Exercises
1. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India?
2. Do you think that present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate?
3. Describe poverty trends in India since 1973?
4. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India?
5. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty
in India.
6. Give an account of interstate disparities of poverty in India.
7. Describe global poverty trends.
8. Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation?
9. Answer the following questions briefly
(i) What do you understand by human poverty?
(ii) Who are the poorest of the poor?
(iii) What are the main features of the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act 2005?
Answers
Answer1: A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfil the basic needs. ... In India, the poverty line is estimated by multiplying the prices of physical quantities like food, clothing, footwear, fuel, light, education, etc.
answer2:No, the present methodology of poverty estimation is in appropriate because it takes into account only the basic needs of food, clothing, fuel, etc. ... (a) The amount which is fixed as the poverty line does not include the margin for price fluctuations and price rise which is constantly occurring.
3:There was a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 55% in 1973 to 36% in 1993. (a) The proportion of people below poverty line further came down to about 26 % in 2000. (b) If the trend continues, people below poverty, line may come down to less than 20 % in the next few years.
4:Main Causes of Poverty in India
(i) Heavy pressure of population:
(ii) Unemployment and under employment:
(iii) Capital Deficiency:
(iv) Under-developed economy:
(v) Increase in Price:
(vi) Net National Income:
(vii) Rural Economy:
(viii) Lack of Skilled
5:Answer: (a) The social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households. (b) Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households
6:The success rate of reducing poverty ranges from state to state formulating inter-state inequalities in poverty level. Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the three poorest states in India with their people living below the poverty line being 47, 42 and 37 per cent respectively.
7:Global poverty trends
The number of people living in poverty as measured by the higher international poverty lines of $3.20 and $5.50 increased between 1990 and 1999, but has fallen since then. In 2015, over one-fifth of the global population lived below $3.20 and almost a half lived below $5.50 a day.
8:Answer. The current anti-poverty strategy of the government has a two-prolonged approaches i.e. promotion of economic growth and targeted anti-poverty programmes. Economic growth widens opportunities and provide resources needed to invest in human development.
9:(i)The human poverty is an idea that goes beyond the restricted view of poverty. It exists when people live under low standards. In this situation, people generally don't have adequate access to basic human needs (food, shelter, clean water, clothing, medication etc.).
(ii)Women, female infants and elderly are considered to the poorest of the poor. This is because, in a poor household, these people suffer the most and are deprived of the maximum necessities in life.
(iii)The main feature of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA) is as follow: It guarantees the 100 days of wage employment in the financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In this scheme, one-third of the proposed job will be reserved for women.