Question

"Poverty is a challenge for a country like India." Discuss statement with examples.

Answer 1

India dreams to develop into a superpower but a third of the world’s poor still lives here. India is one of the fastest developing economies in the world but also a home to the largest number of malnourished children. Majority of India lives in villages and at the same time rural India is facing the hardship of poverty much harder than urban India. Though India is growing economically but the growth of this kind is creating two much demarcated societies – one poor and another rich. Prevailing poverty and hunger continue to haunt the economic growth and making it further slow.

Number of poor are declining but only in few states such as Punjab, northern Haryana and Kerala and not in Bihar and Assam. Traditionally disadvantage sections of the society including schedule caste and schedule tribe, indigenous peoples and dalits are still poor in spite of many efforts.

Reasons why India is still a poor Country

Corruption

India, if not completely but is almost synonymous with the word corruption. Numerous scams in the recent years explain the saga of corruption. Almost all the government departments are affected from it. Corruption is regarded as one of the biggest reasons of poverty in India.

Corruption in the Public Distribution System (PDS) is the worst of its kind.  The leading source of corruption in India is entitlement programmes and social spending schemes that are meant for the welfare of our society.  For an example – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), a $9 billion program planned to offer 100 days of employment annually for the rural poor. But MNREGA failed because of corruption and mismanagement.  Just like MNREGA, the National Rural Livelihood Mission met the same fate. It was planned to empower.

Though government is putting efforts to have an “inclusive growth” but corruption is playing its role. So all such programs designed for poor and needy failed to impress and help them. Instead poor are even denied of their basic right and needs. Corruption is just like an endemic in India. It leads to social inequalities and hit economy of our nation. Funds granted to uplift the poor are misused. Poverty is further worsen by the administrative corruption. Even the simplest of the task is not performed without a bribe. Corruption also delays and diverts the economic growth.

As per the data compiled by Bloomberg, near about $14.5 billion in food was plundered by the corrupt politicians in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The loot resulted poor to survive without the required quantity of food and children to suffer from malnutrition. There are many other cases of administrative corruption further deterioration the situation and making poor poorer.

Economic policies

It is believed that economic reforms started in early 1990s are responsible for the fall down of rural economy in India. It also led to the agrarian crisis. Because of high debt, poor farmers are left with no other choice than to commit suicide. According to official statistics, number of farmers committing suicides has also increased since 1997. The new policies by the government encourage farmers to switch to cash crops in place of traditional crops. But this has led to a manifold increase in farm input cost which ultimate resulted in the economic burden and thus poverty. Also villages in India are not self sufficient like they used to be. The rural youth is mostly not well educated, lack skill and even not interested in farming. All these are enough for a disastrous and poor future. Government should come up with plans to make villages self-reliant. Skill based education must be provided to the youth.

Mismanagement and faulty development model

Much of the fund raised or allocated to the anti poverty schemes is consumed in administrative cost. So the entire chain that is formed to help the poor does not allow this to happen.

High population growth rate

Ever increasing population is not a direct cause of poverty but it is an effect. It is rightly said that excess of everything is bad. This is true in this case as well. More people mean the need of more resource, food etc. But if this surplus is trained in a right way then it can take part in the economic development of the country.

Lack of small scale sectors – Majority of economic policies and reforms are not friendly towards small scale industries. So these policies are making and creating bureaucrats but suppressing entrepreneurs.