INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER POVERTY
Poverty is the inability to fulfill the minimum requirement of life like food, clothing, housing education and health facilities etc.
Relative poverty refers to poverty of people in comparison to other people in different regions or nations.
Absolute poverty refers to the total number of people living below the poverty line.
Absolute poverty is measured on the basis of two criteria:-
1. Minimum Calories Consumption Criteria
2. Minimum Consumption Expenditure Criteria
1. Minimum Calories Consumption:- People who are not getting 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban area is considered to be living below the poverty line.
2. Minimum Consumption Expenditure Criteria:- The new poverty line, thus, translates to a monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Rs 972 in rural areas and Rs 1,407 in urban areas in 2011-12. Or, Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas on a per capita daily basis.
Categorising Poverty
- Category 1 Chronic poor Those who are always poor and those who are usually poor e.g., Landless workers.
- Category 2 Transient Poor Those who are moving in and out of poverty and occasionally poor.
- Category 3 Never Poor These are categorised as non-poor people.
Rural Poor
These include landless agricultural work marginal holders and tenants-at-will.
Urban Poor
These include migrants from the rural areas in search of employment, casual factory workers and self employed serving largely as street vendors.
Urban poor are largely the spillover of the rural poor who are forced to migrate in search of jobs.
Poverty line refers to that line which expresses per capita average monthly expenditure that is essentially required by the people to satisfy their minimum needs. As per Tendulkar committee, poverty line is estimated on a monthly basis as Rs. 816 in rural areas and Rs. 1000 in urban areas. People who are not able to earn even such an amount in a month are considered below the poverty line.
According to a survey, approx. 22% of the population in India is below the poverty line.
Estimation of poverty line:
Calories based estimation— For rural area intake calorie was estimated at 2,400 calories and for urban area it is 2,100 calories,
In 1999-2000 new ways of measuring started i.e. monthly per capita expenditure–it estimates for rural areas as consumption worth Rs. 816 per person and for urban areas it is Rs. 1000 Presently as per Tendulkar committee.
Three approaches of the government to combat poverty.
Approach
1. Enhancing Economic Growth
2. Specific Programmes for Poverty Alleviation
3. Fulfilling Minimum Needs of the poor
Vicious Circle of Poverty:- It refers to a situation of self reinforcing forces in which there are certain factors that are related in a circular way and results in continuation of poverty and under development.
Causes of Poverty:
1. Rapid increase in population.
2. Low level of National product.
3. Rise in price.
4. Unemployment.
5. Low rate of growth.
6. Capital deficiency.
7. Rural Indebtedness
8. Exploitation under British rule
9. Low education
10. Inflationary Pressure
11. High Level of Migration from rural areas
12. Failure to implement land reforms.
Measures adopted by the Government to remove poverty.
1. Food for work programme.
2. Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.
3. Pradhan Mantri Gramodoya Yojana.
4. Sompoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana.
5. Swarn Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana.
6. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
7. Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana
Programme adopted by govt. to help elderly and poor people and also destitute women:-
1. National social assistance programme which includes National Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme, National Maternity benefit scheme.
2. Annapurna Yojana
3. On the job training
Poverty Alleviation Programmes
Some of the principle measures adopted by the government to remove poverty are given below
- Samaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
- Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
- Pradanmantri Gramoday Yojana (PGY)
- Jai Prakash Rozgar Guarantee Yojana (JPRGY)
- The Swaran Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
- Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
- Development of Small and Cottage Industries (viii) Minimum Needs Programme
- Twenty Point Programme
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
BRIEF NOTE ON NATIONAL FOOD FOR WORK PROGRAMME:
The National Food for Work Programme was launched in November 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country, identified by the Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State Governments. The objective of the programme was to provide additional resources apart from the resources available under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana to 150 most backward districts of the country so that generation of supplementary wage employment and providing of food security through creation of need based economic, social and community assets in these districts are further intensified.
The scheme was 100 per cent centrally sponsored and was open to all rural poor who were in need of wage employment and wanted to do manual and unskilled work.
The focus of the programme was on work relating to water conservation, drought proofing and land development. Flood control protection, rural connectivity in terms of all-weather roads and any other similar activity for economic sustainability could be included.
Foodgrains were given as part of wages under the NFFWP to the rural poor at the rate of 5 kg per man day and the remaining portian may be given in cash. More than 5 kg foodgrains can be given to the labourers under this programme in exceptional cases subject to a minimum of 25% of wages to be paid in cash. The programme has now been subsumed in Nationai Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which has come in force in 200 identified districts of the country including 150 NFFWP districts.