Class 9 NCERT Economics Chapter 3 Notes & Question Answer – गरीबी : एक चुनौती
CHAPTER 03
POVERTY: A CHALLENGE
Poverty:
Poverty is a condition in which a person does not have sufficient resources to meet their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, education, and health).
Poverty is a multidimensional problem.
Two specific forms of poverty:
Urban poverty: Poor people in urban areas include rickshaw pullers, cobblers, street vendors, low-wage laborers, etc. They lack material assets and often live in slums and shanty towns.
Rural poverty: Landless farmers, agricultural laborers, small and marginal farmers, etc. are found in rural areas.
Poverty as seen by social scientists:
Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators. Usually, the indicators are used to relate to the levels of income and consumption. But, now poverty is looked through other social indicators like
illiteracy level,
lack of general resistance due to malnutrition,
lack of access to healthcare,
lack of job opportunities,
lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation etc.
Poverty Line:
The poverty line is a method to measure poverty based on income or consumption levels.
In India, the poverty line is determined through a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirement, etc..
These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
In India poverty is calculated on the basis of the desired calorie requirement.
The accepted 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.
On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2011–12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for rural areas and Rs 1000 per month for urban areas.
The Poverty Line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).
Vulnerable Groups:
Social groups vulnerable to poverty are
Scheduled Caste (SC) and
Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the
rural agricultural labour households and
urban casual labour households.
According to a recent study, except scheduled tribes, all the other three groups (i.e. scheduled castes, rural agricultural labourers and the urban casual labour households) have seen a decline in poverty in the 1990s.
Inter-State Disparities:
In India, the proportion of poor people is not the same in every state. Bihar and Odisha continued to be the two poorest states respectively.
Urban poverty is high in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal saw a decline in poverty.
Punjab and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.
Kerala has focused more on human resource development.
In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty.
In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains is responsible for the improvement.
Global Poverty Scenario:
In China and Southeast Asian countries, poverty declined substantially as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource development.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty declined from 51 per cent in 2005 to 41 per cent in 2015.
In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has declined from 10 per cent in 2005 to 4 per cent in 2015.
Causes of Poverty:
There are various reasons for widespread poverty in India.
Under British control, India had a low level of economic development. New policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged development of industries like textiles.
Low rate of growth and an increase in population combined to make the growth rate of per capita income very low.
There is an unequal distribution of land and other resources, that is why there are large income inequalities also.
Sociocultural (i.e. traditions) and economic factors lead to extra expenditure, which ultimately increases poverty.
Small farmers borrow money for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, etc and later on fail to pay, landing in debt trap. This high level of indebtedness is both the cause and effect of poverty.
Anti-Poverty Measures:
The current anti-poverty scheme is divided into two parts.
Promotion of economic growth
Targeted anti-poverty programmes
There is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction. Some of the schemes which are formulated to affect poverty directly or indirectly are:
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005:
It aimed to provide 100 days of wage employment to every household to ensure livelihood security in rural areas.
One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for women.
If employment is not provided to the applicant within 15 days, he will be entitled to unemployment allowance.
Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), 1993:
The main aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns.
Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP), 1995:
The aim of the programme is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), 1999:
The programme aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organising them into self-help groups, through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.
Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY), 2000:
Under this programme, additional central assistance is given to states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.
The Challenges to Poverty Reduction:
Poverty reduction is still a major challenge in India, due to the wide differences between regions as well as rural and urban areas.
Further, poverty should include not only the matter of the adequate amount of food but other factors like education, healthcare, shelter, job security, gender, equality, dignity and so on.
These factors give us the concept of human poverty.
In addition to anti-poverty measures, the government should focus on the following to reduce poverty.
Higher economic growth.
Universal free elementary education.
The decrease in population growth.
Empowerment of women and weaker sections.
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