U1, Greater Faridabad

Unit-I (2023-2024)
Weekly Test
220 p
Economics Handout

Class-IX

CHAPTER: POVERTY AS A CHALLENGE

OI
i s O a situation in which people ofa country are not able to afford the basic necessities
life ie. food, cloth,
shelter, education, health etc.
FEATURES FOR POOR PEOPLE/POVERTY:
Foor people live in over crowded ihuggis in cities or these are the landlëss labourers in

villages.
(i) Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter.
(ii) People lack clean water and sanitation facilities.
(iv) People are deprived of regular job and live with a sense ofhelplessness.
(V) They are ill-treated at alnost every place, in farms, factories. hospitals etc.

POVERTY AS SEEN BY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS:

Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indigatorslike income, consumption. rov

analysed on the basis of social exclusion and vulnerability these days.

SOCIAL EXCLUSION - It is a process through which individuals or groups are eXCIudea
(1)
can be both a
from facilities, benefits and opportunitiesathat others enjoy. Social exclusion
cause as well as a consequence ofpoverty A typical example is caste system in India in which

people belonging to certain castes àreexluded from equal opportunities.

VULNERABILITY - It is a measure which describes the greater probability of certain

communities (like members of backward caste) or individuals (like widow) of becoming poor

or remaining poor in the coming years.

POVERTY LINE - Poverty line refers to the imaginary line/cut off which divides the people into poor

and non-poor. It may vary from time to time and place to place.

Poverty line in India: There are three main criterias/parameters used to divide the people as poor and

non-poor.

I. Minimum calorie consumption -

Food items such as pulses, oil, sugar, milk etc. provide us

calories
In rural areas, if a person consumes minimum 2400 calories per day, he is treated as non-poor

or is above poverty line.

In urban areas, minimum calorie consumption has to 2100 calories per person per day to be

above poverty line.

M G

is because people liVing in rural ares

and urban areas cas
The difference in calorie requirements in rural
engage themselves in more physical work.

II. inimum monthly expenditure

-

For the year 2011-12

R816 per months.
should be able to spend
ural areas, for a person to be above poverty line
for person to be
above poverty line.
is fixed at 71000 per month
a
urban areas, this amount
because of
has been fixed
calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban
areas
p i t e less

high prices of many essential products in urban centres.

III. Minimum monthly earning
A family of 5 members living in rural areas and earning less than about?4080 per month wil

be below the
poverty line.
rDan areas, a similar family would need a minimum of R5000 per month to meet tneir bas
requirements.
S e estimates on poverty line are collected by National Sample Survey Organisation n

India.

Many international organisations like World Bank use a uniform standard for the poverty line
i.e., $1.90 per person per day
(minimum expendifure)
VULNERABLE GROUPS:
Ihe proportion of people below poverty line is alao not same for all social groups and economic
categories in India.

ulnerable groups

Social groups Economic groups

Schedule caste Scheduletibe Rural urban casual

househiolds agricultural labour households
labour households

Recent studies have shown:

Except for schedulé tribe households, all the other groups have seen a decline in poverty in

1990s.
There can be inequalities of income within a family in some cases women, elderly people and

female infants are denied equal access to resources available to the family

INTERSTATE DISPARITIES:
in every state. Bihar and Orissa continue to be the two
Theproportion of poor people is not the same

32.6 percent respectively.

poorest states with poverty ration of 33.7 and
 Uftar
Along
Al with the rural poverty, urban poverty is also high in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and
Pradesh.

There has been a significant decline in poverty in few sates due to the following reasons.

In Punjab and Haryana, Green Revolution has played an important role in redieng
High agricultural growth rates have increased the income level of the farmers.
has
In Kerela, literacy rate is highest. This investment in human resourgé developn
contributed towards the poverty reduction.
which
wnicn
in west Bengal, reforms in land has led to equal distribution of
land amongst the farnmer
has further increased their income.
do

In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains

by governnmene

resulted in decline of poverty to a certain extent.

GLOBAL POVERTY SCENARIO

defin
ne proportion of people in different countries living in extreme economic poverty d19901
l990 to
cent in
fallen from 36 per
the World Bank as living on less than $1.90 per dayhas
by
10 per cent in 2015.

CAUSES OF POVERTY:
handicrarts
traditional
administration British government ruined
1. Policies of British colonial income.
low rates of
less job opportunities and
and development of industries. ThËs resúlted in
Hence leading to poverty.
rate is
Low income
of accompanied by high population growth
Population growth
-

rate in
than the rate of rise
opportunities is much less
another cause of povertyRate oftise in job

population. to
not absorbed by agriculture sector migrate
who are
Migration to urban areasie people
. servants etc.
start working as rickshaw pullers, vendors,
urban areas in search of jobs. They

and hence add tourban poverty.

distribution of land and other
resources

Huge income inequalities This is

due to unequal
widened which has increased poverty.
between the rich and poor has
among people The gap social and religious
People spend a lot of money on

Socio cultural and economic factors

S. become
unable to pay hence they
increases their borrowings, which they are
ceremonies.this
victims of indebtness.

ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES:
ANTI-POVERTY MEASURES/POVERTY
of the government is based on two planks -

The current anti-poverty strategy

Promotion of economic growth

 Targeted anti-poverty programmes
Economic growth Widens
opportunities and
provides the resources needed to invest in
numan
development. The increase in economic growth will, therefore, lead to reduction in
poverty.
2.
largeted anti-poverty programmes- Many schemes were introduced by the
aims at
reducing poverty by generating government which
employment opportunities. Some ot them are
Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act 200Us
) is
program aims at
providing 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to ëvery house hold
to ensure
livelihood security in rural areas.
(i) t aiso aimed at
sustained development to address the cause of draught, deforestation and soil
erosion.
ii) One third of the
proposed jobs have been reserved for
(iv) The scheme provided
women
employment to 220 crores person
days of employment to 4./8 crore
household.
Prime Minister
Rozgar Yojana -This scheme was
started in 1993.
The aim of this
scheme is to create
self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed
youth in rural areas and small town.
i) It also aims at
setting up small business and indústries.
Rural Employment Generation Programme Ifwas initiated in 1995.
() The aim of the
programme isto create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small
towns.

i) A target for creating 25;lakh.new jobs has been set up for the
programme under the Tenth Five
year Plan.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana It started in 1999.

was
90TUI2A ATh921k
-

) It aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into
self help groups.
i) This is done through the provision of bank credit and loans and government subsidy.
Pradhan MantriCramodaya Yojana -

It was started in 2000.

() Agditoal help by central government is given to states for basic services such as primary
eai, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.
(i) h e aim is to provide basic services to the people for improving their standard of living.
 ONS OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES-
1MITATIH
. oh the above programs proved to be successful to a certain extent as these programs helped in
Aluhoug

in Reducing poverty in few states where the programs were strictly implemented.
Increasing employment opportunities and income of the people but inspite of these success
(ii)
these programmes suffered form certain limitations. These limitation are:
u e

(a) Lack ot proper implementation of these programmes. Programs they were notable to targo
right section of society. Hence the benefit of such scheme did not reach the poor,
the same n
(b) Overlapping
-

There has been overlapping of schemes in the countryatalmost

which reduced their effectiveness.

Dut
The officials were not only corrupt a
(c) Corruption and bureaucracy -

government

involved in red tapism. (delay in decision making).

The Challenge Ahead:

still remain a alleng
chalieng
of the made in India, poverty reduction
SCholars states that inspite progress
really means

state that official definition of poverty captures only;

lîmited part of what poverty
a
ney
must broaden into "humanpoverty
to people. The concept of poverty

HUMAN POVERTY:
income. lt
to lack of
the limited view of poverty due
poverty is concept that goes beyond a
individual to maintain
Human a
opportunities to an

refers to the denial of political, social and econodiic healthcare

a c c e s s to proper
opportunities, lack of
reasonable standard of living. Illiteracy, lack ofjob The concept
of human poverty.
caste and gender discrimination
etc. are all components
about 'a
and sanitation,
minimum subsistence level of living' but also
of human poverty is
not only about a,
reasonable level of living'.

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