their basic needs, such as food and shelter. In India, poverty is becoming more widespread, particularly in urban areas due to the increasing population. Many people live on the brink of poverty, especially in rural regions, where there are numerous uneducated and unemployed individuals.

People in poverty struggle to afford proper food and often have no homes, forcing them to sleep on streets or sidewalks. This situation leads to a growing demand for food, money, and shelter, but unfortunately, poverty continues to increase due to the scarcity of these resources. This wealth gap between the rich and the poor widens, making it challenging to reduce poverty. The consequences of poverty are numerous and include inadequate housing, illiteracy, a rise in child labor and unemployment, and poor hygiene.

Because of these challenges, impoverished individuals cannot afford nutritious meals, decent clothing, or a quality education simply because they lack the necessary funds.

Understanding Poverty in India

Poverty in India is a complex issue with various dimensions. It is not merely about inadequate income but encompasses a lack of access to basic necessities such as food, clean water, education, healthcare, and sanitation. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) highlights the multi-dimensional nature of poverty in India.

Causes of Poverty

India’s population growth, while considered a demographic dividend in certain aspects, has placed substantial pressure on the country’s resources and infrastructure, creating formidable challenges in ensuring adequate provisions for all its citizens. Economic inequality exacerbates the issue, with a considerable portion of the population enjoying substantial economic prosperity while a significant majority grapples with financial instability.

Moreover, the prevalence of unemployment and underemployment, particularly in the informal sector, exacerbates poverty levels by limiting income-earning opportunities for a substantial portion of the population. Additionally, the scarcity of accessible quality education further perpetuates the cycle of poverty, as it constrains individuals’ capacity to secure well-paying jobs and break free from the clutches of economic hardship.

Inadequate healthcare infrastructure and a lack of affordable healthcare services compound these issues, contributing to the persistence of poverty, as health-related problems often result in both reduced income and heightened expenses. Furthermore, the pronounced disparities between rural and urban areas, encompassing disparities in infrastructure, educational access, and employment prospects, significantly contribute to the prevalence of poverty in rural regions, deepening the rural-urban divide and amplifying socioeconomic disparities across the nation.

The Problems Poverty Creates

Malnutrition is a pressing concern intricately linked with poverty in India. This dire situation often results in inadequate nutrition, thereby precipitating issues like stunted growth and developmental impediments, with children being especially vulnerable to its detrimental effects.

Furthermore, the adverse impact of poverty is acutely felt in the realm of education, where limited access to quality learning opportunities becomes a pervasive impediment. This restriction not only hampers personal growth but also undermines the potential for professional advancement, perpetuating the cycle of poverty for many individuals.

Moreover, the challenges posed by subpar healthcare infrastructure and unsatisfactory sanitation conditions disproportionately afflict impoverished communities. This unfortunate reality translates into elevated morbidity and mortality rates, compounding the already dire circumstances of those living in poverty.

Additionally, poverty acts as a catalyst for social inequality, further accentuating the divide between the privileged and the marginalized. This growing chasm between the haves and the have-nots not only fosters disparities in wealth and access but also engenders social unrest and instability, posing a formidable challenge to societal harmony.

Furthermore, poverty in India has a regrettably enduring quality, often taking on the form of generational poverty. This means that the limited access to opportunities for improvement faced by one generation frequently extends its grip to the next, creating a cycle of impoverishment that is difficult to break, unless comprehensive measures are undertaken to address its underlying causes.

Also Check – Durga Puja Essay

Solutions to Remove Poverty

Investment in education and skill development initiatives holds the potential to empower individuals, equipping them with the knowledge and capabilities needed to access improved employment prospects and elevate their socioeconomic status.

Moreover, the government’s commitment to job creation, particularly in rural regions, through targeted initiatives can play a pivotal role in mitigating the pervasive challenges of unemployment and underemployment, offering hope to those seeking livelihood opportunities.

Furthermore, the expansion of social safety net programs, encompassing essential provisions such as food subsidies, healthcare access, and unemployment benefits, can serve as a critical safety cushion for marginalized and economically vulnerable populations, ameliorating their struggles and enhancing their overall well-being.

In addition, fostering rural development via dedicated efforts geared toward enhancing infrastructure, which includes the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities, can bridge the rural-urban gap by improving living conditions and boosting economic opportunities in traditionally underserved areas.

Similarly, instituting policies that prioritize progressive taxation and advocate for equitable wealth distribution is essential in addressing the issue of economic inequality, effectively reducing the wealth gap and promoting a fairer, more just society.

Lastly, the promotion of women’s empowerment, through the facilitation of educational and employment opportunities, stands as a potent strategy to combat poverty. This approach not only enhances women’s personal and financial autonomy but also contributes significantly to overall poverty reduction efforts.

Poverty in India is a big problem that has been around for a long time, and it causes many problems. To solve it, we need to use different ways and ideas. India has made progress, but we need to keep working hard, have good leadership, and make fair rules to help many people escape poverty and make society fairer. It’s not just the right thing to do; it’s also essential for India’s future growth and peace.

Poverty in India Essay 500 Words

Below we are covering Poverty in India Essay in 500 Words.

Poverty remains a daunting challenge in India, despite its remarkable economic growth. This essay explores the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to poverty in India essay in 500 words.

Causes of Poverty 

Several factors contribute to the persistence of poverty in India. Population growth, often considered a demographic dividend, exerts immense pressure on resources and infrastructure. Economic inequality widens the gap between the rich and poor, while unemployment and underemployment limit income opportunities. Inadequate access to quality education restricts job prospects, especially in rural areas. Additionally, the lack of affordable healthcare services amplifies the financial burden on impoverished individuals. Rural-urban disparities in infrastructure and opportunities further deepen the problem.

Consequences of Poverty 

Poverty in India manifests in various detrimental ways. Malnutrition is a pressing concern, particularly affecting children, leading to stunted growth and developmental challenges. Limited access to quality education hampers personal growth and economic mobility. Subpar healthcare infrastructure and sanitation conditions result in higher morbidity and mortality rates among impoverished communities. Social inequality widens, fostering disparities in wealth and access while fueling social unrest. The intergenerational nature of poverty perpetuates its grip, making it challenging to break free from its cycle.

Solutions to Remove Poverty 

Addressing poverty in India requires a multifaceted approach. Investment in education and skill development initiatives can empower individuals, enabling them to access better job opportunities and improve their socioeconomic status. The government’s commitment to job creation, particularly in rural areas, is vital for alleviating unemployment and underemployment.

Expanding social safety net programs, including food subsidies, healthcare access, and unemployment benefits, serves as a critical safety cushion for marginalized populations. Rural development efforts, including infrastructure improvements, can bridge the rural-urban gap and enhance economic opportunities in underserved areas.

Implementing policies that promote progressive taxation and equitable wealth distribution can reduce economic inequality and foster a fairer society. Additionally, empowering women through education and employment contributes significantly to poverty reduction efforts.

Conclusion 

Poverty in India remains a persistent challenge, but it is not insurmountable. Addressing poverty requires a concerted effort, including investment in education, job creation, social safety nets, rural development, and equitable policies. By tackling poverty comprehensively, India can work toward a fairer and more prosperous future for all its citizens.

Poverty in India Essay 250 Words

Below we are covering Poverty in India Essay in 250 Words.

Poverty is an enduring issue in India, coexisting alongside its economic growth. It signifies the inability to access basic necessities due to financial constraints. This Poverty in India Essay in 250 word covering poverty causes, consequences, and solutions.

Population Growth: Rapid population growth strains resources, making it hard to provide for all.

Economic Inequality: Uneven wealth distribution widens the gap between rich and poor.

Unemployment: High unemployment and underemployment rates limit income opportunities.

Education Gap: Limited access to quality education restricts job prospects, particularly in rural areas.

Healthcare Access: Lack of affordable healthcare leads to reduced income and increased expenses.

R ural-Urban Disparities: Disparities in infrastructure, education, and jobs deepen poverty.

Consequences

Malnutrition: Particularly among children, leading to stunted growth and developmental challenges.

Limited Education: Restricts personal growth and economic mobility.

Health Issues: Subpar healthcare and sanitation lead to higher morbidity and mortality.

Social Inequality: Amplifies wealth and access disparities, potentially leading to social unrest.

Education and Skills: Invest in education and vocational training to enhance employability.

Job Creation: Government-led job initiatives, especially in rural areas, can reduce unemployment.

Social Safety Nets: Expand food subsidies and healthcare access for marginalized populations.

Rural Development: Bridge the rural-urban gap through development and infrastructure investments.

Equitable Policies: Implement progressive taxation and wealth distribution policies.

Women’s Empowerment: Promote women’s education and employment for poverty reduction.

Poverty persists in India despite economic growth. Its causes include population growth, economic inequality, unemployment, limited education, healthcare access, and rural-urban disparities. Consequences range from malnutrition to social inequality. Poverty need not be a permanent feature of India’s landscape, and determined efforts can lead to a brighter and more inclusive future.

Poverty in India Essay FAQs

Poverty in India refers to a condition where individuals lack the financial means to meet basic necessities like food, shelter, education, and healthcare.

Urban poverty in India is increasing due to the rising population in cities, which strains resources and job opportunities, leading to more people living on the brink of poverty.

Consequences of poverty in India include inadequate housing, illiteracy, child labor, unemployment, poor hygiene, malnutrition, and a widening wealth gap.

The MPI, developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), measures poverty in India by considering various dimensions, including income, access to food, clean water, education, healthcare, and sanitation.

Causes of poverty in India include population growth, economic inequality, unemployment, limited access to quality education, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, and rural-urban disparities.

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This Town Had a Reputation Problem. Premier League Soccer Changed Things.

Having a team in the world’s richest sports competition might alter how people think of Luton, a place long dogged by a ramshackle image and links to extremism.

By Rory Smith

Reporting from Luton, England

As the announcement trilled out over Kenilworth Road, the jumble of rusted metal and peeling paint that Luton Town F.C. calls home, the tone started to shift. At the start of the sentence, it was little more than the traditional polite welcome to the stadium for that evening’s visiting team, Manchester City.

By the end, though, the voice of the announcer seemed overcome by what sounded a little like awe. Luton, the fans in the stands and the players on the field were reminded, was about to face “the champions of the F.A. Cup, the champions of England and the champions of Europe.” Luton seems to be having a hard time believing the company it now keeps.

There is a reason for that. Fifteen years ago, Luton Town had been relegated to the fifth tier of English soccer, a world away from the power and the prestige of the Premier League. There was, for a time, a genuine risk that the club, founded in 1885, several years before the invention of the zipper , might fold altogether. For years afterward, money remained tight, ambitions modest.

Now, Luton Town’s horizons are much grander. Last summer, it won an unexpected promotion to the world’s richest, most popular sports league. Three decades after it last played in England’s top division, it could again call Manchester City, Manchester United and the rest its peers.

That meant an immediate transformation in the club’s financial outlook: Playing in the Premier League for a single season is worth around $150 million. More important, the status that came with it gave the town — a place that has long suffered a chronic reputation problem — a global platform on which to change not just how it is perceived by others, but how it thinks of itself.

There are, broadly speaking, three ways that Luton permeates the British consciousness. One is as a transportation hub; some 16.2 million passengers filter through London Luton Airport every year. Few, though, linger. The clue for their ultimate destination is in the name.

The second is, perhaps, best summarized by the results of a 2004 poll for The Idler magazine. Some 1,800 of its readers awarded Luton the dubious honor of being Britain’s pre-eminent “crap” town . As one reader put it, Luton was essentially a “brick-and-iron temple to global pollution.” Last year, another survey ranked it as the worst place to live in Britain .

Third — and most damaging — is the town’s association with extremism. In 2005, three suicide bombers responsible for a set of coordinated attacks in London stopped off in Luton to collect a fourth accomplice before boarding a train to the capital. One of the town’s mosques has hosted speeches by the radical Islamist preachers Mostafa Kamel Mostafa and Omar Bakri Mohammed .

In 2009, a handful of protesters from the extremist group Al Muhajiroun staged a demonstration in Luton against British soldiers returning from Afghanistan. That prompted counterprotests in the town from an array of far-right groups. A far-right agitator, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — better known by his stage name, Tommy Robinson — was born in Luton.

For a time, the town was unwittingly and unwillingly projected as the heartland of the nationalist group he founded, the English Defence League. The largest march in the group’s short history was held there in 2011 . Another contentious figure, the provocateur Andrew Tate , who has been accused of human trafficking and sex crimes, spent some of his childhood on the town’s Marsh Farm estate.

When — if — the rest of England thought of Luton, it was in that context: division, rancor, blight. Luton, though, always saw something different.

“The place that you see on the news: I don’t recognize it,” Tanher Ahmed, 42, said from behind the counter of Hatters Fish and Chips, a couple of minutes’ walk from Kenilworth Road. “There’s harmony here,” he added. “There’s a sense of community.”

Bury Park, the area that immediately surrounds the stadium, might feel distinct from the center — with streets full of sari stores, roti joints and perfumed confectioners rather than the clutter of chain pubs and bookmakers that dot most British high streets — but Luton sees that as a strength.

“Luton has always been a mix of people,” said Maryan Broadbent, a board member of Luton Town’s main fan group. When the town was a center for millinery, and then for the car manufacturer Vauxhall, there were influxes of workers not only from India and Pakistan but also from Ireland and, later, Eastern Europe.

“It’s always been a changing place,” Ms. Broadbent said. The town’s Muslim community has long fought both the handful of extremists who made up Al-Muhajiroun and the idea that they were somehow representative.

But the presence of its soccer team in the Premier League was, for residents, a chance to offer an alternative definition of Luton.

Mr. Ahmed chose to win hearts and minds on a case-by-case basis. He opened his shop after he spotted a gap in the market. “There was no chippie in the area,” he explained. Fans have to walk the bustling streets of Bury Park to get to the stadium, so he knew there would be demand. “I wanted to give a good impression of the town,” he added.

It has also helped that the club has not merely existed in the Premier League — an improbable guest at the feast — but also provided one of the season’s most compelling story lines.

Luton has a shoestring team — one of its mainstays, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, is now the only player to have represented the same club in the top five divisions of English soccer — and it is led by Rob Edwards, a young, charismatic (and, not entirely irrelevantly, very handsome ) coach.

It has a crumbling, hostile stadium, a creaking throwback to an age before the edges of elite sports were smoothed down and buffed to a high sheen. And it has shown that it can compete with far richer, far more pedigreed rivals. With a handful of games remaining, Luton still harbors a slim hope of avoiding relegation and securing a second season among the elite.

There have been moments where the team has been overmatched, the romance of its story lost amid cold, hard capitalist reality — against Manchester City, for example, Luton lost, 6-2. But the team’s pluck has won it plenty of friends.

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, described Mr. Edwards’s work with his team as “insane” — in a positive way. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal coach, insisted that Luton Town “deserves more credit than any other team in this league.”

For Luton, the town, that positive association is a rare and precious thing. It has, in recent years, nurtured a thriving arts scene. And when the author Sarfraz Manzoor, who grew up in Luton, was appointed chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire last year, he said he would use his post to make people think of Luton as “cool.”

But having a team in the Premier League will not change any of the more deep-rooted problems Luton faces. Unemployment is higher than the national average , for example, and there are as many as 15,000 children in town living in poverty.

The club’s success may yet generate a material benefit. A portion of the $150 million or so that it will earn for playing a season in the Premier League has been set aside to help build a new stadium. That arena would be closer to the city center and could “transform the piece that lets Luton down,” according to Ms. Broadbent. But the intangible benefit is no less valuable.

For almost a year, millions of people have thought about Luton at least once a week. Not as a backwater or as a crucible of intolerance, but as a soccer team: bold and courageous and hopeful and refreshing.

There are plenty of people, across England, nursing a fading hope that Luton Town avoids relegation and sticks around for another year. That may not make a difference to the ultimate outcome of the season — the Premier League is not a sentimental place — but it has made a difference in Luton.

In the soccer team, the town has been able to see itself as it would like to be seen. “Whatever happens,” Ms. Broadbent said as she contemplated the specter that Luton’s feel-good story may not have a happy ending, “we have done ourselves proud.”

Rory Smith is a global sports correspondent, based in the north of England. He also writes the “ On Soccer With Rory Smith ” newsletter. More about Rory Smith

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