Poverty as a challenge Notes:

· Poverty is a complex and dynamic concept which differs from sphere to sphere.

· But Poverty concept have came to a compact and basic .

· Poverty means lack of food resources and shelter. And also lack of clean water and
sanitization facilities.

· Poverty also means lack of a steady source of income.

· So by the above things we can bound poverty in the basic concept :

· Poverty is an condition where an person does not able to meet the basic requirements
for living.

· Poverty seen by social scientists:

· Social Indicators of Poverty: Lack of resistance due to malnutrition, Illiteracy level,

Sanitation problem, Lack of healthcare services, Lack of job oppurtunities, Lack of access
to Fresh drinking water.

· Economic Indicators of Poverty: Income and consumptions.

· Analysis of poverty on the basis of social exculsion and vulnerability is very common.

· Social Exclusion: This means that people are living in a categorized way which means poor
people have distinct community than well income people or same on the basis of literacy and
culture. OR

ex.., In
a class there also can be social exculsion be seen, The students who are better in study or live in
same area are most probably be friends and will have a community, also students who are good in study,
they have a community distinct from other type of students same in case of weak students.

· Vulnerability: This describes the probability of being affected of individuals or families (mostly
members of marginalized groups and EWS) by any natural phenomenon or incident or the death
of a head member.

This means the probability of becoming poor or remaining poor.

· Poverty Line:

· Poverty line is an imaginary line used by any country for measuring it's poverty. Calories and
Rupees are fixed for urban and rural areas for measuring poverty line.

· Poverty line varies from place to place and time.

· A person is considered as poor if his or her income and consumption levels are below a given
"Minimum Level".

· How Poverty Line is determined in terms of FOOD??

· Minimum Level of requirements are determined.

· Their prices are determined.

· Then Benchmark is set.

· Present formula for food requirement is based on desired calorie requirement which
vary in Urban and Rural area and also what is the individual's sex, age and work.

· Average calorie requirement in India:

· URBAN: 2100 calorie / person/ day

· RURAL: 2400 calorie / person/ day

· How Poverty Line is determined in terms of INCOME??

· The price for buying the food requirements are determined and then benchmark is set.

· Poverty Line in India: (as per 2011-12 data)

· URBAN: rs 1000/ month / person

· RURAL: rs 816/ month / person

· The poverty line is estimated periodically every 5 years by NSSO.

· NSSO: National Sample Survey Organisation.

· International organisation World Bank has estimated world wide poverty Line: 1.90 dollar /
person.

· Vulnerable Groups:

· The vulnerability of social groups is not the same, it varies from place to place and caste.

· Vulnerable groups of India:

· Socially vulnerable: ST, SC & OBC, etc.

· Economically vulnerable: Rural agricultural and urban casual Labour households.

· Poorest of the poor: Elderly mebers, women and infant (especially girl).
· Poverty Ratio

· The poverty ratio is the percentage of people in a given age group whose income falls below the
poverty line. The poverty line is half the median household income of the total population.

· Poverty inter state dispairities means that the poverty ratio is not the same in all states so there
is a national average for poverty ratio.

· India's national average poverty ratio is 21.9%.

· States like Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Odhisa has the most poverty ratio according to census
data 2011.

· States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Gujarat have comparatively low
poverty ratio.

· But why??

· In the states Kerala and Karnataka there the governing body has focused on investing in human
capital and educatiom.

· In Gujarat industrialisation is one of the significant cause for poverty ratio decline.

· In West Bengal land reforms were introduced which helped in reducing poverty.

· In Tamil Nadu the distribution sysem has been well maintained.

· Global poverty Scenario

· We know that all countries have different poverty lines and ratios.

· International Organisation World Bank had came to poverty line that $ 1.90 or
rs. 155 / person/ perday is the minimum level.

· According to world bank the number of people in the world living below $ 1.90 per day has
fallen from 36% in 1990 to 10% in 2015.

· But when we compare the southeast asian countries there the poverty decline is in a high rate
due to economic growth and investment in human resource development.

· But when we come to many African countries there are very low rate of poverty reduction.

· The new sustainable development goals of the United Nations (UN) aim at ending all type of
poverty by 2030.

· CAUSES OF POVERTY IN INDIA:

· Low level of economic development during British colonial period.
· Vandalisation and stealing of natural resources by foreign powers and British.

· Massive population growth with low supply of resources which created high demand and low
production.

· Unequal distribution of land reforms.

· Socio- culutral and economic factors.

· High level of indebtness.

· High income inequality among people.

· SOLUTIONS OF POVERTY : Anti Poverty Measures

· The current anti- poverty statergy are broadly based on two things:

· PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH (i)

· TARGETED ANT- POVERTY SCHEMES (ii)

· Economic Growth : There is a strong link between the reduction in poverty and economic
development, so when the economy will be widened poverty will automatically decrease.

· By targeting economic growth along with poverty reduction there is also benifit in human
capital formation as people will excel on skills, education and will get access to basic needs.

· Targeted Anti- poverty Schemes: There are many schemes or Acts launched specifically
for reducing poverty in rural areas of India.

· The acts and policies are:

· Prime Minister Rojgar Yozana, 1993 ( PMRY ).

· Rural Employment Generation Programme 1995. ( REGP )

· Swarnajayanti Gram Sarojgar Yozana 1999. (SGSY)

· Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yozana 2000. (PMGY)

· National Food for Work Programme 2004. (NFWP)

· Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act 2005 (MNREGA).

· CHALLENGES TO GOVERNMENT:

· Dispairities in poverty has been visible between urban and rural areas.
· Vulnerability of social groups.

· Faluire in implemention of the schemes and policies.

· COUNTER TO THE CHALLENGES:

· Focusing on higher economic growth.

· Focusing on investment in Human Capital formation.

· Making education quality better and easy to access.

· Universal access to free elementary education.

· Declining in population growth.

· Increasing employment of women and economically weaker sections and

socially backward groups.

· Reducing the economic gap between the people.