Poverty As A Challenge - Class 9 Economics - Extra Questions

Human poverty is a definition of poverty which takes us beyond the general definitions of poverty i.e., not having enough money Being able to earn a fixed amount as set by the government as poverty line does not actually free them from poverty. A person who is unable to get proper education and shelter and nutritious food, or if a child is forced to child labour or they face social and caste discrimination, then they come under human poverty.

Main causes of poverty in INDIA are-

(i) Heavy pressure of population:Population has been rising in India at a rapid speed.

(ii) Unemployment and under employment:Due to continuous rise in population, there is chronic unemployment and under employment in India. There is educated unemployment and disguised unemployment. Poverty is just the reflection of unemployment.

(iii) Capital Deficiency:Shortage of capital creates hurdles in development.

(iv) Under-developed economy:The Indian economy is under developed due to low rate of growth. It is the main cause of poverty.

(v) Increase in Price:The steep rise in prices has affected the poor badly. They have become more poor.

(vi) Net National Income:The net national income is quite low as compared to size of population. Low per capita income proves its poverty. 

(vii) Rural Economy: The Indian economy is the rural economy. Indian agriculture is backward. It has great pressure of population. Income in agriculture is low and disguised unemployment is more in agriculture.

(viii) Lack of Skilled Labour: In India, unskilled labor is in abundant supply but skilled labor is less due to insufficient industrial education and training.

(ix) Deficiency of efficient Entrepreneurs:For industrial development, able and efficient entrepreneurs are needed. In India, there is shortage of efficient entrepreneurs. Less industrial development is a major cause of poverty.

(x) Lack of proper Industrialisation: Industrially, India is a backward state. 3% of total working population is engaged in industry. So industrial backwardness is major cause of poverty.

(xi) Low rate of growth: So compared to the population, the per capita growth rate of the economy has been very low. It is the main cause of poverty.

(xii) Outdated Social institutions:The social structure of our country is full of outdated traditions and customs like caste system, laws of inheritance and succession. These hamper the growth of economy.

(xiii) Improper use of Natural Resources:

India has large natural resources like iron, coal, manganese, mica etc. It has perennial flowing rivers that can generate hydro electricity. Man power is abundant. But these sources are not put in proper use.

(xiv) Lack of Infrastructure: The means of transport and communication have not been properly developed. Road transport is inadequate and the railway is quite less. Due to the lack of proper development of road and rail transport, agricultural marketing is defective. Industries do not get power supply and raw materials in time and finished goods are not properly marketed.

Two cause of Poverty in India are

Poverty means that the income level from employment is so low that basic human needs can't be met. 
Following is characteristics of poverty 
1: Poverty is hunger.
2:Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor.
3:Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. 4:Poverty is not having a job, it is fear for the future, living one day at a time.
5:Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water.
6:Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom

1:Poverty is a social phenomenon in which a section of the society is unable to fulfill even its bare necessities of life. 
2:The Planning Commission of India has defined a poverty line on the basis of recommended nutritional requirements of 2,400 calories per person per day for rural areas and 2,100 calories for urban areas.

3:The average calorie requirement is estimated by taking into account the population composition by age, sex and occupation categories together with the corresponding calorie norms by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Based on information about basic needs collected from 15 low-income countries, the World Bank defines the extreme poor as those living on less than $1.90 a day. However, because more people in poverty live in middle-income, rather than low-income, countries today, higher poverty lines have been introduced.

There are several dimensions of poverty:

The proportion of people below poverty line is 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 shows the percentage of poor people in all these groups:
Although the average for people below poverty line for all groups in India is 26. 51 out of 100 people belonging to scheduled 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 landless agricultural workers and 43 per cent of scheduled castes are also poor. However, some recent studies have shown that except for the scheduled tribe households, all the other three groups mentioned earlier have seen a decline in poverty in the 1990s. In families also we see some suffer more than others. Such families are usually poor.
In these families women, elderly people and female infants are poorest of the poor because they are denied equal access to resources available to the family.

The dynamics of poverty reduction are different in rural and urban India. It is because the rural poor and urban poor have to face different issues of poverty.
Example Landlessness is a major issue of poverty in rural areas but in urban areas, unemployment is the major issue.
The size of the family is the main determinant of poverty in rural areas, where it has a large family size. But in urban areas, the family size is usually small. Child labour is mostly the phenomena of the urban area and not that of rural area.
Therefore, due to differences in the issues related to poverty, the dynamics of poverty reduction is also different.

1:The higher growth rates have helped significantly in the reduction of poverty. In the 1980s, India’s economic growth was one of the fastest in the world.
2:The growth rate rose from an average of about 3.5% a year in the 1970s to about to 6 % during the 1980s and 1990s. The higher growth rates have helped significantly in the reduction of poverty. 3:Therefore, it is becoming clear that there is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction.
5:Economic growth widens opportunities and provides the resources needed to invest in human development.
6:This also encourages people to send their children (including girls), to schools in the hope of getting better economic returns from investing in education. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction.

Different countries use different poverty lines because 
(a) The calorie requirement of different human races is different depending on their physical condition and dietary habits. Those races which have greater height and build require higher calories. 
(b) The per capita income in different countries is also different i.e., per capita income is higher in developed countries as compared to developing countries.  

The two measures to determine the extent of poverty are:

1. Relative poverty,
2. Absolute poverty.

National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is initiated by the government to help the elderly people and poor and destitute women belonging to below poverty line. It aims at ensuring minimum national standards for social assistance in addition to the benefits that states are currently providing.

Poverty as seen by social scientists in the following way: Income and level of consumption are the usual indicators of poverty. But many social scientists view poverty from many other parameters; like illiteracy, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, etc.

Bihar and Jharkhand has the highest poverty in India. The main reason behind their backwardness is low literacy rate, high rate of unemployment, evil religious practices, etc. The government is taking various initiatives to develop these weaker sections to reduce disparities between the states of India.

Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter, lack of clean water and sanitation facilities, lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level.

Following is the criteria for fixing poverty line:
For the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs.816 per month for rural areas and Rs.1000 for urban areas.

The main reason behind the poverty in India are as follow:

• There was a substantial decrease in poverty in India from about 55% in 1973 to 36% in 1993.
• The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to about 26% in 2000.
• If the current trend continues then people below poverty line may come below 20% in the next few years.
• Although the percentage of people below the poverty line is decreasing from 1973 the number of people living below the poverty line remain the same(about 320 million(
• The latest estimate indicates a significant reduction in the number of poor to about 260 million.