Discuss the problem of poverty in India.

What measures has the Government taken

for the removal of poverty in India?

Ans. Poverty is a socio-economic phenomenon which defies any precise definition; its
concept and content varies from country to country depending upon what a particular
society accepts as a reasonably good living standard for its people. Thus, in California,
U.S,A., it would not be surprising if a family owning less than two cars may be dubbed as
poor. But in India, poverty manifests itself in its starkest form as a visual of semistarved,
ill-clad, deprived millions of countrymen thousands of them dying every day from
malnutrition, ill health and lack of basic amenities; a picture which is both appalling and
agonising from any standards of human existence.
Some reliable and fairly accurate estimates of the magnitude of poverty in India
have been made by several economists as well as some official and non-official
organisations from time to time. Among the more important estimates are those made by
E.P.W. de-Costa, B.S. Minhas, P.K. Bardhan and Dandekar and Rath pertaining to the
magnitude of poverty prevailing in the country in early and late 1960's. While the studies
made by Minhas show a declining trend in the proportion of the poor in rural areas during
1956-57 and 1967-68, those made by P.D. Ojha indicate an exactly opposite trend of an
increasing percentage of rural poor between 1960-61 and 1967-68. Dandekar and Rath,
on the other hand, maintain that the proportion of the rural poor has remained more or
less constant over these years though in absolute terms their number has definitely gone
up.
An indepth study of the prevailing poverty in India made by de-Costa for the year
1963-64 classifies poor into three poverty groups viz (i) severe destitutes, comprising
those whose daily per capita consumption expenditure is around Rs. 0.11 in rural areas
and Rs. 0.15 in urban areas ; (ii) destitutes, having per capita consumption expenditure
of Rs. 0.13 and Rs. 0.18 for the rural and urban population respectively ; and (iii)
poor, with a per capita daily consumption expenditure of Rs. 0.15 for rural and Rs.
0.24 for urban poor. On this basis he estimated that in 1963-64, there were 61.7
million severe destitutes, 104.4 million destitutes and 161.6 million poor. Thus, 320
million people in India lived below the poverty line which formed over 71 percent of
total population at that time.
Minhas prepared detailed estimates of the number of rural poor and their
proportion to the total rural population for the years 1956-57 to 1967-68. These estimates
are based on the per capita desirable minimum consumption expenditure of Rs. 240 per
annum (at 1960-61 prices) as suggested by a Study Group set up by the Planning
Commission in 1962. According to these estimates, the proportion of rural population
living below the poverty line declined steadily, from 65 per cent in 1956-57 to 50.6 per
cent in 1967-68. In absolute terms, the number of persons in the poverty group, which
were 215 million in 1956-57, marginally declined to 210 million in 1967-68.

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 ` As against this declining trend in rural poverty brought out by Minhas, estimates
made by P.D. Ojha show a sharp increase in the number as well as the proportion of the
rural poor. Ojha's estimates for 1960-61 are based on the minimum desirable calories
intake of 2250 per capita per day, which would entail a per capita consumption
expenditure of Rs. 15-18 (at 1960-61 prices) per month. His estimates show that there
were 184 million poor in the rural areas. which accounted for 51.8 per cent of the total
rural population. For 1967-68, the expenditure on this per capita calorie intake was esti-
mated to be Rs. 40 per month. At this level of per capita consumption expenditure, the
number of rural poor was estimated to be 289 million persons which was 70 per cent of
rural population.
Estimates prepared by P.K. Bardhan for the years 1960-61 to 1°168-69 also show
growing trends in rural poverty. Based on the minimum desirable consumption
expenditure of Rs. 15 per month (at 1960-61 prices), Bardhan worked out the proportion
of rural poor at 38 per cent in 1960-61. For maintaining this minimum desirable
consumption level, he assumed an expenditure of Rs. 21.60 in 1964-65 and Rs. 28.40 in
1968-69. On this basis he found out that the incidence of rural poverty was 45 per cent in
1964-65 and 54 per cent in 1968-69.
` V.M. Dandekar and Nilkantha Rath also prepared estimates of poverty on the
basis of a per capita intake of 2250 calories per day. They assumed that at 1960-61 prices,
this caloric intake would cost Rs. 180 per month in rural and Rs. 270 per month in urban
areas The corresponding expenditure at 1968-69 prices was worked out at Rs. 324 per
month for rural and Rs. 486 month for urban section of population. Based on these
consumption expenditure figures, they estimated that in 1968 69, over 50 per cent of rural
population and about 40 per cent of the ban population lived below the poverty line. In
absolute term rut of an estimated population of 532.7 million in 1968-69, ncar23.5
million people lived below the basic desirable minimum leve1 existence.
Beginning with the Fourth `a (1969-74), progressively greater attention was
focussed on the problem of poverty. Serious efforts were made to identify the poverty
groups with a view to preparing specific programmes for poverty more attention was
paid to the quantitative aspect
Fifth and the Sixth Five-Year plans. 'The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980-85) indicated that
50.7p.ent of the rural population and about 40 per cent of the urban "population was
living below the poverty line in 1979-80. The pout' line was drawn on the same basis of
per capita daily calorie
intake of 2400 for rural and 210) for urban areas. At 1978 79 prices the poverty line was
drawn at per capita monthly expenditure of R6 for rural and Rs. 88 for urban areas. On
this basis. it was fond out that the absolute number of the poor was 317 million, of
whir260 million were residing in the rural areas and 57 million in urban areas.
Subsequently, because of the revision in the population estimates based on 1981 census,
the figure of population below the poverty line in 1979-80 were revised and worked out
to 339 million persons which accounted for 51.1 per cent of the total population.

The poverty line was drawn at per capita monthly expenditure of Rs. 107 for rural
and Rs. 122 for the urban areas. With an average household comprising five persons,
rural has Colds with annual consumption expenditure of less than Rs.6.0 and urban
households below annual expenditure of Rs. 73?Q were deemed to be poor. On this basis

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39.9 per cent of the rural population and 27.7 per cent of urban population was estimate
to below the poverty line, the proportion of total population below the poverty line in
1984-85 was 36.9 per cent. The Seventh Plan aims at bringing down the poverty ratio to
about 25.8 per cc t inl989-90~
Right from the beginning of the planning era in India, the problems of poverty
and unemployment have been the focus of attention of the planners and the policy
makers. It was clearly recognised that poverty was rooted in the overall low economic
base of the country and in the unequal distribution of wealth, income and the means of
production. As such, poverty could be removed only through expansion and development
of the overall economic base and an equitable distribution of wealth and means of
production. Therefore, all the earlier Plans focussed their attention on building up of
production capacities and infrastructure with a view to achieving a rapid growth of the
national economy and for making an impact on the problems of poverty and
unemployment. But in the more recent Plans, poverty has been increasingly seen as the
central problem calling for special attention. Thus in the Fifth Plan, the emphasis on
'Garibi Hatao' marked a' shift in planning priorities from `rapid economic growth with
social justice' to `removal of poverty.
The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980-85) in its development perspective visualises
accelerated progress towards removal of poverty. generation of gainful employment and
technological and economic self reliance. It states, `experience shows that a substantial
acceleration in the overall rate of growth of our economy, as measured by the growth of
gross domestic product in real terms, is essential condition for realising these objectives.
However, there is also convincing evidence which points to the limited effectiveness of
the 'trickle down' effect. Therefore, consistent with an overall social and economic
objectives, public policies will have to acquire a sharper redistribution focus in raising the
share of the poorer sections in national income and consumption and utilisation of public
services. Thus, specific action programmes like the national rural employment
programme and other anti-poverty schemes meant for selected target groups of
population are essential components of a strategy designed to assist in removal of
unemployment and poverty.'
Anti-Poverty Programmes during Five-Year Plans
Consistent with the objectives of the successive Plans in the realm of poverty alleviation,
a number of general as well as specific programmes were implemented for improving
living conditions of the poor, raising their productivity levels and affording them greater
employment opportunities. The Community Development Projects, National Extension
Service Schemes and Panchayati Raj institutions of 19i 0's provided the foundations for
the later developments. The Intensive Agricultural District Programmes and the Intensive
Area Development Programmes were taken up in 1960's with the specific objectives of
raising farm output through increased agricultural productivity. In the 1970's schemes
such as Small Farmers Development Agencies, Marginal Farmers and Agricultural
Labour Development Programmes, Drought Prone Area Programmes, Desert
Development Programmes. Food for Work Programme etc. constituted a direct attack on
the problem of rural poverty. The Minimum Needs Programme, launched during the Fifth
Plan, attempts to raise the levels of social consumption of the poor masses.
However, inspite of these efforts, the problem of poverty continued to elude any
solution. The Sixth Plan, therefore, apart form relying on the overall higher rate of

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growth of the economy, sought to alleviate poverty through some specific measures. A
new scheme, the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) was incorporated in
the Sixth Five Year Plan for alleviating poverty and deprivation among the rural masses.
The main objective of the IRDP is to raise the level of living of the poorest families in the
rural areas above the poverty line on a lasting basis by giving them income generating
assets and access to credit and other inputs. Under the IRDP, the poorest families Le.
those who have an annual income of less than Rs. 4800 are selected and given assistance
by way of loans and subsidies to purchase income yielding assets like sewing machines,
milch cattle, a small piece of land, assistance for setting up small business etc. It is aimed
at evolving, on the one hand, an operationally integrated strategy at increasing
productivity and production in agriculture and other sectors, and on the other improving
resource position and income level of vulnerable sections of population. The programme
now covers all the 5011 blocks in the country. It is estimated to have benefited 16 5
million families during the Sixth Plan period. About 10.7 million more families were
covered and provided assistance under the IRDP in the first three years of the Seventh
Plan as against the total Plan target of covering 20 million families in the four-year
period.
With a view to providing technical skills to rural youths to enable them to take up
self employment in agriculture, rural industries, services and business activities in the
rural areas, the scheme of Training Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM) was
also started in August 1979. The Sixth Plan aimed at training about 2 lakh youths every
year under this scheme. Against the Plan target of about 10 lakh youth to be trained over
the five-year period, training was actually provided to 9.4 lakh youths under the
TRYSEM.
Another scheme aimed at poverty alleviation in rural areas viz. National Rural
Employment Programme (NREP) was launched in October 1980. Under this scheme,
besides generating employment opportunities, subsidised wheat and rice was provided to
the workers. Under the NREP, employment amounting to about 1774 million man days
was generated. The Seventh Plan alms at creating 1415 men Jays of employment under
the NR P. of which around 997 million mandays of employment was created during the
first three years of the Plan.
Another scheme viz. Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme
(RLEGP) was introduced in August 1983 with a view to providing guarantee of
employment to at least one member of every landless household upto 100 days in an year
and for creating durable assets for strengthening the infrastructure to meet the growing
requirements of the rural economy. The target of employment generation under the
programme was fixed at 360 million man-days for the remaining period of the Sixth Plan.
As against this, 260 million man-days of employment was actually generated. The target
of Seventh Plan is to create 1013 million man-days of employment under RLEGP, of
which 811 million man-days of employment was actually created during the first three
years of the Plan.
Besides these, the Minimum Needs Programme started during the Fifth Plan was
continued and strengthened during the Sixth Plan. Special • Area Programmes were also
expanded to make a significant dent on rural poverty.
A scheme called Self Employment for Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY)
was introduced by the Government in 1983-84 to create self employment opportunities

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and encouraging the educated unemployed youth to undertake self-employment ventures
in industry, service and business sectors. Under the scheme loans are given on
concessional terms for the amounts not exceeding Rs. 35000 for industrial ventures, Rs.
25000 for service ventures and Rs. 15000 for business ventures. During 1987-88, 1.01
lakh beneficiaries were sanctioned loans aggregating to Rs. 207.93 crore.
Another scheme, called Self-Employment Programme for Urban Poor (SEPUP)
has been initiated during 1986 for providing self employment opportunities to the urban
poor. The Programme covers all the cities and towns of the country not covered under the
IRDP. During 1987-88, 3.63 lakh beneficiaries were sanctioned loans aggregating to Rs.
131.74 crores under this scheme.
The impact of poverty alleviation measures adopted during the last two Plans has
been fairly good. The percentage of people living below the poverty line, which had gone
down from 51.49 per cent in 1973-74 to 48.3 per cent in 1977-78, further declined to 36.9
per cent in 1984-85. Table 13.1 shows the estimates of the percentage of people living
below the poverty line.
Table 13.1. Impact on Poverty
Rural Urban Total
1977-77 51.2 38.2 48.3.
1983-84 41.4 28.1 37.4
1984-85 39.9 27.7 36.9
1989-90 28.2 19.3 25.8

the New 20-Point Programme included increased tempo of runt development through
expansion of irrigation, use of modern agricultural inputs and better farming practices in
dryland areas. It also mounted a direct attack on rural poverty with special programmes
of income and employment generation such as IRDP, besides specific schemes for the
upliftment of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections of rural
society. The 20-Point Programme was, in fact, a part of the Sixth Plan's strategy of rural
development and poverty alleviation. With the completion of the Sixth Plan, an
opportunity was provided to reassess the working of the 20-Point Programme and to take
stock of its operational success.
In the light of the experience gained in the Sixth period, the 20-Point Programme
has been restructured and revised in August 1986. This restructured 20-Point Programme,
which has been described as the cutting edge of the plan for the poor, aims at eradicating
poverty, raising productivity, reducing income inequalities, removing social and
economic disparities and improving the quality of life.
The 20-Point Programme'-1986, contains the following points and commitments.
"The war on poverty is our first priority. In the past five years, more than ten crore of our
poor have been raised above the poverty line. Our goal is to remove poverty and create
fuller employment. The Twenty Point Programme is the cutting edge of the Plan for the
poor. The programme has been restructured in the light of our achievements and
experience and the objectives of the Seventh Plan. The restructured programme renews
our commitment to eradicating poverty, raising productivity, reducing income inequa-
lities, removing social and economic disparities and improving the quality of life."

1. Attack on Rural Poverty

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 1. Ensuring that poverty alleviation programmes reach all the poor in every
village; 2. Dovetailing wage employment programmes with programmes for area
development and human resources development and create national and community
assets like school buildings, roads, tanks and fuel and fodder reserves; 3. Correlating the
various rural development programmes to improve productivity and production and
expand rural employment; 4. Promoting hand-looms, handicrafts, village and small
industries, and improving skills for self-employment;
5. Revitalising Panchayats, cooperatives and local bodies.

2. Strategy for Rainfed Agriculture

1. Improving the technology for conserving moisture and ensure better management of
land and water resources; 2. Developing and distributing appropriate and improved seeds
; 3. Reducing vulnerability to drought through suitable changes in drought-prone areas
and drought relief programmes.
3. Better Use of Irrigation Water
1. Developing the cat-rim-tent areas and improving g drainage in basins and deltas; 2.
Improving irrigation management in command areas; 3. Preventing water-logging salinity
and wasteful use; 4. Intensifying the cultivation of fruits and vegetables; 5. Augmenting
facilities for modern storage, processing and marketing of agricultural produce; 6.
Helping livestock and dairy farmers to increase productivity; 7. Developing fish farming
and sea fishing.

4. Bigger Harvests
1. Revolutionising rice production in the eastern region and other areas of low
productivity; 2. Achieving self-reliance in edible oils; 3. Securing greater production of
pulses; 4. Intensifying the cultivation of fruit and vegetables; 5. Augmenting facilities for
modern storage, processing and marketing of agricultural produce:6. Helping livestock
and dairy farmers to increase productivity; '.7. Developing fish farming and sea fishing.
5. Enforcement of Land Reforms
1. Completing compilation of land records; 2. Implementing agricultural land ceiling;
3. Distributing surplus land to the landless.

6. Special Programmes for Rural Labour

1. Enforcing minimum wages for unorganized labour in agriculture and industry; 2. Fully
implementing laws abolishing bonded labour; 3. Involving voluntary agencies in
programmes for the rehabilitation of bonded labour.
(i) Clean Drinking Water
1. Providing safe water for all villages; 2. Assisting local communities to maintain
the sources of such water supply in good condition; 3. Paying special attention to water
supply for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
(ii) Health for All
1. Improving the quality of primary health care; 2. Fighting leprosy, TB, malaria, goitre,
blindness and other major diseases; 3. Providing immunisation for all infants and

6
children; 4. Improving sanitation facilities in rural areas, particularly for women; 5.
Paying special attention to programmes for the rehabilitation of the handicapped.

9 . Two-child Norm
1. Bringing about voluntary acceptance of the two child norm: 2. Prompting responsible
parenthood; 3. Reducing infant mortality: 4. Expanding maternity and child care
facilities.
• Expansion of Education
1. Universalising elementary education with special emphasis on girls' education; 2.
Improving the content of education at all levels; 3. Promoting non-formal education and
functional literacy programmes, including promotion of skills; 4. Stimulating adult
literacy programmes, with the participation of students and voluntary .mcncies; 5.
Emphasising national integration and social and moral clues and instill pride in our
heritage.
• Justice to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
1. Ensuring compliance with the constitutional provisions and low for the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes; 2. Ensuring possession of land allotted to Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes: 3.Revitalising the land allotment programme; 4. Organizing and
sting special coaching programmes to improve educational mils; 5 Eradicating
scavenging and undertaking special names for the rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis: 6.
Providing direction and adequate funds for the special component ammes; 7. Pursuing
programmes for the fuller integration of Scheduled Castes and Tribes with the rest of
society; 8. Ensuring the -rehabilitation of tribals displaced from their habitat.

l2. Equality for Women

I. Raising the status of women; 2. Enhancing awareness of the problems of women; 3.
Creating mass consciousness about women's rights; 4. Implementing a national
programme of training and employment for women; 5. Enabling women to participate
with equality in socio-economic development and nation building; 6. Rousing public
opinion against dowry and ensuring effective implementation of. anti-dowry legislation.

13. New Opportunities for Youth

1. Enlarging opportunities for youth in sports, adventure and cultural activities; 2.
Promoting physical fitness; 3. Involving youth on a massive scale in projects of national
development, such as, the cleaning of the Ganga, the conservation and enrichment of the
environment, mass education; 4. Identifying outstanding young persons in all fields to
encourage and develop their talents; 5. Involving youth in promoting national integration,
cultural values, secularism and the scientific temper; 6. Expanding the network of Nehru
Yuvak Kendras; 7. Strengthening the National Service Scheme and the National Cadet
Corps; 8. Encouraging voluntary agencies working for the welfare of rural youth.

(i) Housing for the People

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1. Making available house sites to the rural poor; 2. Expanding programme of house
construction; 3. Laying special emphasis on construction of houses for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes; 4. Developing low cost building materials.
(ii) Improvement of Slums
1. Restricting the growth of slums; 2. Providing basic facilities in existing slum areas; 3.
Encouraging planned house building in urban areas.
(iii) New Strategy for Forestry
1. Growing more trees and raising more forests with the full involvement of the people;
2. Protecting the traditional rights of tribal population and local communities of access to
firewood and forest produce; 3. Reclaiming wastelands for productive use: 4. Planning
appropriate vegetation in hill, desert and coastal areas.
(iv) Protection of the Environment
1. Enhancing public awareness of the dangers of environmental degradation; 2.
Mobilising popular support for environmental demands; 3. Preservation of the ecology; 4.
Ensuring judicious site selection for projects and proper choice of technology.
18. Concern for the Consumer
I. Bringing essential consumption goods within easy reach of the poor: 2. Building a
consumer protection movement: 3. Restructuring the distribution system so that subsidies
reach the most needy; 4. Strengthening the Public Distribution system.
7. Energy for the Village
1. Expanding the supply of electricity for productive use in the villages; 2. Developing
alternative sources of energy, particularly bio-gas: 3. Promoting integrated area specific
programmes for rural energy.
8. Responsive Administration
1. Simplifying procedures; 2. Delegating authority; 3. Enforcing accountability; 4.
Evolving monitoring systems from block to national level; 5. Attending promptly and
sympathetically to public grievances