Answer the following questions briefly
[question] Question. Answer the following questions briefly (i) What do you understand by human poverty? (ii) Who are the poorest of the poor? (iii) What are the main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005? [/question] [solution] Solution: (i)Human poverty is a concept that goes beyond the limited view of poverty as lack of income. It refers to the denial of political, social and economic opportunities to an individual to maintain a “reasonable” standard of living. Illitera...
Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation.
[question] Question. Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation. [/question] [solution] Solution: The current anti-poverty strategy of the government has a two-lined approach − promotion of economic growth and targeted anti-poverty programmes. Economic growth widens opportunities and provides resources needed to invest in human development. Also, so that the poor can take advantage of this economic growth, the government has formulated several anti-poverty schemes to affect pove...
Describe global poverty trends.
[question] Question. Describe global poverty trends. [/question] [solution] Solution: The proportion of people in developing countries living on less than $1 per day has fallen from 28 per cent in 1990 to 21 per cent in 2001. There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty since the nineteen eighties. However, the reduction in poverty is marked with great regional differences. Due to rapid economic growth and massive investment in human resource development, poverty declined substantial...
Give an account of interstate disparities in poverty in India.
[question] Question. Give an account of interstate disparities in poverty in India. [/question] [solution] Solution: The proportion of poor is not the same in every state. Though there has been a decline in poverty in every state from the early seventies, the success rate of reducing poverty has varied from state to state. In 20 states and union territories, the poverty ratio is less than the national average of 26. In others, the poverty ratios are higher than the national average. Among these,...
Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India.
[question] Question. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India. [/question] [solution] Solution: The proportion of people below poverty line is not the same for all social groups and economic categories in India. The social groups of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and the economic groups of rural agricultural labourers and urban casual labourers are the ones most vulnerable to poverty. The poverty ratios for each of these groups are higher than...
Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.
[question] Question. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India. [/question] [solution] Solution: Major reasons for poverty in India (i) Colonial rule: India went through a long phase of low economic development under the British colonial administration. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged development of industries like textiles. (ii) Low economic growth and high population growth: The Indian administration’s failure on the two fronts − prom...
Describe poverty trends in India since 1973.
[question] Question. Describe poverty trends in India since 1973. [/question] [solution] Solution: A decline: There has been a substantial decline in the poverty ratios in India from about 55 per cent in 1973 to 36 per cent in 1993. The proportion of people below poverty line further came down to about 26 percent in 2000. Although the percentage of people living in poverty declined from 1973 to 1993, the number of poor remained stable around 320 million for a fairly long period. However, as per ...
Do you think that present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate?
[question] Question. Do you think that present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate? [/question] [solution] Solution: The present methodology of poverty estimation takes into account a minimum subsistence level of living rather than a reasonable level of living. A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given minimum level necessary to fulfil basic needs. While ensuring the minimum necessary in terms of income is indeed essential for India to...
Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.
[question] Question. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India. [/question] [solution] Solution: A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given minimum level necessary to fulfil basic needs. Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. This is called the poverty line. While determining the poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requiremen...