Poverty is the state of
having little or no money, things or stuff or means of support or resource. It is the condition of being poor. There are
different types of poverty in the world such as – same degree poverty, absolute
poverty, relative poverty and subjective poverty. Absolute poverty is the case
where people lack basic human needs. Absolute poverty is the worst type of
poverty.
There are many reasons
and causes of poverty; they are overpopulation, the unequal distribution in
world economy, inability to meet high standards of living, high cost of living,
inadequate employment and education opportunities, environmental degradation, and
certain economic and demographic trend and welfare incentives.
The
main causes of Poverty in India are –
1) Rapidly Rising Population –
For the past 45 years the population rate has been increased 2.2% per annum.
That is like 17 million people are added to every year to the population. This
increases the demand for goods and there will be an increase in rate of
consumption.
2) Low Productivity in Agriculture –
There is a lack of productivity in agriculture because there is lack of
capital, use of traditional methods of cultivation and illiteracy. This is
India’s main cause for poverty.
3) Under Utilized Resources -
Because of under employment and disguised unemployment of human resources,
there is low production in the agricultural sector. this brings down the
standard of living.
4) Low Rate of Economic Development –
The rate of economic development
in India has been below the required level.
This leads to a gap between level of availability and requirements of
goods and services. This results in
poverty
5) Price
Rise – Continuous rise in
the price has been added to the miseries of poor. Here the lower income group
finds it difficult to get the minimum needs. They even find it difficult to get
their basic needs or get shelter to live under.
6) Unemployment
- This is main reason behind the poverty caused
in India. There are more people seeking and wanting to jobs than the opportunities
that are available.
7) Shortage
of Capital – this
help in accelerating the growth. But since there not much supply the increase
in production significantly a short supply.
8) Social
Factors - The social set up is
still backward and is not helpful for faster development. Laws of inheritance,
caste system, traditions and customs are putting hindrances in the way of
faster development and have aggravate the problem of poverty.
9) Political Factors –
the British started the irregular development in India. It reduced the Indian
economy to colonial state. They have exploited India’s natural resources to
suit with their interests and weaken the industrial base of Indian economy. Now
after the independence, India has developmental plans and is being guided by
the political interests. Therefore the planning a failure to tackle the
problems of poverty and unemployment.
Rural
Poverty India –
There are many factors
that are responsible for poverty in rural areas of India. The rural population
mainly depends on agriculture as their livelihoods which again high depends on
rain and monsoon patterns. When there is
no proper rain and no proper materials or facilities for irrigation there will
be a cause in low or zero production of
crops followed sometimes by the
catastrophic repercussions which often
follows.
The
families in India are mostly large, they maybe even in a joint families. This can also make it worse and effect
of poverty. The caste system which is till India is a major reason for rural
poverty for it keeps people locked in the endless cycle of less facilities and
opportunities for the lower castes. The government has planned to eradicate
poverty through different programs but all this work at later time.
Urban Poverty in India –
The
phenomenal increase in the city populations is one of the main reasons for the
urban poverty in India. The massive and relatively recent increase is a result
of major migration of rural families to cities. This migration is mainly caused
by poor employment opportunities in villages and is exacerbated by the fact
that there are few job opportunities in the cities as well.
The Slums of India –
Poverty Reduction in
India –
The UNDP Global Human Development Report 2011
ranked India as 134 out 187 countries that UN recognized territories. According
to the report India continues to record the impressive growth rates, poverty
remains widespread and disparities deeply establish. The Government of India
recent estimates suggest that 37 percent of the population still live below the
poverty line. Poverty line is the estimated minimum level of income needed to
secure the necessities of life. the UNDP works as a partnership between the
Central, State Government and Civil Society organizations to enhance the
effectiveness of national poverty reduction and livelihood programmed and build
partnerships that enable disadvantaged communities o improve skills and
diversify to non- farm activities.
The UNDP fosters partnerships to enable
deprived households to improve skills. This will help in access to credit,
financial services and markets. they support livelihood plans in agriculture ,
forestry, fishers, land resource development, rural tourism and handicrafts.
Livelihood Missions
UNDP promotes
innovative institutional mechanisms that can strengthen links between the poor
and the market such as the Rajasthan Mission on Skill and Livelihoods and the
Jharkhand State Livelihoods Mission, which has benefited nearly 350,000 people
in these two states.
Empowering
Women in India –
The UNDP is aiming to
an advance social inclusion by promoting relationships among men and women,
different groups and individuals within communities so that all identify with
the belongingness to a community. The women in India, this is a challenge in
particular complex.. Forty-nine percent of the poor are women and 96 percent of
the women work in the informal economy. The 11th Five-Year Plan (2008-12)
points out that “gender inequality remains a pervasive problem and structural
changes are having an adverse effect on women.” UNDP in India with support from
the IKEA Foundation adopts an integrated approach to achieve social, economic,
and political empowerment of 50,000 women in 500 villages across eastern Uttar
Pradesh. The project has now been scaled up to reach out to 2.2 million women
and their families across four states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh.
The main focus now in
India is to eradicate poverty. The only possible way to eradicate poverty is by
having a proper government India who would with this issue. To have drastic change
and growth in the Indian economies. To be able to give work opportunities and
support of the some of the families that are at poverty line, Help them till
they are able stand on their own legs, and lets them go. The government and
other organization must start making laws that help change India. They must
support people in any possible way they can to help the country come out of
poverty. They must guide the people and send children to school so that there
is better future.
Maya Chandrashekaran
FSLE-3
