Poverty and Eradication Schemes in India

Introduction

§  Poverty: According to the World Bank, Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity.

§  Poverty Line: The conventional approach to measuring poverty is to specify a minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs and this minimum expenditure is called the poverty line.

§  In India, 21.9% of the population lives below the national poverty line in 2011.

Types of Poverty: There are two main classifications of poverty:

§  Absolute Poverty: A condition where household income is below a necessary level to maintain basic living standards (food, shelter, housing). This condition makes it possible to compare between different countries and also over time.

§  Relative Poverty: It is defined from the social perspective that is living standard compared to the economic standards of the population living in surroundings. Hence it is a measure of income inequality.

Poverty

Poverty Estimation in India

• Dadabhai Naoroji through his book, “Poverty and unBritish Rule in India” made the earliest estimation of the poverty line
• VM Dandekar and N Rath (1971), made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India.

VM Dandekar and N Rath were of the view that the poverty line must be derived from the expenditure that was adequate to provide 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas.

·         Subsequently different committees; Lakdawala Committee (1993), Tendulkar Committee (2009), Rangarajan committee (2012) did the poverty estimation

·         As per the Rangarajan committee report (2014), the poverty line is estimated as Monthly Per Capita Expenditure of Rs. 1407 in urban areas and Rs. 972 in rural areas.

•          States having the highest percentage as per Rangaerajan Committee

1. Chhattisgarh (47.9%) 2.Manipur (46.7%) 3.Odisha (45.9%)

4. Madhya Pradesh (44.3%) 5.Jharkhand (42.4%)

§  Poverty estimation in India is carried out by NITI Aayog’s task force through the calculation of the poverty line based on the data captured by the National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).

§  The incidence of poverty is measured by the poverty ratio, which is the ratio of the number of poor to the total population expressed as a percentage. It is also known as the head-count ratio.

                             BPL Population

               HCR=   ---------------------------      X100

                              Total Population

·         Poverty Gap:- The poverty gap index is a measure of the intensity of poverty

Causes of Poverty in India

§  Population Explosion

§  Low Agricultural Productivity

§   Inefficient Resource utilisation

§   Low Rate of Economic Development

§   Price Rise

§  Unemployment

§  Lack of Capital and Entrepreneurship

§  Social Factors

§  Colonial Exploitation

§  Climatic Factors

Famous Books on Poverty: ·         Himanshu               : India undercounts its Poor ·         N.Krishnaji              : Abolish the Poverty line ·         Indira Hirway          : Garibi Hatao can IRDP do it ·         Prahlad Shekavath : A Very Crooked line

Poverty Alleviation Programs in India

§  Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP): It was introduced in 1978-79 and universalized from 2^nd October, 1980, aimed at providing assistance to the rural poor in the form of subsidy and bank credit for productive employment opportunities through successive plan periods.

§  Jawahar Rozgar Yojana/Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana: The JRY was meant to generate meaningful employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed in rural areas through the creation of economic infrastructure and community and social assets.

§  Rural Housing – Indira Awaas Yojana: The Indira Awaas Yojana (LAY) programme aims at providing free housing to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in rural areas and main targets would be the households of SC/STs.

§  Food for Work Programme: It aims at enhancing food security through wage employment. Foodgrains are supplied to states free of cost, however, the supply of food grains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns have been slow.

§  National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS): This pension is given by the central government. The job of implementation of this scheme in states and union territories is given to panchayats and municipalities. The states contribution may vary depending on the state. The amount of old-age pension is ₹200 per month for applicants aged 60–79. For applicants aged above 80 years, the amount has been revised to ₹500 a month according to the 2011–2012 Budget. It is a successful venture.

§  Annapurna Scheme: This scheme was started by the government in 1999–2000 to provide food to senior citizens who cannot take care of themselves and are not under the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), and who have no one to take care of them in their village. This scheme would provide 10 kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior citizens. They mostly target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens’.

§  Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): The main objective of the scheme continues to be the generation of wage employment, creation of durable economic infrastructure in rural areas and provision of food and nutrition security for the poor.

§  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005: The Act provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women. The central government will also establish a National Employment Guarantee Funds. Similarly, state governments will establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for implementation of the scheme. Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days s/he will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.

§  National Rural Livelihood Mission: Aajeevika (2011): It evolves out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a monthly basis. Self Help Groups are formed at the village level to help the needy.

§  National Urban Livelihood Mission: The NULM focuses on organizing urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit.

§  Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: It will focus on the fresh entrant to the labour market, especially the labour market and class X and XII dropouts.

§  Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: It aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy, pension, insurance etc. and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts. The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.

Way Forward:

·         Accelerating rural poverty reduction

·         Creating more and better jobs

·         Focusing on women and Scheduled Tribes

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