M.E.

S INDIAN SCHOOL, DOHA – QATAR

Notes 2024- 2025

Section: Boys’ & Girls’ Date: 7.10.2024

Class & Div.: IX (All divisions) Subject: SOCIAL SCIENCE

Lesson / Topic: Chapter 3: Poverty as a Challenge (Economics)

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1. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India?

• A common method used to measure poverty is based on the income or

consumption levels. Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered
appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social
norms.

• While determining poverty in India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing,

foot wear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirement etc. are determined for
subsistence. These physical features are multiplied by their prices in rupees.

• The present formula for food requirement is based on the desired calorie
requirements that vary depending on age, sex and the type of work that a person does.

• 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 2011-2012, the poverty line for a person
was fixed at Rs. 816 per month for the rural areas and Rs. 1000 for urban areas. A
person consuming less than this amount is considered to be living below poverty line.

2. Do you think that the present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate?

• No. The present methodology of poverty estimation is not appropriate.

• A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below
a minimum level necessary to fulfill basic needs.

• What is necessary to fulfill basic needs is different at different times and in

different countries. Therefore, poverty line may vary with time and place.

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3. Describe poverty trends in India since 1973.

• There is substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 55% in 1973 to 36%
in 1993.

• The proportion of people living below poverty line further came down to about 22%
in 2011-12

• If the trend continues, people below poverty line may come down to less than 20
per cent in next few years.

4. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.

• One of the historical reasons is the low level of economic development under the
British colonial administration. The policies of the colonial government ruined
traditional handicrafts and discouraged development of industries like textiles. This
resulted in less job opportunities and low growth rate of income which was
accompanied by a high growth rate of population.

• Another feature of high poverty rates has been the huge income in equalities due to
the unequal distribution of land and other resources.

• Many other socio- cultural and economic factors also are responsible for poverty.
In order to fulfill social obligations, to observe religious ceremonies, to buy
agricultural inputs etc. Poor people who don’t have any savings borrow from others.
Unable to repay because of poverty, they became victims of indebtedness.

5. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India.

• Social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled caste and
Scheduled tribe households.

• Among the economic groups, the most vulnerable are the rural agricultural
labour households and the urban casual labour households.

6. Give an account of interstate disparities of poverty in India.

• The proportion of poor people is not the same in every state. Although state
level poverty has witnessed a secular decline from the levels of earlier seventies,
the success rate of reducing poverty varies from state to state.

• Recent estimates show while the all India HCR (Head Count Ratio) was 21.9 percent
in 2011- 12, states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa had
above all India poverty level.

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 • Bihar and Odisha continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of
3 3. 7 and 32.6 per cent respectively.

• Along with rural poverty, urban poverty is also high in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

• In comparison, there has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala,

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab and
Haryana.

7. Describe global poverty trends.

• Poverty declined substantially in China and Southeast Asian countries as a result

of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource
development.

• In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty declined from 51 percent in 2005 to 40.2 percent in 2018.

• In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has also declined from 10 percent in 2005 to 4
percent in 2018. Poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries
like Russia, where officially it was non-existent earlier.

8. Describe the current government strategy of poverty alleviation.

The current anti- poverty strategy of government is based on two planks:

1. Promotion of economic growth

2. Targeted anti- poverty programmes

1. Promotion of economic growth:

• Since the eighties, India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world.

The growth rate jumped from average of about 3.5 per cent a year in the 1970s to
about 6 per cent during the 1980s and 1990s.

2.Targeted anti- poverty programmes:

There are so many schemes which are formulated to affect poverty directly or indirectly.
Important among them are:

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: MGNREGA (2005):

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 It aims to provide 100 days of wage employment to every household to ensure livelihood
security in rural areas.

• Prime Minister Rozgar Yozana: PMRY (1993):

It aims to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural

areas and small towns.

• Rural Employment Generation Programme: REGP (1995):

It aims to create self- employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.

• Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana: SGSY (1999):

It aims at bringing the assisted poor families above poverty line by organizing them
into self-help groups through bank credit and government subsidy.

• Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yozana: PMGY (2000):

It aims to provide additional central assistance to states for basic services such as primary
health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.

9. What do you understand by human poverty?

• A large number of people who may have been able to feed themselves do not
have education or shelter, health care or job security or self-confidence.

• They are not free from caste and gender discrimination. The practice of child
labour is still common.

• So the concept of human poverty must be broadened by providing health care,

education and job security for all and achieving gender equality and dignity for the
poor.

10. Who are the poorest of the poor?

• In poor families all suffer but some suffer more than others.
• Women, elderly and female infants are systematically denied equal access to
resources available to the family.
• Therefore, women, children (especially girl child) and old people are poorest of the
poor.

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11.What are the features of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
2005?
The main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005
are as follows:
• To provide 100 days of assured wage employment to every rural
household to ensure livelihood security in rural areas.

• Sustainable development to address the cause of drought, deforestation and

soil-erosion.

• One-third of the proposed jobs under this scheme have been

reserved for women

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