Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Introduction

Poverty As a challenge How?

Multi-dimensional problem Who are poor?

Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Two Typical Cases of Poverty

Urban Case Rural Case

Story of Ram Saran Story of Lakha Singh

 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Analyse and discuss the two cases of poverty on the following issues

● Landlessness, Unemployment, Size of families, Illiteracy, Poor health/malnutrition, Child labour,

Helplessness.

● Hunger and lack of shelter.

● Lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.
Poverty
● Lack of a regular job.
● Living with a sense of helplessness.

● Mahatma Gandhi always insisted that India would be truly independent only when the poorest
of its people become free of human suffering.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Poverty as Seen by Social Scientists

Social scientists look it through various indicators like:

i. Level of income and consumption.

ii. 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.
iii. Analysis of poverty based on social exclusion and
vulnerability is now becoming very common.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Poverty as Seen by Social Scientists

Social Exclusion Vulnerability

● Poor have to live in poor surrounding with ● When a section is more prone to specific
poor people and excluded from enjoying social problem it is known as vulnerable.
equality. ● When the probability of certain community or
● Cause as well as consequences of poverty. individual is more towards remaining poor.
● Caste system is an example of social exclusion. ● Creates probability of being more adversely
affected.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Poverty Line

● What is poverty line? A benchmark which defines the poverty.

● A common method used to measure poverty is

based on the income or consumption levels.

How?

● Poverty line may vary with time and place.

How?
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Estimation of poverty line in India

A minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and
medical requirement, etc. are determined for subsistence.

These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees. Priceline = Poverty line.

Present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired
Calorie requirement.

2400 calories per person 2100 calories per person

Variations
per day in rural area. per day in urban area.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

● The monetary expenditure per capita needed for buying these calorie requirement are [2011-12]

➔ The poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for rural area and Rs 1000 for urban
areas.
➔ A family of five members living in rural areas and earning less than about Rs 4,080 per month will
be below the poverty line. A similar family in the urban areas would need a minimum of Rs 5,000
per month to meet their basic requirements.
➔ Poverty line is estimated periodically (normally
every five years) by conducting sample surveys.

NSSO [National Sample Survey Organisation]

➔ World Bank use a uniform standard for the

poverty line. [$ 1.90 per person per day]
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Poverty Estimate

I. There is a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 45 per cent in 1993-94
to 37.2 per cent in 2004–05.
II. If the trend continues, people below poverty line may come down to less than 20 per cent
in the next few years.
III. The number of poor declined from 407 million in 2004–05 to 270 million in 2011–12 with
an average annual decline of 2.2 percentage.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Vulnerable Groups

● The proportion of people below poverty line is also not same for all social groups and economic
categories in India.

Analyse
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Vulnerable Groups

● Social groups, which are most vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
households.
● Economic groups, which are most vulnerable are the rural agricultural labour households and
the urban casual labour households.
● The double disadvantage of being a landless casual wage labour household in the socially
disadvantaged social groups of the scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe population highlights
the seriousness of the problem.
● Inequality of Income within a family.

Poorest of the poor Women, elderly people and female infants.

Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Story of Sivaraman
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Inter-State Disparities

● The proportion of poor people is not the same in every state and the success rate of
reducing poverty varies from state to state.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Analysis

● Recent estimates show while the all India Head Count Ratio (HCR) was 21.9 per cent in
2011-12 states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pardesh, Bihar and Odisha had above
all India poverty level.
● Bihar and Odisha continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 33.7 and
32.6 percent respectively.
● There has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal.

c
Reasons
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Global Poverty Scenario

There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it is marked with great regional differences.

● Poverty declined substantially in China and Southeast Asian countries as a result of rapid
economic growth and massive investments in human resource development.
● Countries of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan) the decline has
also been rapid 34 per cent to 15.2 per cent in 2014.
● In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact declined from 51 per cent in 2005 to 40.2 per cent in
2018.
● In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has also declined from 10 per cent in 2005 to 4 per cent in
2018.
● Poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia, where officially
it was non-existent earlier.
● The new sustainable development goals of the United Nations (UN) proposes ending poverty of
all types by 2030.
Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Graph 3.3: Share of people living on $1.90 a day, 2005–2019

Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Graph 3.4: Number of poor by region ($ 1.90 per day) in millions

 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Causes of Poverty

There were a number of causes for the widespread poverty in India.

● Low level of economic development under the British colonial administration.

Declined in the traditional handicraft and

Jobs declined = Unemployment
Indian industries were discouraged.

Low growth rate and Income

Cycle of
Poverty
+

Population was increasing

 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

● Fruits of green revolution was limited to some parts of India only.

● Migration to cities and low level of living standard.

Industries failed to People migrated and started

Low income
provide job. doing unorganised job.

Couldn’t afford a better

Poverty
living standard.

● Huge income inequalities is the another reason of poverty.

● Failure of land reforms.
● Lack of land resources.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

● Socio-Culture and economic factors are also responsible for poverty. Explain

In order to fulfil social obligations and observe religious ceremonies, people in India,
including the very poor, spend a lot of money.

Small farmers need money to buy agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer, pesticides etc.
Since poor people hardly have any savings, they borrow.

Unable to repay because of poverty, they become victims of indebtedness.

So the high level of indebtedness is both the cause and effect of poverty.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Anti Poverty Measures

The current anti-poverty strategy of the government is based broadly on two planks.

1. Promotion of economic growth 2. Targeted anti-poverty programmes

Low during the initial period [1980’s] Policies and programmes which directly or
indirectly targeted to reduce poverty.
After 1980’s, India’s economic growth has been
of the fastest in the world.
1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA)
6 Percent during the 1980’s and 1990’s
2. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)
3. Rural Employment Generation Programme
Impact (REGP)
4. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)
5. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)
Economic growth is related to poverty reduction. 6. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY )
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee -

1. Aims to provide 100 days of wage employment to every

household.
2. It also aimed at sustainable development to address the
cause of draught, deforestation and soil erosion.
3. One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for
women.
4. The share of SC, ST, Women person days in the scheme
are 23 per cent, 17 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
5. The average wage has increased from 65 in 2006–07 to
132 in 2013–14.
6. Recently, in March 2018, the wage rate for unskilled
manual workers has been revised, state wise, the range
of wage rate for different states and union territories lies
in between ` 281 per day (for the workers in Haryana) to `
168 per day (for the workers of Bihar and Jharkhand).
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) -

1. Started in 1993.
2. The aim of the programme is to create self-employment
opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas
and small towns.
3. They are helped in setting up small business and industries.

Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) -

1. Launched in 1995.
2. The aim of the programme is to create self employment
opportunities in rural areas and small towns.
3. A target for creating 25 lakh new jobs has been set for the
programme under the Tenth Five Year plan.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) -

1. Launched in 1999.
2. 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) -

1. Launched in 2000.
2. Additional central assistance is given to states for
basic services such as primary health, primary
education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and
rural electrification.

Outcome
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Outcome

The results of these programmes have been mixed.

● One of the major reasons for less effectiveness is the lack of proper implementation
and right targeting.
● Moreover, there has been a lot of overlapping of schemes.
● Despite good intentions, the benefits of these schemes are not fully reached to the
deserving poor.
● Therefore, the major emphasis in recent years is on proper monitoring of all the
poverty alleviation programmes.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

The Challenges Ahead

Poverty

But reducing poverty remains India’s

No doubt poverty has certainly declined.
most compelling challenge.
Challenges

● Disparities in poverty are visible between rural and urban areas and among different states.
● Vulnerability of certain social groups.

How to overcome challenges?

● Overcoming the challenge of would be possible with higher economic growth, increasing
stress on universal free elementary education, declining population growth, increasing
empowerment of the women and the economically weaker sections of society.
 Class 9th - Economics - Poverty as a Challenge - Full Chapter Explanation

Limited definition of poverty

● It is about a “minimum” subsistence level of living rather than a “reasonable” level of living.

❖ Need for broadening the concept into Human Poverty.

● A large number of people may have been able to feed themselves.

But do they have education? Or shelter?

Or health care? Or job security? Or self confidence?
Are they free from caste and gender discrimination?

Eradication of poverty is always a moving target.