CH 3 POVERTY AS A CHALLENGE

• Poverty in India can be seen in various forms such as landless labourers in villages, people living in overcrowded jhuggis in cities, daily wage workers, or child workers in dhabas
• Every fourth person in India is considered poor
• Poverty is defined as hunger, lack of shelter, clean water, sanitation facilities, and a regular job at a minimum decent level
• Social scientists use indicators like income, consumption, illiteracy level, malnutrition, lack of healthcare, job opportunities, safe drinking water, and sanitation to measure poverty
• The poverty line in India is determined based on a minimum level of food, clothing, footwear, fuel, light, education, and medical requirements
• The poverty line in India is calculated based on the desired calorie requirement, with 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas
• Poverty ratios in India decreased from about 45% in 1993-94 to 22% in 2011-12
• Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, rural agricultural labour households, and urban casual labour households are vulnerable groups to poverty in India
• Bihar and Odisha are the two poorest states in India, with poverty ratios of 33.7% and 32.6% respectively
• China and Southeast Asian countries have seen a substantial decline in poverty due to rapid economic growth and investments in human resource development
• Various causes of poverty in India include low economic development under British rule, income inequalities, unequal distribution of land and resources, and inability of small farmers to repay loans due to poverty
• Anti-poverty measures in India include economic growth promotion and targeted anti-poverty programs like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana, Rural Employment Generation Programme, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana
• Challenges ahead for poverty reduction in India include the need for higher economic growth, universal free elementary education, declining population growth, and empowerment of women and economically weaker sections of society