Causes of Poverty and Anti Poverty Measures Video Lecture - Class 9

as per our national estimates 26% of the
pop
in India lives in poverty applying the
World Bank standard this figure goes up
to around 35% these figures are quite
high considering the huge population of
India
this brings us to the question what are
the main causes of poverty in India
during the colonial rule
the British suppress local Indian
handicrafts and industries this led to a
low economic growth and spread poverty
in India
the slow economic growth in combination
with scarcity of jobs and population
explosion in India further worsened the
poverty situation
post-independence the Green Revolution
and the Industrial Revolution created
many job opportunities in India
however these were not enough to provide
employment to all job seekers thus
unemployment also contributed to poverty
in India
the people migrating from villages to
cities in search of better employment
usually got engaged in jobs of casual
labour people with such irregular
low-paying jobs could not afford a
decent living
and thus poverty spread to urban areas
too despite many government policies
like land reforms there is unequal
distribution of resources in our society
a small number of wealthy people have
control over large shares of resources
while a large number of people who have
fewer resources live in poverty poor
people often need to borrow money for
marriages and religious ceremonies
small farmers take loans to buy seeds
and fertilizers every cropping season
this debt is usually taken from
moneylenders at high rates of interest
and is a major reason for poverty in
rural areas
thus the main causes of poverty in India
are low economic growth during the
colonial rule
population explosion lack of job
opportunities irregular low-paying
employment inequitable distribution of
resources and indebtedness
anti-poverty measures taken by the
Indian government are based on two main
objectives
increasing economic growth in the
country and launching anti-poverty
programs for specific groups of people
economic growth provides more resources
and opportunities for human resource
development like education
training and healthcare all this results
in reduction of poverty this graph
clearly shows the link between the
increase in the growth rate of the
economy and the decrease in the poverty
ratio in India however economic growth
plays only a limited role in the
reduction of poverty
this is because the benefits of economic
growth do not reach the poor directly
as a result the growth in the
the cultural sector which employs the
largest number of people in India has
been much below expectation the
government of India has launched several
anti-poverty programs for specific
groups of people
let us learn more about some of them
aimed at reducing rural poverty
a lasting solution to poverty is to
enable the poor to become self-reliant
this is why several government schemes
like the Prime Minister rasgueardo
Jinnah Rural Employment Guarantee
program and Swarna Xanthi Graham Suarez
guru Gina
are aimed at generating self-employment
opportunities in rural areas
the Prime Minister rasgueardo Jinnah was
launched in 1993 to create
self-employment opportunities for
educated unemployed youths in rural
areas and small towns
this program assists such people in
setting up small industries and business
the Rural Employment Guarantee program
launched in 1995 also aims to generate
self-employment opportunities in rural
areas and small towns
the Swarna gently Graham Suarez Galliano
started in 1999 aims at organizing poor
families into self-help groups and
providing then bank loans and government
subsidies to start small businesses and
industries
the Antioquia Anaya Gina was started in
2000 to provide food grains to poor
families at subsidized rates
this scheme provides 35 kilograms of
wheat or rice per month to families
living below the poverty line through
the public distribution system
no food for work program was launched in
2004 in the 150 most backward districts
of the country
this program provides employment to all
unskilled people willing to do manual
labor in return for wages in the form of
food grains
the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act was passed in 2005 this Act provides
a short employment of hundred days per
year to every household in rural areas
one third of these jobs are reserved for
women a person not provided employment
within 15 days of registering under the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
he's entitled to a daily unemployment
allowance
the central and state governments have
set up national and state Employment
Guarantee funds for this purpose
though the anti-poverty programs have
benefited many
the overlapping of schemes and poor
monitoring and implementation have
prevented the benefits from reaching all
the deserving poor the traditional
definition associates poverty only with
the lack of income
food or clothing this definition is now
changing today social scientists talk of
human poverty that extends beyond the
traditional definition of poverty to
include lack of housing
education healthcare job security and
lack of equal opportunities or dignity
due to discrimination based on caste
color or gender providing minimum
necessary income is comparatively easy
however providing education health care
job security equal opportunities and
dignity for the poor are the major
challenges in the way of eradication of
human poverty
India's future in combating poverty
appears bright rising economic growth
falling population growth rate radical
schemes for free elementary education
for all and empowerment of women and the
weaker sections of society
should result in an appreciable
reduction of poverty in the years to
come