Poverty is one of the formidable challenges faced by independent India. Chapter 3 of Class 9 Economics discusses the problem of poverty through examples and the way poverty is seen in social sciences. Poverty trends in India and the world are illustrated through the concept of the poverty line. Causes of poverty, as well as anti-poverty measures taken by the government, are also discussed. The chapter ends with broadening the official concept of poverty into human poverty. The notes which we have mentioned below comprise all the concepts mentioned in the chapter. While preparing the Vidyakul CBSE Class 9 Economics notes Chapter 3 – Poverty as a Challenge, we took help from subject matter experts. With these notes, students can understand every concept thoroughly which will make the exam preparation easier. It is considered the best study material to revise the entire chapter quickly.

Introduction

In our daily life, we see poverty all around us. They could be landless laborers in villages, people living in overcrowded jhuggis in cities, daily wage workers, or child workers in dhabas. According to facts, in India every fourth person is poor.

Two Typical Cases of Poverty

Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter, lack of clean water and sanitation facilities, and lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level. Poverty is considered one of the biggest challenges of independent India. India would be truly independent only when the poorest of its people become free of human suffering.

Poverty as seen by social scientists

Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators. Usually, the indicators are used to relate to the levels of income and consumption. But, now poverty is looked at through other 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.

Poverty Line

The poverty line is a method to measure poverty based on income or consumption levels. The poverty line varies according to time and place. In India, the poverty line is determined through a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel, light, educational and medical requirement, etc. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees. In India poverty is calculated on the basis of the desired calorie requirement. 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 2011–12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas. The Poverty Line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

Poverty Estimates

In India, there is a substantial decline in poverty ratios from about 45 percent in 1993-94 to 37.2 percent in 2004–05. The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to about 22 percent in 2011–12.

Vulnerable Groups

Social groups, vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labor households and urban casual labor households. According to a recent study, except for scheduled tribes, all the other three groups (i.e. scheduled castes, rural agricultural laborers, and urban casual labor households) have seen a decline in poverty in the 1990s.

Inter-State Disparities

In India, the proportion of poor people is not the same in every state. Bihar and Odisha continued to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 33.7 and 32.6 percent, respectively. Urban poverty is high in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and West Bengal saw a decline in poverty. Punjab and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates. Kerala has focused more on human resource development. In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty. In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains is responsible for the improvement.

Global Poverty Scenario

In China and Southeast Asian countries, poverty declined substantially 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 41 percent in 2015. In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has declined from 10 percent in 2005 to 4 percent in 2015.

Causes of Poverty

There are various reasons for widespread poverty in India.

1. Under British control, India had a low level of economic development. New policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries. like textiles. A low rate of growth and an increase in population combined make the growth rate of per capita income very low. With the spread of irrigation and the Green revolution, many job opportunities were created in the agriculture sector. However, these were not enough to absorb all the job seekers.

2. Another feature of high poverty rates has been the huge income inequalities. One of the major reasons for this is the unequal distribution of land and other resources. In India, lack of land resources has been one of the major causes of poverty in India, but proper implementation of policy could have improved the lives of millions of rural poor.

3. Small farmers needed money to buy agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. So, they used to borrow money and were unable to repay the loan because of poverty.

Anti-Poverty Measures

The current anti-poverty scheme is divided into two parts.

1 Promotion of economic growth

2 Targeted anti-poverty programs

Since the eighties, India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world. There is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction. Some of the schemes which are formulated to affect poverty directly or indirectly are

1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 – It aimed to provide 100 days of wage employment to every household to ensure livelihood security in rural areas. It also aimed at sustainable development to address the cause of drought, deforestation, and soil erosion. One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for women.

2. In 1993, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) was started. The main aim of the program is to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas and small towns.

3. In 1995, Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) was launched. The aim of the program is to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.

4. In 1999, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched. The program aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into self-help groups, through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

5. In 2000, the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) was launched. Under this program, additional central assistance is given to states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water, and rural electrification.

The Challenges Ahead

In India, Poverty has certainly declined in India, but it still remains India’s most compelling challenge. Poverty reduction is expected to make better progress in the next ten to fifteen years. This can be achieved by higher economic growth, increasing stress on universal free elementary education, declining population growth, and increasing empowerment of women and the economically weaker sections of society

Exercise

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

Answer: A person is considered poor if their income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfill basic needs. This minimum level is called the poverty line. In India, the poverty line is estimated by multiplying the prices of physical quantities like food, clothing, footwear, fuel, light, education, etc., in rupees. The numbers involved in determining the poverty line vary for different years. Also, the poverty line for rural areas is different from that of urban areas because the work, lifestyle, and expenses are different for rural and urban areas.

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

Answer: No, the present-day methodology of poverty estimation does not seem to be completely appropriate. This is because the only factor taken into consideration is economic status, and moreover, it considers a minimum subsistence of living instead of a reasonable status of living. Poverty today is a larger concept than only the economic status of the people. With advancements and development, the definition of poverty has also changed. People might be able to feed themselves and their families, but education, shelter, health, job security, and dignity remain far from their reach. To overcome poverty entirely, all the above-mentioned factors also need to be kept in consideration. To completely remove poverty from the country, the methodology to estimate poverty should also be changed.

3. Describe poverty trends in India since 1973.

Answer: The Economic Survey of 2017-18 showed that although poverty has declined in the country, the number of poor still remains very high. The poverty ratio of 1993-94 for both rural and urban areas together was at 45%, and the ratio for the year 2011-12 has declined to 22%. However, the topic of concern still remains that there has not been any massive decline in the number of the poor living in the country. While 404 million poor population was accounted for in both rural and urban areas in 1993-94, the poor population in 2011-12 was 270 million. The survey clearly tells that the concerned authorities must take some serious steps in order to make India a country free of poverty.

4. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.

Answer: The major reasons for poverty in the country are

1. The low level of economic development under British colonial rule. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles.
2. The spread of the Green Revolution created many job opportunities for the people of the country, yet they were not sufficient in comparison to the number of job seekers.
3. The unequal distribution of land and resources is another important factor for poverty in India.
4. In order to fulfill social obligations and religious ceremonies, the poor end up spending a lot, which results in poverty.
5. Inequality in the income of the people is also a major reason for poverty.

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

Answer: The social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India are

1. Scheduled Caste Households
2. Scheduled Tribe Households

The economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India are

1. Rural Agricultural Labour Households
2. Urban Casual Labour Households

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

Answer: Poverty in India differs for different states. The success rate of reducing poverty varies from state to state, causing inter-state disparities in the poverty level. Orissa, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh are the three poorest states in India, with their people living below the poverty line 47, 42, and 37 percent, respectively. Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh are the three better-off states in India as far as poverty is concerned. There are various factors that are responsible for these interstate disparities of poverty in India.

7. Describe global poverty trends.

Answer: The success rate of reducing poverty varies from state to state, causing inter-state disparities in the poverty level. Orissa, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh are the three poorest states in India, with their people living below the poverty line 47, 42, and 37 percent, respectively. Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh are the three better-off states in India as far as poverty is concerned. There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty. Poverty declined in China and South-East Asian countries as a result of rapid economic growth and huge investments in the development of human resources. In Latin America, the ratio of poverty remained almost the same. In sub-Saharan Africa, poverty saw an upward trend rather than a downward trend. It rose from 41% in 1981 to 46% in 2001. Poverty has surfaced in some of the former socialist countries, like Russia, where formerly it was non-existent.

8. Describe the current government strategy of poverty alleviation.

Answer: Removal of poverty has been one of the major objectives of the Indian developmental strategy. The current anti-poverty strategy of the government is based broadly on two planks: promotion of economic growth and targeted anti-poverty programs. Awareness is being spread across the nation specifying the importance of education, which has resulted in an increase in the literacy level. Various schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY), and Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) have been introduced by the government with an aim to abolish poverty from the country.

9. Answer the following questions briefly.

(i) What do you understand by human poverty?

Answer: Human poverty is a term that means that poverty is not just limited to the economic status of the people but rather spreads in various other sectors, which include lack of education, negligence of the health care system, discrimination, and disparity. Abolishing poverty should not be the only aim of the authorities, but abolishing human poverty must be the aim.

(ii) Who are the poorest of the poor?

Answer: Women, female infants, and the elderly are considered the poorest of the poor. This is because, in a poor household, these people suffer the most and are deprived of the maximum necessities in life.

(iii) What are the main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005?

Answer: The main features of the National Rural Employment Act 2005 are as follows:

To provide 100 days of wage employment to every 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ‘Poverty’?

Poverty is a pronounced deprivation in well-being. Income or consumption poverty refers to a lack of monetary resources to meet needs.

Who are ‘Social scientists’?

Social scientists study all aspects of society from past events and achievements to human behavior and relationships among groups.

What is the ‘Poverty line’?

The poverty line refers to that line that expresses per capita average monthly expenditure that is essentially required by the people to satisfy their minimum needs.