Question

why was india crippled with widespread poverty after independence? explain 5 points

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 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.

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The international poverty line is US$ 1.25 per day (PPP) and as per the World Bank report, 32.7% of the population in India lives below the poverty line whereas 68.7% survive on less than US$ 2 per day. 45% of children in India are malnourished. India has the worst infant mortality rate and it is even worse than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Although Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is showing an impressive growth over a period of time but because of poverty regional, economic and social disparity has increased to the manifold. These are few of the daunting and much talked about facts related to poverty in India.

The number of poor is 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.

But why despite all the efforts and schemes to eradicate poverty, India is still a poor country? Why does India continue to be poor after 66 years of independence?  Corruption, lack of education, distribution of wealth, population explosion, caste system, mentality, mismanagement are some of the widespread causes of poverty in India. For an example, India has the largest public food distribution system for the poor in the world. Yet 21% of adults and half of India’s children under five are malnourished. With inflation, the price of all the essential commodities such as fruits and vegetables is increasing that is also increasing the number of people relying on subsidized food. Because of prevalent corruption, the number of food grains recommended being subsidized never reaches the needy and poor completely.   According to an Asian Development Bank study, “A sustained 10% increase in domestic food prices could push an additional 64 million people, or almost 2% of Asia’s 3.3 billion people, below the poverty line of $1.25 a day”.