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Poverty In India, poverty means the situation in which a man is not able to earn enough to meet minimum needs for his life
Chapter-
Poverty
Introduction:
In the previous chapter, we viewed human beings as ‘active resources’ of production. Let’s now discuss the form of human resources. If a man is not able to meet his minimum needs to lead his life, he is known as a member of particular class and the identity of that class shows poverty.
Bihar, in comparison to other states, is a backward state and most of the people here live in villages. Since their income is meager, they are unable to meet their minimum needs and always suffer from poverty.
In this chapter, we will discuss poverty line, causes of poverty and anti- poverty measures in detail.
In this picture 3.1, the poverty of a family in a village has been illustrated. It is obvious from the picture that due to poverty, people suffering from hunger and thirst still have hope for getting food.
Hunger and thirst hope for bread
Picture - 3.
Objective: Children, the main purpose of this chapter is to tell you the meaning of poverty, its causes, solution, types and its vicious circle and make you acquainted with various dimensions of poverty.
In this chapter, the poverty of Bihar with data in detail has been discussed. Various anti-poverty measures taken by centre as well as state have been unveiled. Several efforts are being made by the government for the eradication of poverty. So our main purpose is to deal with the efforts made at government level for the elimination of poverty. But our main purpose is not to leave this job only for the government, it is also to make you know, how poverty should be eradicated by the non-government organisation. In our daily life, we come across many people who we think are poor. They could be landless labourers in villages or people living in overcrowded Jhuggis in cities. They could be daily wage workers at construction sites or child workers in dhabas. They could also be beggars with children in tatters. We see poverty all around us. In fact every fourth person in India is poor. This means, roughly 26 crore people in India live in poverty. This also means that India has the largest single concentration of the poor in the world. So it has been a great challenge for the whole country even after a long period of independence.
The Story of Rajendra Singh
Rajendra Singh belongs to a small village Islampur Nalanda in Bihar. His family doesn’t own any land. So they do odd jobs for the big farmers. Work is erratic and so is the income. At times he gets paid Rs. 60 for a hard day’s work. But often it is
in kind like a few kilograms of wheat or dal or even vegetables for toiling in the farm throughout the day. The family of eight cannot always manage two square meals a day. Rajendra Singh lives in a hut on the outskirts of the village. The
women of the family spend the day chopping fodder and collecting firewood in the fields. His father, a TB patient died two years ago due to lack of treatment. His mother now suffers from the same disease and life is slowly ebbing away. Although
the village has a primary school, Rajendra singh never went there. He had to start earning when he was 10 years old. They could get new clothes once in a few years. Even soap and oil are a luxury for the family.
Picture 3.
The story of Rajendra Singh
These two typical cases illustrate many dimensions of poverty. They show that poverty means hunger and lack of shelter. It is also a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school or a situation where sick people cannot afford treatment. Poverty also means lack of clean water and sanitation facilities. It also means lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level. Above all, it means living with insult and injury. They are ill-treated at almost every place - in farms, factories, government offices, hospitals, railway-stations etc. ; obviously nobody would like to live in poverty.
The biggest challenge of independent India is to bring its millions of people out of abject poverty. The father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi ,always insisted that India would be truly independent only when the situation of the poorest of its people is improved.
Measurement of poverty by indicators
Since poverty has many facts, social scientists look at it through a variety of indicators. Usually the indictors used relate to the levels of income and consumption. But now poverty is looked through other social indicators such as illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of medical facilities, lack of job opportunities, lack of access of safe drinking water, sanitation, etc. Analysis of poverty based on social exclusion and vulnerability is now becoming very common.
Social exclusion
According to this concept, Poverty must be seen in terms of the poor having to live only in poor surrounding with other poor people, excluded from enjoying social equality of better-off people in better surrounding. Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that others (their ‘better’) enjoy. Its typical example is the caste system in India in which some castes have been excluded from equal opportunities.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability to poverty is a measure which describes the greater probability of certain communities (i.e. members of backward caste) or individuals (such as a widow or a physically handicapped person) of becoming, or remaining, poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is determined by the options available to different communities for finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities. Further, it is analysed on the basis of the greater risks these groups face at the time of natural disaster (earthquakes, tsunami, flood), terrorism, etc. Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks. In fact, vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people when bad time comes for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a fall in the availability of jobs.
Poverty Line
At the centre of the discussion on poverty is usually the concept of the poverty line. A common method used to measure poverty is based on the income or consumption levels. Poverty line may vary with time and place. Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. For example, a person not having a car in the United States may be considered poor. In India, owning of a car is still considered a luxury.
Poverty line in India and Bihar depends on calorie. According to planning commission, the average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas. Since people living in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work, calorie requirements in rural areas considered to be higher than urban areas. In 2000, poverty line for a person was fixed by MCPE (Mandatory Continuing Professional Education) at Rs. 328 per month for the rural areas and Rs. 454 for the urban areas taking into consideration the monetary expenditure per capital needed for buying these calorie requirements in terms of food grains etc. and the rise in prices. Despite less calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban areas has been fixed because of high prices of many essential products in urban areas. Monthly per capita consumption expenditure is the amount spent by a person for which he gets his essential consumptive things like food grains and housing
In the estimated year (2000), a family of five members living in rural areas and earning less than about Rs. 1640 per month is below poverty line. A similar family in the urban areas would need a minimum of Rs. 2270 per month to meet their basic requirements. The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample surveys. These surveys are
Poverty Line
According to planning com-
mission, the average calorie
requirement in India is 2400
calories per person per day
in rural areas and 2100 calo-
ries per person per day in ur-
ban areas.
Vulnerable Group
Table Chart The proportion of people below poverty line is also not same for all social groups and economic categories in India. Social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households. Similarly among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households. The following Graph 3.1 shows the percentage of poor people in all these groups.
Grahp -3 : Poverty in India 2000; Most vulnerable groups Source : Reports on Employment and Unemployment among social Graphs in India NSSO, Ministry of statistics, programme Implementation, Government of India.
Although, the average for people below poverty line for all groups in India is 26.51 out of 100 people belonging to schedule tribes are not able to meet their basic needs. Similarly 50 per cent of casual workers in urban areas are below poverty line. About 50 per cent of agricultural labourers and 43 per cent of schedule castes are also poor.
Apart from these social groups, there is also inequality of incomes within a family. In poor families all suffer, but some suffer more than others. Women, elderly people and female children may be denied access to resources available to the systematic family. Therefore, women children (especially the girl child) and old people are poorest of the poor. It can be clear from a picture.
(^51 ) 47 43
26
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Scheduled caste
Urban Irregular Labour
Rural Cultivation Labour
Schedule Tribes
Average Indian Poverty Ratio
% of people
The story of Ramlakhan
Ramlakhan lives in a small village near Patna. The village is famous for handloom, pisciculture, and poultry farming. There live about 100 families in this village. Ramlakhan is a carpenter by caste and works as an agricultural labourer for Rs. 60 per day. But he gets this job only for five or six months in a year. At other time he does odd jobs in the village. His wife Nanda also works with him. But she can rarely find work these days, and even if she does, she is paid Rs. 30 per day for the same work that Ramlakhan does. There are eight members in the family. Ramlakhan’s 65 years old widowed mother is ill and needs to be helped with her daily chores. He has a 25 year old unmarried sister and four children aged between 1 to 16 years. Three of them are girls and the youngest is a son. None of the girls go to school. Buying books and other things for school going girls is a luxury he cannot afford. Also, he has to get them married at some point of time, so he doesn’t want to spend on their education now. His mother has lost interest in life and is just waiting to die someday. His sister and elder daughter take care of the household. Ramlakhan plans to send his son to school when he comes of age. His unmarried sister does not get along with his wife. Nanga finds her a burden but Ramlakhan can’t find a suitable groom due to lack of money. Although the family has difficulty in arranging two meals a day, Ramlakhan manages to buy milk once in a while, but only for his son.
The story of Ramlakhan
Picture - 3.
I could not get enoughmoney even in town. How will I send my sonto school with such an irregular income?
- Lack of proper use of natural resources : There is abundance of natural and human resources in India. It is estimated that about 50 per cent of natural and human resources could not be used for economic development. In such a situation, it is quite natural for Indians to be poor.
- Lack of industrialization: Industrial development and expansion have not taken place rapidly in our country and so the population from agricultural sector has not been transferred to industrial sector. As a result there is no opportunities of employment available for the people and poverty exists among them due to lack of better sources of income and increasing number of unemployed.
- Dissimilarity in income and wealth : This is much dissimilarity in the distribution of income and wealth in our country. Most of the income and wealth in our country is centralized in a few hands. As a result the rich are going to be richer and the poor to be poorer; and a large part of the population is making his livelihood in poverty.
- Unemployment and disguised unemployment : India in terms of industrialization is a backward country. Due to undeveloped state of industries, there is widespread unemployment over here. The people desirous for job can’t get it. In rural areas, there is a problem of disguised or hidden unemployment. So a fair amount of poverty exists and that is the main problem.
- Foreign rule : The British ruled over our country for a long period and they always adopted the policy of exploitation. The British Policy suited their economy but it was against Indian concerns. Due to their policy,
Main causes of Poverty
- excessive growth in population
- backwardness of agriculture
- lack of capital
- Lack of proper use of natural resources
- lack of industrialization
- dissimilarity in income and wealth
- unemployment and disguised unemployment
- Foreign rule
- Adverse social environment
- Lack of transportation
Indian cottage industry closed down and millions of people became the victims of poverty.
- Adverse social environment : There is a great lack of education in India. Most of the Indians are uneducated and conventional and they do not want any kind of change in their economic and social life. This is also a reason of poverty in our country.
- Lack of transportation : There is a lack of transport facilities in India. So the economic growth rate is very slow. The development of these facilities is very necessary for the development of the country.
Anti Poverty Measures
We have seen that a majority of people in India are in poverty even today. Poverty is noticeable both in rural and urban areas. It has been a great problem even these days. So the following anti-poverty measure can be taken:
- Proper use of natural resources : Though there is no lack of natural resources in India, still we fail in using them adequately, it is said that India is a rich country but Indians are poor. It means there is abundance of natural resources in India but Indians spend their lives in poverty. So there should be proper use of natural and human resources in the country.
- Population control : The problem of poverty can be checked only after an effective control over population. So it is necessary to convert the issue of population control into a public movement by spreading education and making the people aware of its benefits.
- Growth in agricultural production : Ours is mainly an agricultural country. About two-third of the population depends on agriculture. Agricultural production can be increased by using a better quality of
It will increase the income of the people in rural areas and help in minimizing poverty.
- Growth in investment : Some states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, etc. are backward. The number of poor is very large in these states. So, more investment is vital for the eradication of poverty in these states.
Government and Non-Government efforts
Several government and non-government efforts have been made from the first to the tenth five-year plan for the eradication of poverty. The government of India has implemented many a programme at the country and local level which proved more helpful in the elimination of poverty.
The government efforts made for the elimination of poverty are the following:
- National Food for Work Progamme : This scheme has been launched by the government of India in 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country.
Government efforts
National Food for Work Programme State Employment Guarantee Funds Midday Meal Scheme Minimum Needs Programme Integrated Rural Development Programme Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana Jawahar Rozgar Yojana Pradhan Manti Rozgar Yojana Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana Swarnajayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana
Non-Government efforts Self Employment Group Farming Samudayik Vikas Karyakram Self Help Group
This programme is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work. It is implemented as a cent per cent centrally sponsored scheme and food grains are provided free of cost by the government of India.
- State Employment Guarantee Funds : Under this programme if an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days, S/he will be entitled to an unemployment allowance.
- Mid Day Meal Scheme : This is an important scheme iunder which school children get free mid day meal. The central government bears its expenses. In 2007-2008, about Rs. 7324 crore had to be spent. Only the children getting elementary education are included in this scheme.
- Minimum Needs Programme : This programme was first launched in the fifth five-year plan (1974-79) for the eradication of poverty from the country. The main purpose of this programme was to provide minimum needs, i.e., drinking water, education, medical facilities to the poor.
- Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP ): Integrated Rural Development Programme was launched in 1980 in all the blocks of the country for the elimination of poverty. It is a self-employment programme under which efforts are made to increase the income of the rural poor by providing productive assets to them so that they may come above poverty line by gaining additional income.
Distribution of Mid Day Meal in a school of Bihar
3.6 Picture
Non-Government Efforts
The following are the non-government efforts made for the eradication of poverty.
1. Self Employment:
In addition to government efforts, some non-government efforts have proved helpful in the elimination of poverty at the towns and villages. Under this scheme, the poor start their own business with the help of banks after getting training at government level. A person himself selects a business and earns by doing their job willingly and repays the loan taken from the banks. After the repayment, the person owns the business and he becomes self-independent. As a result, their income increases and the standard of living in changed.
2. Group Farming:
Group efforts have been made to remove the difficulties of agriculture. There are a few difficulties in Indian agriculture such as division of land, in the field, lack of irrigation facilities, lack of crop safety etc. Group farming was taken up to remove these difficulties. As a result, group farming ensures the guarantee of the safety of the capital invested in farming by poor farmer and labourer. Here a person works freely and
Picture - 3.
Many women working in group
shares sorrow and loss of one another. So a particular person does not have to bear the burden of loss and the poorest of the poor change their life-style by this effort.
The picture 3.7 makes it clear that many woman are working in the field in group who share not only their work but joy and sorrow as well.
3. Samudayik Vikas Karyakram:(Community Development Programme)
Like group farming, Samudayik Vikas Karyakram was also launched at the village level. Under it, people do developmental work together and share the wages and profit together. As a result every desirous person or poor gets opportunity to work together. By this effort, the poverty of all persons reduces with an increase in income.
4. Self Help Group:
Under this programme, rural males and females get jobs at village level which they perform without training. Banks encourage them to work together by providing loan. There are 15 to 20 persons in a group. The groups of males and females are formed separately. There is a president and secretary in the group and every member of the group has his/her bank account. Every member has equal responsibility to repay the loan. The income of group is distributed equally among the members of the group. Thus untrained unemployed also gets benefit by it and succeeds in reducing poverty.
