Q 1 – Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.
Ans. While determining the poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirements etc. are determined for subsistence. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
The present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired calorie requirement. Food items such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, milk, oil, sugar etc. together provide these needed calories. The need of calories depends on age and the work done by a person. The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2,100 calories per person per day in urban areas.
The calorie requirement of the people in rural areas is higher than that of the people living in urban areas because they do more physical work as compared to urban people. On the basis of the calculations for the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at t 816 per month for the rural areas and ? 1,000 per month for the urban areas.
Q 2 – Do you think that the present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate?
Ans. I don’t think that the present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate because each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. For example, a person not having a car in the United States may be considered poor. In India, owning a car is still considered a luxury.
Q 3 – Describe poverty trends in India since 1993.
Ans. There is a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 55 percent in 1973 to 36 percent in 1993. The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to about 26 percent in 2000. If the trend continues, people below the poverty line may come down to less than 20 percent in the next few years. Although the percentage of people living under poverty declined in the earlier two decades (1973– 1993), the number of poor remained stable at around 320 million for a fairly long period. The latest estimates indicate a significant reduction in the number of poor to about 260 million.
Q 4 – Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.
Ans. The major reasons for poverty in India are:
- 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 the development of industries like textiles.
- High growth in population. The rapid growth of population, particularly among the poor, is one of the major reason for Indian poverty. Poor people are illiterate and have a traditional outlook. Hence, they are either ignorant of birth control measures or are not convinced of the need of birth control. Moreover, they consider a male child as an asset, i.e., as a source of income and a source of security in old age.
- Low rate of economic development. The actual rate of growth in India has always been below the required level. This has resulted in less job opportunities. This has been accompanied by a high growth rate of population.
- Unemployment. Another important factor for the incidence of high poverty in India is the high degree of unemployment and underemployment. The job seekers are increasing at a higher rate than the increase in the employment opportunities.
- Unequal distribution. Although national income of India has been increasing since 1951, it was not properly distributed among different sections of the society. A large proportion of increased income has been pocketed by a few rich. They have become richer. A majority of people live below the poverty line.
- Social factors. Various social factors, viz., caste system, joint family system, religious beliefs, law of inheritance etc. have blocked the path of economic development.
Q 5 – Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India.
Ans. The social groups vulnerable to poverty are:
- Scheduled castes households
- Scheduled tribes households
The economic groups vulnerable to poverty are:
- Rural agricultural labour households
- Urban casual labour households
Q 6 – Give an account of inter-state disparities of poverty in India.
Ans. The proportion of the poor is not the same in every state in India. Though there has been a decline in poverty in every state since from the early seventies, the poverty ratio varies from state to state. The states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha had above all India poverty levels. Bihar and Orissa continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratios of 33.7% and 32.6%.
Both rural and urban poverty is quite high in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. On the other hand, states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal have shown a significant decline in poverty. Public distribution of food grains focuses on human resource development, high agricultural development, and land reform measures are some of the factors responsible for the decline in poverty in these states.
Q 7 – Describe global poverty trends.
Ans. The proportion of people in developing countries living on less than $1.90 per day has fallen from 35 percent in 1990 to 10.68 percent in 2013. There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty. However, the reduction is marked with great regional differences. Due to rapid economic growth and massive investment in human resource development, poverty has declined substantially in China and Southeast Asian countries.
In South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan), the decline has also been rapid. In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty has declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2013. It has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia, where officially it was non-existent earlier. In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has also declined from 16% in 1990 to 5.4% in 2013.
Q 8 – Describe the current government strategy of poverty alleviation.
Ans. A common method used to measure poverty is based on income or consumption levels. A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfill basic needs.
Q 9 – What do you understand by human poverty?
Ans. Human poverty is a concept that goes beyond the limited view of poverty as a lack of income. It refers to the denial of political, social, and economic opportunities to an individual to maintain a “reasonable” standard of living. Illiteracy, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to proper healthcare and sanitation, caste and gender discrimination etc. are all components of human poverty.
Q 10 – Who are the poorest of the poor?
Ans. Women, elderly people, and female infants are systematically denied equal access to resources available to the family. Therefore women, children (especially the girl child), and old people are the poorest of the poor.
Q 11 – What are the main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005?
Ans. The National Rural Employment Act provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts. Later, the scheme will be extended to 600 districts. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women. The central government will also establish National Employment Guarantee Funds. Similarly, state governments will establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for the implementation of the scheme.
Q 12 – What is poverty?
Or
Explain the term ‘poverty.
Ans. Poverty means a situation in which a person is unable to get minimum basic necessities of life i:e. food, clothing and shelter for his or her sustenance.
Q 13 – What is poverty line?
Ans. Poverty line is referred to as minimum requirement for basic necessities.
Q 14 – Mention two measures to alleviate poverty in India.
Ans. Measures to reduce poverty in India are-
- to create more employment opportunities.
- to check the growth of population.
Q 15 – How social scientists look at poverty?
Ans. Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators. Usually, the indicators used relate to the levels of income and consumption. But now the poverty is looked through other social indicators like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water etc.
Q 16 – Who estimates poverty line in India?
Ans. National-sample survey organisation.
Q 17 – What is the poverty line for a person according to the 2000 census?
Ans. According to the year 2000, the poverty line of a person is Rs. 328 per month, for the rural areas and Rs. 454 for urban areas.
Q 18 – Mention the three most poor states of India.
Ans. The there most poor states of India are Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
Q 19 – What is the poverty line an defined by the World Bank?
Ans. Poverty line as defined by the world bank is the people living on less than per day.
Q 20 – How does growth rate in population increase poverty in a country? Explain.
Ans. Population growth is one of the major causes of unemployment in India: When the number of people increases in a country much faster than the increase in employment opportunities, that situation may lead to unemployment. Since the pressure of population on agriculture/primary sector is already very high, the responsibility of creating new jobs is to be borne and shared by the secondary and tertiary sector.
Q 21 – Explain the term ‘poverty?
Ans. Poverty is a situation in which a person is unable to get minimum basic necessities of life, i.e. food, clothing and shelter for his or her sustenance. Such people are called as poverty-ridden or people living below poverty line.
When a larger section of the people in an economy is deprived of these basic necessities that economy is said to be in mass poverty. During 1999-2000, approximately 26 crore people in India were reported to be poverty-ridden.
Q 22 – Explain any four causes of poverty.
Ans. Four causes of poverty are-
- Unemployment-When With the increase in population, employment opportunities does not grow at the same rate, it results in poverty.
- Social factors-Social factors like illiteracy, ignorance; fatalism and joint family system have stopped from adopting modem ideas and techniques so that they could not increase their income.
- Underutilised natural resources-The resources have not been, fully utilised. The bulk of our resources are still lying unused.
- Backward agriculture-There is lack of basic facilities like water, fertiliser, pesticides etc. The productivity is low and Indian farmer remains poor.
Q 23 – Explain structural and cyclical unemployment. Give one example of each.
Ans. Structural unemployment-If in an economy, there is no capital or resources to provide employment to all the labour force that situation is referred to as structural unemployment. The nature of unemployment in India is partly structural. “India does not have sufficient capital to employ labourers working in agriculture.
Cyclical unemployment-When there is unemployment due to shortage of demand for %oods, it is referred to as cyclical unemployment. It generally occurs in capitalist countries.
Q 24 – Explain any two measures undertaken by government to alleviate poverty in rural India.
Ans. Programmes started by government to alleviate poverty in rural/ areas are as follows-
Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana-The objective of the programme is to help the existing poor families to come above the poverty line. It is actually a sponsored scheme and is in operation in all – the development blocks of the country since 1980. Under it families below poverty line are provided financial assistance.
The objectives of the programme is, to give employment, to those, men and women who do not get sufficient days of employment in rural areas. This programme aims at creation of community assets such as Social forestry/ soil conservation, minor irrigation projects, and renovation of village wells, rural roads, schools etc.
Q 25 – What are the methods to measure poverty line?
Ans. Methods to measure poverty line-
Q 26 – How did government table problems of poverty in foe initial stages of economic planning?
Ans. In the initial, stages of. economic of poverty from four dimensions, as given below-
- The government believed that efforts towards developing foe heavy industries and green revolution would create employment opportunities and incomes, which would lead to rapid economic development
- Several land reform measures such as abolition of zamindari system, security of tenant farmers against eviction, fixation of rents, ceilings on land holdings and distribution of surplus land etc.
- Small scale and cottage industries were encouraged.
- An attempt was made to reduce gap between rich and poor through income and wealth redistribution.
Q 27 – Explain social exclusion concept of poverty.
Ans. According to this concept, poverty must bee seen in terms of the poor having to -live only in a poor surrounding with other poor people, excluded from enjoying social equality of better-off people in better surroundings. Social exclusion can be both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in foe usual sense. Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that others enjoy.
Q 28 – What is vulnerability?
Or
Explain the concept of vulnerability.
Ans. Vulnerability to poverty is a measure which describes the greater probability of certain communities or individuals of becoming or remaining poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is determined by the finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities. Further, it is analysed on the basis of greater risks these groups face at the time of natural disasters. Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks.
Q 29 – How indebtedness of farmers is responsible for poverty?
Or
How indebtedness of fanners is both the cause and effect of poverty?
Ans. Small farmers need money to buy agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer, pesticides etc. Since poor people hardly have any savings, they borrow from money-lenders. Money-lenders give them loan at very high-interest rates. Therefore, they are unable to repay these’ loans because of poverty. They become victims, of indebtedness. So the high. level of indebtedness is both the cause and effect of poverty.
Q 30 – Examine the causes of poverty and explain any three measures adopted to remove poverty in India. R
Ans. Causes of poverty-
- Britishers adopted the policy to discourage traditional industries. This has left millions of weavers poor.
- Excessive dependency on agriculture has resulted in low level of income for the rural masses.
- Majority of the rural poor do not have enough land and machinery. They are mostly landless labourers and people without work.
- Social factors like illiteracy, large size of family, law of inheritance and caste system are also responsible for prevalence of poverty-ridden people.
Poverty alleviation programmes-
Swarnajayanti Grain Swarojgar Yojana-It is a centrally sponsored scheme which is in operation since 1980. It provides financial assistance to rural poor.
JawaharGram Samriddhi Yojana-Its objecüve is to generate employment for those men and women who do not get sufficient days of employment in rural areas.
Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana and Swarnajayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana- These schemes are aimed at the welfare of the educated unemployed in urban areas. It aims to provide self-employment to the educated unemployed in the age group of 18 to 35, particularly, in the urban areas. Employment Assurance Scheme and Pradhanmantri Gramodaya Yojana were launched in 1999 and 2000-01.