Poverty As A Challenge Flashcards
(16 cards)
Describe the state of poverty in India
- Around 27 crore people in India live under poverty
- India has the largest single concentration of the poor in the world
Why can we say that poverty is a multi-dimensional problem
- Poverty is a situation in which people do not have the minimum basic necessities of life
- Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter
- It is also a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school
- It can also be a situation where sick people cannot afford treatment
- Poverty also means lack of clean water and sanitation facilities
- It also means the lack of decent employment
- Above, poverty means living with a sense of helplessness
- Poor people are ill-treated wherever they go, in farms, factories, hospitals etc.
How is poverty seen by social scientists?
- Usually, the indicators used to relate to levels of income and consumption
- Now, poverty is also seen by other social indicators such as illiteracy, lack of employment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare facilities and lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities
- Analysis based on social exclusion and vulnerability are also becoming very common nowadays.
Differentiate between social exclusion and vulnerability
Social Exclusion
* According to this concept, the poor lives only in a poor surrounding with other poor people
* It is the process of social exclusion from facilities and opportunities that better-off people in better surroundings enjoy
* An example of social exclusion would be the caste system
* It can be both the cause and consequence of poverty
Vulnerability
* Vulnerability is described as the probability of certain communities of individuals becoming poor in the coming years
* It is analysed by their social and economic ability to handle greater risks
* It describes the probability of being more adversely affected than other people in the same situation
* Examples of this are: members of a backward caste or physically handicapped people
Define poverty line
Poverty line is a benchmark which defines poverty based on the income or consumption levels
Why can we say that poverty line differs from time and place
- A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level is below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfil basic needs
- However, what is necessary to fulfil basic needs is different at different times and in different countries
- Each country uses an imaginary line to decide a minimum requirement that is appropriate to be termed as what is necessary to fulfil basic needs
- Therefore, poverty line may vary from time and place
- For example, not having a car in the US may be considered poor.
However in India, having a car is still a luxury.
How is poverty line estimated?
- A minimum level of food requirement, clothing, education and healthcare etc. are determined for subsistence
- These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
What is the formula for food requirment in India?
- The present formula for food requirement is based on the desired calorie requirement
- The calorie requirement varies upon age, sex and the type of work that a person does
- The accepted average calorie requirement in India is:
→ 2400 calories per day in rural areas
→ 2100 calories per day in urban areas - Since people in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work, their calorie requirement is higher than people in urban areas
What are the values for poverty line in india
- The poverty line for a person was fixed for:
→ Rs 816 per month in rural areas
→ Rs 1000 per month in urban areas- It is fixed at a higher amount in urban areas due to high prices for basic goods
How is the poverty line estimated?
- The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every 5 years) by conducting sample surveys
- These surveys are conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)
- For international comparisons, organisations use a uniform standard for the poverty line: $1.90 per person per day
What are some of the poverty estimates in India?
- There is a decrease in poverty ratios in India from about 45% in 1992-1993 to about 22% in 2011-2012
- If this trend continues, people below the poverty line may come down to less than 20% in the next few years
- The number of poor people declined from over 400 million people in 2004-2005 to 270 million people in 2011-2012 with an average annual decline of 2.2%
What are some of the vulnerable groups in India?
- The proportion of people below poverty line is not same for all social groups and economic groups in India.
- Social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes
- Economic groups which are most vulnerable are rural agricultural labour households and urban casual labour households
- The double disadvantage of being a rural agricultural labour household in a vulnerable social group such as SC’S or ST’s highlights the seriousness of the problem.
- Studies show that except the ST’s, the other groups have shown a decline in poverty in the 1990’s
Describe inequality within the family
- In poor families, some suffer more than others
- In some cases, women, elderly people and female infants are not given equal access to the resources available to the family
What are interstate disparities
- The proportion of poor people is different in each state and the success rate of reducing poverty varies from state to state
- This variation is known as interstate disparities
- Studies show that the All India Head Count Ratio (HCR) was 22% in 2011-2012
What are some of the poorest states in india
- The poorest states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Bihar
- Bihar and Odisha continue to be the poorest states with poverty ratios of 33.7% and 32.6% respectively
What are some of the richest states in india
- There has been a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal
- States like Punjab and Haryana reduced poverty with the help of high agricultural growth
- Kerala has focused more on human resource development
- In West Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty
- In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the distribution of food grains led to the decline in poverty
