Question

Essay on Role of government to alleviate poverty

Answer 1

Explanation:

Firstly, governments play a key role in helping facilitate private sector involvement in poverty alleviation by ensuring that public infrastructure such as roads and transport systems, communication systems, electricity, water and sanitation systems are established and maintained.For tackling the problem of poverty and unemployment, the first requirement is to put a stern check on the rate of growth of population along with the illegal influx of population from the neighbouring countries.

Explosion of population indirectly has put a great strain on India’s economy and, in turn, hit all programmes of alleviating poverty. The increased population devours all the resources and benefits of economic and social developments. To solve the poverty problems, some measures as discussed below are suggested.

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India is said to be an agricultural economy though it is now no more fully true, yet about 70 per cent of India’s population still live in rural areas. The major portion of this population is poor. It requires rapid land reforms meaning a ceiling on landholdings and distribution of excess land among the landless.

The holding must at least be of a size that a family cultivating it to normal standards is able to maintain itself on the yield. Even today, the large majority of holdings in the country are below such a size, which is largely the cause of the poverty and underemployment in rural areas. Any realistic land policy will help in achieving the twin objectives of alleviating poverty by creating employment and increase in production.

Providing the basic amenities in rural areas such as roads, drinking water, schools, medical help, credit supply (banks) and marketing facilities and so on is must. All these will create employment opportunities in rural areas and shall help in reducing poverty.

There will be an indirect benefit also. It will decrease the drift of people from rural to urban areas. After independence governments (central and state both) have launched many schemes and programmes for the overall development of the country.

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The important measures adopted for the removal of poverty are as under:

i. Five-Year Plans:

The First Five-Year Plan was launched in April 1951. Since then eleven plans have been formulated and implemented. The central objective of all the plans was to raise the living standards of people and to open out to them opportunities for a richer and more varied life. The social objectives are to reduce inequalities of income and wealth on the one hand and the welfare of the community on the other.

ii. Policy of Nationalization:

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To achieve the ‘socialistic pattern of society, one of the objectives of economic policy, the government adopted the policy of nationalization. As a result, many banks were nationalized in 1969. Following this policy, the coal mines were also nationalized in 1972. Later on, this policy was adopted in many other fields also.

iii. 20-Point Programme:

In consonance with her slogan of Garibi Hatao (1971), Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, launched 20-point programme of development. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP): It was a programme of poverty alleviation launched in March 1976. Its main objective was to enable selected families to cross the poverty line.

iv. Antyodaya Yojana:

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This programme was initially launched by the then Government of Rajasthan on 2nd October 1977 and later on the govern­ments of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh also followed this model of development in 1980. The main plank of this programme is to develop the poorest of the poor. Antyodaya means development (udaya) of the people who is at the bottom level (ant) of the ladder.

v. Training Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM):

It is a scheme started in August 1979 to provide technical skills to the rural youth living below poverty line, in the age group of 18-25, to enable them to seek employment in fields of agriculture, industry, services and business activ­ities.

Answer 2

The role of the government to alleviate poverty is:

• Agriculture growth:

Agriculture has the main vital role in reducing the criteria of poverty. Poverty and agriculture are oppositely connected. If agricultural growth will increase then the poverty ratio would decrease.

• Development of infrastructure:

The ratio of employment has increased through the development of infrastructure as many people are getting hired. Infrastructure includes the construction of highways, roads, buildings, ports, and irrigation, which increases labor.

• Human resource development:

Poverty has also been reduced by human resource development because HRD demands a superior investment, especially in educational areas like schools, colleges, and technical institutions.