POVERTY

Wednesday, January 12, 2022 6:57 PM

POVERTY:
• PROGRESS:
○ Based on India’s official poverty line, the share of the population living in poverty halved btw 1994 &
2012, falling from 45 to 22%.
○ Acc Global Multi-Poverty Index, 2019, India reduced its poverty rate drastically from 55% to 28% in 10
years, with 271 mn people moving out of poverty btw 2005-06 and 2015-16.
POVERTY
• CONCEPT:
○ Amartya Sen: Poverty refers to deprivation of basic capabilities of life rather than merely lowness of
income.
• DATA:
○ Global MPI 2021, 5 out of 6 multi-dimensionally poor people in India are from L.C. or tribes. Further, 9.4%
of the ST group, 33.3% of the SC and 27.2% of the OBC group people live in MDP.
• TYPE:
○ Absolute poverty: Inability of a person or a household to provide even basic necessities of life (FCS).
○ Relative Poverty: - Condition in which people lack the min amount of income needed to maintain the avg
std of living in the society in which they live.
• POVERTY ESTIMATION:
○ PRE-INDEPENDENCE POVERTY:
§ Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India (1901): Earliest estimate of poverty line at 1867-68 prices
§ National Planning Committee’s (1938): suggested a poverty line based on a min std of living.
§ Bombay Plan (1944): Suggested a poverty line, much more
modest than NPC.
○ P-I POVERTY:
§ Y.K. Alagh committee (1979): P.L defined as per capita consume expenditure level to meet avg per
capita daily calorie req of 2400 & 2100 kcal/ capita/ day in rural & urban areas resp.
§ Lakdawala Expert Group (1993): Suggest updating of P.L. using CPI-IW in urban areas & CPI-AL in
rural areas rather than using National Accounts Statistics.
§ Tendulkar Committee (2009): Recom incorporation of private expenditure on health & education
while estimating poverty.
§ Rangarajan Committee (2014):
• CAUSE:
○ ECONOMIC:
§ Poor fiscal capacity of govt due to tax evasion & avoidance vs large PP---> Poor housing healthcare,
edu, sanitation.
□ Poor eucation outcome--> illiteracy--> unemployment.
□ Unhygienic slum--> Disease--> wage lost.
§ Lack of F.I.--> debt trap by informal money lender.
§ Engage in informal sector--> no social security--> breadwinner die--> family handicapped.
§ Slow Economic growth & development + Economic inflation.
§ Decreased Agricultural Output
§ Under-developed infrastructure
§ Uneven concentration of wealth and resources
○ SOCIAL
§ Patriarchy + Joint Family + Communalism.
§ Caste system
□ Ownership of land holdings
□ Continued discrimination: Faith in the notion of pollution & purity--> social exclusion in areas
like health, sanitation, etc.
□ Lack of quality edu: School child from L.C.--> majority drop out--> due to being required to work
for family survival.
□ Despite the breakdown of jajmani system & dissociation btw caste and traditional
occupations--> L.C. are conc in informal sector.
□ Ownership of economic establishments follows caste hierarchy:
® Economic census (2013): Relative ownership of SCs in non-agri estb is lowest among all
social groups.
□ Graded inequality in income.
§ Social custom & practice
§ High divorce rates and Feminization of Poverty.
§ Lack access to education--> lack of family planning--> high birth rate--> Child labour.
§ Large family insufficient food---> Malnutrition--> Inefficient metal & physically to do better eco
opportunity
○ ENVIRONMENT
§ Pollution---> C.C.---> Impact on agriculture productivity.
§ Change monsoon pattern.
○ ADMINISTRATIVE
§ Poor identification of beneficiaries.
§ Corruption in implementation of programme.
§ One size fit all approach + Red tapism + Lack of political will.
§ Lack of generation of data to evaluate success rate of a scheme.
§ Lack of integrated approach + Overlapping of issue.
§ Governance ---> lack of transparency & accountability.
• VICIOUS CYCLE
○ Poverty & PP
§ Poverty--> More children & working hands--> Lack of awareness about reproductive health--> Lack of
access to contraceptives + family planning--> Malnutrition---> IMR, MMR--> Poverty
§ High fertility Rate
□ Resource deficit--> Malnutrition--> Learning outcome of child reduce--> Skill dev reduce--> Job
oppo reduce---> Poverty

• SDG 1
○ Target:
§ Eradicate extreme poverty.
§ Reduce poverty by at least 50%.
§ Implement social protection systems & measures.
§ Equal rights to ownership, basic services, technology & economic resources.
§ Build resilience to environmental, economic & social disaster
• GOVT EFFORT:
○ Wage employment:
§ MGNREGA
○ Self employment
§ Stand up India, Start up India
○ Social Security
§ Ayushman Bharat, Atal Panson Yojana
○ Food Security
§ Mid-day meal, National Food Security Act, 2013
○ Misc
§ PM Gram Sarak Yojana
• CHALLENGE:
○ Due to low tax-to-GDP ratio, govt’s ability to finance social welfare measures remains low.
○ Despite massive gains made in reducing MDP, 364 mn Indians continue to experience acute deprivations
in health, nutrition, schooling & sanitation.
○ PDS, Jan Dhan Yojana etc. is not universal.
• IMPACT OF POVERTY:
○ DEVELOPMENTAL CHALLENGE
§ Intergenerational transmission of poverty--> restricted access to resources such as land, forest and
water.
§ Strain on state capacity: Increasing need of subsidies, public infra & investments for welfare of
people.
§ Marginalization of vulnerable groups.
§ Lack of proper nutrition, quality edu & skill dev--> poor human resource--> Endangering India’s
demographic advantage.
§ High rural poverty & unemployment-->Distress migration--> slums & homelessness.
§ Lack of edu & skill--> informal sector--> lack of social security.
§ Unemployability of youth--> Social unrest (vul to indulging in criminal activities)
○ OTHER
§ Regional Variance as much of India's poverty is concentrated in rural areas & low income States.
§ Feminisation of Poverty: especially in rural areas.
§ Rapid Urbanisation increasing demand-supply gap in housing, infra, employment & economic
opportunities & services.
• APPROACH
○ NITI Aayog: strategy for combate poverty must rest on 2 approach:
§ Sustained rapid growth that is also employment intensive.
□ Creating well-paid jobs, accompanied with steadily rising real wages, ultimately directly denting
poverty.
□ More employment--> growth in govt revenues--> expansion of social expenditures at faster
pace.
§ Making anti-poverty programs even more effective.
□ National Food Security Act, MGNREGA etc
• CONCLUSION
○ PP growth only lead to poverty when same PP is a liability & not an asset. Hence when human resource
are converted to human capital, then same PP growth lead to eco growth rather than poverty.
○ Adequate investment in health, edu, social security benefits etc are vital to prevent accentuating of
societal inequalities.
v COVID-19 ACCELERATED CLASS INEQUALITIES & POVERTY IN INDIA. COMMENT (UPSC 2020 SOCIETY)
○ INTRODUCTION: Data
○ Body:
§ Acceleartion of poverty:
□ Acc to UN University report, no of poor people in India is estimated to increase from 812mn to
915mn due to covid.
□ Acc to ILO, 400mn workers in informal sector will be pushed deeper in poverty due to strict
lockdown, decline in quantity of work, decline in wages to avoid lay off.
□ Reduced source of income
® Many people employed in gig economy are at risk of slipping into poverty in absence of
adequate safety nets.
® Forceful sale of productive assets with long-lasting negative effects.
□ Rise in unmployment:
□ Increase in expenditure:
® Urban poor are made likely to contract disease due to congested dwelling hence increase in
health expenditure.
® Expenditure on food due to disruption of govt programme such as MDM(Closure of school)
® The strain on logistic & supply chain increased the prices of essential commodities.
§ Acceleartion of class inequality
□ Acc to UN, Inequality is the state of not being equal esp. in status, rights & opportunity.
□ Acc to oxfam report: 1% hold 42.5% of National wealth.
□ Access to basic necessities:
® Poor neighbourhood are densely packed--> Increase chance of spread of virus + Lack of basic
facilities (eg water supply, sanitation)--> Hygiene become luxury.
□ Issue wrt informal sector:
® Daily wage earners & informal sector workers will be affected disproportionately due to govt
measure of lockdown & social distancing---> Extension of lockdown left them with no income,
no food, no shelter.
□ Impact on women:
® Wrt education:
◊ Prioritizing of teaching of male child
◊ Increase domestic duties.
◊ Ltd access to internet & gadgets.
® Wrt health expenditure:
◊ Disproportionately impacted by lockdown have high conc of female workers.
◊ Disruption of SHG.
® Wrt job:
◊ Some sectors most affected by lockdown have high conc of female workers.
◊ Disruption of SHGs.
□ Small & Medium enterprise:
® Reduction of economic activities due to fall in demand & disruption in supply of inputs--->
Contraction in wages & employment.
□ Disruption in education: Aggravate class inqualities.
○ CONCLUSION:
§ Adequate investment in health, edu, social security benefits etc are vital to prevent accentuating of
societal inequalities.
v ‘DESPITE IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS PROGRAMMES FOR ERADICATION OF POVERTY BY THE GOI, POVERTY IS
STILL EXISTING.’ EXPLAIN BY GIVING REASONS. UPSC 2018 (SOCIETY)
○ INTRODUCTION: DEF + DATA
○ GOVT EFFORT:
§ Wage employment:
□ MGNREGA
§ Self employment
□ Stand up India
□ Start up India
§ Social Security
□ Ayushman Bharat
□ Atal Panson Yojana
§ Food Security
□ Mid-day meal
□ National Food Security Act, 2013
§ Misc
□ PM Gram Sarak Yojana
○ CHALLENGE:
§ Due to low tax-to-GDP ratio, govt’s ability to finance social welfare measures remains low.
§ Despite massive gains made in reducing MDP, 364 mn Indians continue to experience acute deprivations
in health, nutrition, schooling and sanitation.
§ PDS, Jan Dhan Yojana etc. is not universal.
v CRITICALLY EXAMINE WHETHER GROWING POPULATION IS THE CAUSE OF POVERTY OR POVERTY IS THE MAIN
CAUSE OF POPULATION INCREASE IN INDIA UPSC 2015 (SOCIETY)
○ INTRODUCTION: DEF + DATA
○ BODY:
§ VICIOUS CYCLE
□ Poverty-->
® More children means more working hands.
® Lack of awareness about reproductive health.
® Lack of access to contraceptives + family planning.
® Malnutrition---> IMR, MMR-->
□ High fertility Rate
® Resource deficit.
® Malnutrition.
® Learning outcome of child reduce.
® Skill dev reduce.
® Job oppo reduce---> Poverty
○ CONCLUDE:
§ PP growth only lead to poverty when same PP is a liability & not an asset. Hence when human resource
are conerted to human capital, then same PP growth lead to eco growth rather than poverty.
“The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone”. In
this context analyze the latest United Nations MDPI Report.

v RECENT: Acc to data from National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, in last 29 years (1993-2022), a total of 989
members died in the country while cleaning underground sewage tanks.