Poverty is the phenomenon in society where even the basic necessities of life are not met.

Types of Poverty:

• Absolute poverty and relative poverty
• Temporary poverty and extreme poverty
• Primary and secondary poverty
• Rural and urban poverty
• Absolute poverty:
• A living environment without basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter.
• Poverty rate in India.
• Relative poverty
• Calculating Income Inequalities.
• Shows the inequalities of society.
• Comparing the top 5% to 10% of the population with the lowest 5% to 10% of the population.
• Temporary poverty

When the monsoons in countries like India fail, agriculture fails, leaving farmers toiling in temporary poverty.

• Absolute poverty

When agriculture fails and they live in the same condition for a long time, that condition is called extreme poverty.

• Primary poverty
• According to Roundiri (Roundiri).
• It is a state of scarcity where families cannot afford even the minimum, essential goods with their gross earnings to live on.
• Secondary poverty
• The income of the families is enough to live on.
• But part of it is for useful or useless expenses and inefficient family management etc. are some of the wasteful expenses.

• Rural poverty
• Most of the poor people living in villages do not own land and work as agricultural day labourers.
• Their wages are also low and they are employed only for a few months of the year.
• Urban poverty
• Poor people living in urban areas work long hours and earn very little.
• Most are employed in unrecognized and unregulated sectors.

Poverty Line:

• Economic scale
• Poverty is the main starting point of the economy for the government to identify individual or household economic deficiencies and meet their needs.
• Confirmation by different sizes.
• Varies within each state or territory.
• Central government enumerates households below poverty line on decennial basis.
• According to the World Bank, people with an income of less than $1.25 are considered below the poverty line.
• Calculated by Planning Commission in India.
• The Project Committee’s calculation is based on the report of the NGO.
• Fixed every 5 years.

Poverty Enumeration in Five Year Plans:

• First Five Year Plan: 1951 – 56

Addressing food shortages to improve agricultural systems

• Second Five Year Plan 1956 – 61

Promoting industrialization

• Third Five Year Plan: 1961 – 66

Sustainable growth in agriculture, development of resource sectors, greater utilization of human power, decentralization of economic power, increase in annual national income by 5%.

• Fourth Five Year Plan 1969 – 74

Enhancing the quality of life Depreciation

• Fifth Five Year Plan 1974 – 79

Eradication of Poverty (Karibi Hatao)

• Sixth Five Year Plan: 1980 – 85

Mechanisms to increase economic growth, eliminate unemployment, and eliminate inequality in income distribution

• Seventh Five Year Plan: 1985 – 90
• Eradication of poverty
• Achieving self-sufficiency in food production
• Eighth Five Year Plan: 1992 – 97

Increasing employment

• Ninth Five Year Plan: 1997 – 2002

Greater implementation of projects to increase growth

• Tenth Five Year Plan: 2002 – 2007

Doubling per capita income

• Eleventh Five Year Plan: 2007–2012

Aimed to increase the enrolment in higher education of 18–23 years of age group by 2011–12.

• Twelfth Five Year Plan: 2012-2017

Objective of faster, sustainable, and more inclusive growth

Evaluation of Five Year Plans:

• All our programs are based on self-sufficiency in agricultural production, employment generation and industrial development.
• But poverty and unemployment continue to rise.
• The number of poor people living in poverty in India is 21.9%.
• Experts feel that the programs have failed to eradicate poverty.
• The economic growth of our country is stagnant.
• Indebtedness and corruption are on the rise.
• India is the third largest debtor country in the world.
• The number of people living below the poverty line is decreasing.
• However the number of unemployed has increased.
• Although various schemes have been implemented, they have not been able to improve the lives of poor people.

The causes of poverty:

Social reasons:

• Illiteracy
• Unemployment
• Lack of capacity
• Population growth
• Religion and community based management
• Compromising on self-sufficiency approach
• Foreign domination
• Exploitations caused by caste divisions
• Lack of technical knowledge
• System of land exploitation
• India – Pakistan, India – China War

Economic Reasons:

• Inflation
• Less inclusive growth in the economy
• Unequal distribution of wealth
• Low productivity
• Importance of culture in primary sector
• Shortage of skilled workers
• Less investment

The cycle of poverty:

Low income

↓

Low purchasing power

↓

Limited market size

↓

Deficiency in attracting investment

↓

Less investment

↓

Less production

↓

Poverty

The individual cause of poverty:

Individuals:

According to David Elich:

• The theory of individualism states that the cause of an individual’s poverty lies within himself.
• If a man lives in poverty, it is his own fault resulting from his laziness, lack of interest, lack of ability, lack of effort.
• A man’s success is attributed to his personal hard work, ability and integrity.
• If a man fails, he should blame himself and not anyone else.
• Middle class with a good job, steady income, significant wealth. They generally agree that they are responsible for the poverty of the poor.
• A person belonging to the middle class says that he has fought hard and won and the poor do not.
• This is because there is something wrong with them.
• A man is responsible for his laziness, incompetence and failure to take advantage of opportunities.
• There is no way to improve them.
• Despite living in poverty. He who strives to succeed in life, even in the face of failure, can reach the best.

A subculture of poverty:

• Oscar Lewis notes that poverty becomes a culture if it continues as a tradition.
• As mentioned by Griesberg

Although the family members of the poor have advanced to important positions in each generation, successive generations continue to reflect their customs, values, and social pressures from their poverty.

• Children of the poor acquire a subculture of violence.
• All members expect aggressive physical responses or develop this trait.
• Violence practiced in such subcultures is not considered a criminal activity.
• People who reflect that trait don’t feel guilty about their ferocity.
• This concept is often used by politicians and the general public.
• It has given society an incentive to take less or less action to eradicate poverty.

Social structure:

• Dishonest and abusive social situations
• Our economic system
• Lack of educational development
• Fewer jobs
• Doing more work for less pay
• Being unemployed for long periods of time
• No changes are made in social and economic structures.
• Blocking of changes by egoistic forces
• Due to the existence of a poverty-stricken segment in the society, the middle class gets social, economic and political gains. – Herbert Kahn’s statement

Main reasons:

1. Availability of people to do menial jobs in society
2. Protecting one’s superior status

• The poverty of a section of society is useful for placing one in a position of power.
• Social structure, values to protect their self-interests. Poverty is caused by individuals or groups who do not want changes in the rules.

Rural poverty:

• Poverty found in villages
• Poverty in India is the inability to earn enough income to meet basic needs
• Poverty line depends on the income or consumption level of the people.
• People living in villages who consume 2400 calories per day or less are below poverty line.

Causes of Rural Poverty:

Improper division of lands:

• Rural areas are concentrated in a few.
• Majority of the villagers work for wages in those lands for their family needs.

Unemployment in non-farm industries:

• Non-farm industries did not grow with the increasing number of workers.
• Most of the workers are in rural areas and earn less wages.

Lack of investment in public sectors:

• The lack of investment in human resource development in our country is the root cause of poverty.

Inflation:

• As the prices of commodities increase, the purchasing power of the rural population decreases, leading to rural poverty.

Low productivity:

• Low productivity of rural labor and farms contributes to poverty.

Inequality in the benefits of development:

• As urban people enjoy the benefits of economic growth, wealth is concentrated among them.
• Due to flawed economic systems and policies, the benefits of development have not reached the poor.
• The contribution of poor people is also not properly calculated.

Low economic growth rate:

• Indian economic growth has been in favor of the rich.
• The benefits of the growth and progress achieved by the country have been denied to the poor.

Emphasis on large industries:

• Investment in large industries in India caters to the needs of the urban middle and upper income segments.
• As these industries use more machinery, employment generation is less.
• As a result, rural people are unable to get employment and are unable to get out of poverty.

Social Disadvantages:

• Prevailing customs, beliefs etc. in the society increase the cost of unproductive production.

Rural poverty alleviation programs:

• 20 Feature Scheme – 1975
• Integrated Rural Development Plan – 1976
• Food for Work Scheme – 1977
• Self-Employment Training for Rural Youth – 1979
• National Rural Employment Scheme – 1980
• Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Scheme – 1983
• Indira Awas Yojana – 1985
• Jawahar Employment Scheme – 1989
• Bharat Nirman Yojana – 2005
• Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Program – 2005
• National Rural Welfare Scheme – 2005
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme – 2005
• Rajiv Awas Yojana – 2009
• National Rural Livelihood Program – 2011
• National Food Security Plan – 2013

Poverty Alleviation Schemes of Tamil Nadu:

Pudhu Haiva Project – 2005:

1. With the help of the World Bank, the Department of Rural Development (RD) and Panchayats have started a project to eradicate poverty and empower them.
2. The target people to reach out to this scheme are poor people, differently abled people, marginalized community people.

Tamil Nadu Rural Livelihoods Action Plan 2012 – 13:

1. Brought to raise the income of rural areas.
2. Implemented in 266 Panchayats including Nagapattinam, Ariyalur.
3. The scheme was jointly introduced by the central and state governments.
4. Governments financial contribution 60 : 40
5. Creating basic livelihood infrastructure for rural people
6. Self-help groups were started at village, district and district level through this scheme.

Poverty alleviation programs in India:

20 Point Plan – 1975:

• Controlling Inflation
• Promotion of production
• Contributing to the well-being of rural people
• Providing loans to the middle class living in urban areas
• Controlling social and economic crimes

Integrated Rural Development Plan – 1976:

To sensitize the families living below the poverty line and empower them by creating self-employment opportunities in agriculture, horticulture, livestock, animal husbandry, weaving, handicrafts etc.

Antiyothaya Project – 1977:

• Initiated by the Government of Rajasthan to help people living below the poverty line.
• Select 5 extreme poverty families in each village and help them.

Self-employment training for rural youth – 1979:

• To increase employment by imparting technical training to the youth and engaging them in agriculture, industry and service sector.
• Age: 18 – 35
• Preference : SC / ST Women Ex-servicemen
• Eligibility : 9th standard pass

National Rural Employment Scheme – 1980:

The scheme was introduced to create additional employment in rural areas

Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Scheme – 1983:

Employment Guarantee Scheme for the Landless in Rural Areas

Jawahar Employment Scheme – 1989:

The program provides employment for one person in each extreme poverty household near their home for 50 – 100 days per year.

Major Projects:

• Five Year Plans
• Nationalization of banks
• Laws

Causes of Rural Poverty:

• Rapid population growth
• Lack of capital
• Lack of alternative employment other than agriculture
• Population pressure on agriculture
• Illiteracy
• Child marriage
• Joint family
• Regional differences
• Negligence in investment
• Deficiency in proper implementation of public distribution system

Government Actions:

Causes of urban poverty:

• Urban migration of rural youth
• Lack of vocational education and training
• Fixed employments in cities
• Rapid population growth
• Lack of housing
• Inadequate implementation of programs for the public

Government Actions:

• Emphasis on Vocational Education
• Nehru Roker Yojana – 1989
• Urban Poor Self-Employment Scheme – 1986
• Financing for house construction
• Urban Educated Youth Self-Employment Scheme – 1983
• National Social Assistance Scheme – 1995
• Provision of basic services to the urban poor
• Golden Jubilee Year Employment Scheme – 1992
• Prime Minister’s Employment Scheme
• Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme

The effective methods of poverty alleviation:

Instructions:

• Distribution of income
• Promotion of private investment
• Reduction of resources and project cost
• Controlling Inflation
• Creation of independent banking systems
• Creation of a new organizational system to sell and distribute government investment to the people
• Employment generation
• Control of population growth
• Elimination of black money
• Justice for all
• Decentralization of planning
• Development of programs for women’s development

Other ways:

• Collection of information
• Focus on immovable assets
• Right to adequate land and water facilities
• Basic health and education
• Regional engagement
• Provision of infrastructure
• Credit Target
• Decentralized feeding programs
• Industrialization
• Increase in industrial investments
• Reduction of unnecessary government expenditure
• Restrictions on power generation and power distribution
• Imparting computer training to youth
• Engaging people in development projects
• Strengthening of Panchayat Raj Institutions
• Involvement of Non-Governmental Organizations
• Nationalization

Groups on poverty:

Calories 2400 / 2100:

In India, it was defined on the basis that an individual needs 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas.

Groups:

• Alegendary – 1977 – Calories
• Lakdawala Group – 1989
• Tendulkar Group – 2005 – Per capita expenditure
• Saxena Group
• Hasik group
• Rangarajan Group – 2012 Calories, Protein, Fat + Expenditure

Upto 2005 – Per Capita Expenditure:

• The Government of India’s poverty census is calculated for food security.
• The level of poverty is determined by the per capita expenditure on consumption to obtain the calories required for survival.

Tendulkar Group – 2005:

It defined poverty in rural and urban areas by measuring the amount of food consumed without counting calories.

From Sixth Five Year Plan (NSSO):

• Basis of information on consumer expenditure collected by NSSO.
• The number of people below the poverty line is determined by the Planning Commission.

  Rangarajan Group – 2012:

• A committee of 5 headed by Rangarajan
• Report submitted in 2014.
• Set out to study the poverty measurement system.
• When the Planning Commission fixed the expenditure amount of Rs 22 per day for the poor people, there was a national protest.
• Thus Rangarajan’s group predicted the requirement of calories, protein, fat etc. among people of different ages and sexes.
• According to the Committee’s estimate, the number of poor people was 19% higher in rural areas and 49% higher in urban areas than the Tendulkar Committee.

The problems of the poor and the pains of poverty:

Social discrimination:

• There is a perception that the poor are lazy, incompetent and a burden on society.
• The poor are looked down upon in society.
• They are also viewed as discriminatory.
• Being affected by powerful people.
• Poor people are oppressed when they resist strong authority figures or resist political forces.
• They pay high interest on loans.
• In any crime in the society, the poor are suspected.
• There is a perception that the poor are not optimistic.
• There is a situation where the poor lose their dignity and look inferior.
• The reason is illiteracy and prejudice.

Lack of housing:

• Urban population growth has increased the number of homeless people.
• Homelessness, overcrowding, slums, rent laws are serious problems of urban areas.
• A household’s dwelling unit and the neighborhood in which it is located are associated with poverty.
• Urban slums have no facilities (electricity, drinking water).
• Children of the area spend most of their time on the streets.
• There is no harmony in the family and behavior is not proper.
• Losing self-esteem, the number of people without confidence is high.

Deterioration of culture due to poverty:

• Children living in poverty are more affected by the impact of wrongdoing.
• They are not aware that what they are doing is wrong.
• Such subculture is not considered illegal behavior.
• Violence becomes a part of Arkala’s way of life.
• This subculture is on the one hand a result of poverty and on the other a cause of poverty.

Poverty Alleviation Program Assessment and Deficit Profile:

Estimate – Poverty 21.9%

• Poverty alleviation programs are not in the interest of the rural population or in promoting the rural economy.
• Policies are formulated to facilitate the actions of the ruling class.
• Only during election times, every project is started.
• Schemes are not designed to meet the needs of the villagers or develop village industries.
• Facilities created for rural development do not last long.
• Most of the projects depended on agriculture and there were few projects for industrial development.
• Also projects are not reaching different parts of the country.
• Social and economic disparities are not eliminated.
• Income inequality has not decreased.
• Water resources, credit and subsidy were usurped by the powerful farmers.
• A situation has arisen where the small farmers and the poor have to pay higher prices for such assistance and facilities.
• Lack of coordination between various schemes.
• Funds allocated to projects are not spent properly.
• Schemes are not implemented properly.
• Shortcomings in providing credit facilities
• Poor people also not interested in the scheme
• Bribery for obtaining credit
• No efforts to identify people below poverty line.
• Projects are in top-down approach.