POVERTY

I. Choose the correct answer. (Each question carries one mark)

1.Poverty Line separates
Poor and non-poor b) Rich and non-rich
c) Poor and Weak d) None of the above.
2.In per-independent India, he was the first to discuss the concept of poverty line.
Dadabhai Naoraji b) Gopala krishna Gokhale
c) Vinobha bave d) Vinoda Bai
3.Some are rich most of the time but may sometime have a patch of bad luck. they are called
Occasionally Poor b) Usually Poor
c) Always Poor d) None of the above
4.The act provides guaranteed wage employment to every poor household for
minimum of 100 days in a year is called.
PMRY b) SJSRY
c) MGNREGAd) SGSY
II. Fill in the blanks. (Each question carries four marks)
1.The causes of poverty lie in the institutional and factors that mark the life of the poor.
2.Most poverty alleviation programmes implemented are based on the perspective of the
3. _____ impoverished millions of people in India.
4.Economists identify the poor on the basis of their occupation and
III. Answer the following question in a word /sentence each. (Each question
carries one mark)
1.Give the meaning of poverty.
Poverty refers to a state in which an individual is unable to fulfill even the basic necessities
of life.
2.Why the poor are physically weak?
Malnutrition, ill health, disability makes the poor physically weak.
3.Who are the churning poor?
The group of people who regularly move in and out of poverty are called churning poor.
4.Define poverty line as per planning commission.
According to Planning commission “Povery line is measured on the basis of minimum
nutritional calories required for rural and urban population. It is estimated that a person is
said to be poor if he is unable to consume 2400 calories per day in rural areas and 2100
calories in urban areas.
5.What is ‘Head count Ratio’?
When the number of poor is estimated as the proportion of people below poverty line, it is
called ‘Head Count Ratio’
6.What programme has the government adopted to help the elderly people and poor and
destitute women?
National Social Assistance Programme.
7.Suppose you are from a poor family and you wish to get help from the government to set
up a petty shop under which scheme will you apply for assistance?
Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana and Swarnajayanthi Shahri Rozgar Yojana

IV ANSWERTHE FOLLOWING (2 MARKS)

1. Poverty has many dimensions. How it has to be looked at ?
Ans: Poverty can be looked at through three dimensions
Growth oriented approach is based on the expectation that the effects of economic growth
would rapidly increase the gross domestic product and per capita income. This would reach
all sections of the society and for the betterment of the poor sections.
ii. In the Third Five Year Plan, the second approach has been initiated with a notable
programme was the Food for work.
iii. Third approach is to provide minimum basic amenities to the people. Through this
approach, programmes have supplemented the consumption of the poor, generation of
employment opportunities and improvement of health and education.

2. List the features of poor households.

The features of poor households are
1. Starvation and hunger
2. They live in slums and some sleep in public places.
3. They are landless labourers in villages.
4. They do not get even two meals a day.
5. They lack basic literacy and skills.
6. They have limited economic oppurtunities.

3. Who are urban poor? Give examples.

Urban poor are those who live in cities and towns without basic needs.
Example – pushcart vendors, street cobblers, Women who string flowers, rag pickers,
vendors, beggars.

4. Who are the rural poor ? Give examples.

Rural poor are those people who live in villages without basic needs.
Example – landless labourers
Labourers who have some land but not cultivable.
People who do not get even two meals a day.
People who borrow money from money lenders or landlords and are unable to repay.

5. What are the social factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty ?
The social factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty are as follows
1. Illiteracy
2. Ill health
3. Lack of access to resources
4. Lack of civil and political freedom.

6. Name the states where the poverty level is far above the national poverty level.
The states where poverty level is far above the national poverty level are
Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

7. Name the states where poverty level is lower than the national poverty level.
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu

8. How can creation of income earning assets address the problem of poverty ?
If poor people are provided with high income earning assets, they can be assured of
minimum income. It would help them in coming above the poverty line.
9. Name the self-employment generation programmes of the government for the poor.
1. Rural Employment Generation Programme
2. Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
3.Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana.
10. Why are employment generation programmes important in poverty alleviation in
India ?
The employment generation programmes are important in poverty alleviation in India
because of the following reasons.
1. Under this programme, people can get financial assistance to set up small industries.
2. The educated unemployed from low income families get financial help to set up small
enterprises.
3. They create both self employment and wage employment in urban areas.
11. List the programmes that aims at improving the food and nutritional status of the
poor
The programmes that aims at improving the food and nutritional status of India are
1. Public Distribution System.
2.Integrated Child Development scheme
3. Mid-Day meals scheme.
12 List the factors that prevent the successful implementation of poverty alleviation
programmes
The factors that prevent the successful implementation of poverty alleviation programmes
are.
1. The benefits of poverty alleviation programmes have been taken by the non-poor.
2. The resources allocated for poverty alleviation programmes are not sufficient.
3.These programmes depend mainly on Government and Bank officials for their
implementation. These are ill motivated, inadequately trained and highly corrupted
4. The resources are inefficiently used and wasted.
5. There is also non-participation of local level institutions in programme implementation.

I. Answer the following question in twelve sentences each. (Each question

carries four marks)
1.Write the chart of poverty line and give the meaning of chronic poor, Transient
poor and non-poor.
Diagram
Chronic poor :- These are persons who always remain poor for a long period of time. For
example casual workers, agricultural labourers, rag pickers, beggars etc.
Transient Poor : Transient poor may be classified as churning poor (who regularly move in &
out of poverty, like small farmer) & occasionally poor (who are rich most of the time & poor
sometimes)
Non-poor:- They are never poor and always live above the poverty line.
2.What do you mean by Growth oriented approach to poverty reduction? Why it is
not successful in India.
Growth oriented approach means expecting that growth in GDP and Per capita income will
benefit all the sections of the society including the poor.
The growth oriented approach to reduce poverty was not successful in India because of the
following reasons
1. It felt that rapid industrialization and green revolution would benefit the
underdeveloped regions and the backward sections of the community. But, in
reality the overall growth of agriculture and industry was not satisfactory.
2. Population growth led to very low growth of per capita income
 3. The gap between the poor and the rich was widened.
4. The green revolution increased regional disparity and the difference between the
large and the small farmers.
5. There was unwillingness to redistribute land.
6. Economists say that the benefits of economic growth have not reached the poor.

3. Explain the employment generation programmes of poverty alleviation in India.

The income and employment generation programmes were started during the third five year
plan.
There were certain specific poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes
initiated by the government. They are
a. Self employment programmes.
1.Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) : This programme aims at providing
financial assistance to self help groups which decides whom to give loan for self employment
2. Swarnajayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) : It aims at creating employment
opportunities in urban areas.
3. Pradhana Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) : The educated umemployed from low income
families in rural and urban areas can get financial help to set up any kind of enterprise that
generates employment under this scheme.
b. Wage employment programmes.
The major national programmes to generate wage employment are as follows.
1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. : It provides
guaranteed wage employment to every household whose adult volunteer will get unskilled
labour for a minimum of 100 days in a year.
3.Explain the programmes that provides minimum basic amenities to the people to
reduce the poverty in India.
There are various programmes that provide minimum basic amenities to the people to
reduce the poverty in India. These programmes aim to tackle poverty by providing minimum
basic facilities to the poor people. The government is trying to provide social consumption
needs like foodgrains, education, health, sanitation, water, electricity at subsidized rates to
improve the standard of living of the poor.
The major programmes to improve the food and nutritional status of the poor are
1.Public Distribution System (PDS)
2. Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)
3. Mid Day Meals Scheme.
The programmes in development of housing and infrastructure are
1.Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
2. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana
3.Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana.
4.Critically asses the poverty alleviation programmes of the government.
Efforts at poverty alleviation have succeeded to some extent, the percentage of absolute
poor in some states is now well below the national average. Despite various strategies to
alleviate poverty, hunger, malnourishment, illiteracy and lack of basic amenities continue to
be a common feature in many parts of India.
Though the policy towards poverty alleviation has evolved in a progressive manner, over the
last five and a half decades, it has not undergone any radical transformation..
– None of the programmes resulted in any radical change in the ownership of assets,
process of production and improvement of basic amenities to the needy.
Three major areas of concern which prevent their successful implementation.
1. Due to unequal distribution of land and other assets, the benefits from direct poverty
alleviation programmes have been appropriated by the non-poor.
2. Compared to the magnitude of poverty, the amount of resources allocated for these
programmes is not sufficient.
3. These programmes depend mainly on government and bank officials for their
implementation.
Since such officials are ill motivated, inadequately trained, highly corrupted. There is also
non-participation of local level institutions in programme implementation.

Government policies have also failed to address the vast majority of vulnerable people who
are living on or just above the poverty line. Without the active participation of the poor,
successful implementation of any programme is not possible.

Poverty can effectively be eradicated only when the poor start contributing to growth by their
active involvement in the growth process. This will also help create employment
opportunities which may lead to increase in levels of income, skill development, health and
literacy. Moreover, it is necessary to identify poverty stricken areas and provide infrastructure
such as schools, roads, power, telecom, IT services, training institutions etc.

Answer the following question in twenty sentences each. (Each question carries six
marks)
1. Explain the causes of poverty.
Underdevelopment of the Indian economy:- the root cause of poverty is the under
development of the Indian economy. The underdevelopment is manifested by the relative
backwardness of agriculture & industrial sector.
Widespread infrastructural bottle necks are presented & as a result of slow pace of
development nearly 20% of the population is still living below the poverty line. Population
explosion:-Rapid growth of population, particularly among the poor, is responsible for the
problem of poverty in the country.
High level of un-employment:- poverty is caused by unemployment or unemployment
coupled with a low rates of wages. More than six decades economic planning has failed to
generate adequate employment opportunities in the industrial & service sector &
employment is stagnant sector. Employment & unemployment have resulted in low levels of
income & a large share of population lies below the minimum subsistence levels.
Inequalities of income:- (an important cause of poverty in India is the existence of large
inequalities in distribution of national income & concentration of economic power, both in
rural & urban sectors of the economics) efforts to reduce inequalities have been ineffective.
The benefits of growth have been appropriates by the rich section & have not reached the
poorest of the poor. So the rich become richer as their income rise & assets expanded.
Social factors:- Joint family system, laws of inheritance, strong belief in destiny & fate are
some social factors that have presented individuals from taking initiative & risk. In short
narrows & pessimist attitude is responsible for inertia, lack of imitative & dynamism. People
believe that their present state is due to their destiny & it keeps the individual in a vicious
circle of poverty.
Political factors:-Before Independence, India was exploited under the British rule. After
Independence other political factors have adversely affected economic progress. Economic
policies are formulated to promote the interest of the richer section of the society & poor
people are suffers in the process.
Inflation:- The steep & continuous rise in price, particularly of essential commodities has
added to the miseries of the poor.
High illiteracy rate:-lower education result in lower income as there is a positive correlation
between the two. Poor state of agriculture:-Labour & land productivity continue to be low in
India. Consequently, most of the farmers live in a state of poverty.
Underutilization of resource:-Due to the un exploitation natural resources of the country,
poverty spreads throughout the country.

2. Explain briefly the three dimensional programmes adopted by the government

to eradicate the poverty in India.
The government’s approach to poverty reduction was of three dimensions.
I.Growth Oriented approach : It is based on theexpectation that the effects of economic
growth. — rapid increase in gross domestic product and per capita income — would spread
to all sections of society and improve the standard of living of the poor people also.
II. Income and employment generation approach : This approach is based on specific
poverty alleviation and employment generation aspects. The major self-employment
programmes are
1. Prime minister’s Rozgar Yojana(PMRY) :- This program aims at creating
selfemployment opportunities in rural areas & small towns. Under this program, educated
unemployed from low-income families in rural & urban areas can get financial assistance in
the form of bank lo Ans., to set up any kind of enterprise that generates employment.
2. Swarna Jayanthi Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY):- SJRY mainly aims at creating
employment opportunities for both selfemployment & wage-employment in urban areas.
3. Swarna Jayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY):- It aims at promoting micro
enterprises & to bring the assisted poor families (Swarozagaris) above the poverty line, by
organizing them into Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Under this programme, people who wish to
benefit from this scheme are encouraged to form self-help groups (SHG).
4. Wage employment programmes :
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP)
III.Providing minimum basic amenities to the people approach
This approach aims to tackle poverty by providing minimum basic facilities to the poor
people. The major programmes to improve the food and nutritional status of the poor are
a. Public Distribution System
b. Integrated Child development Scheme
c. Mid Day meals Scheme
The programmes introduced to provide basic infrastructure in rural areas are
a. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Construction of road in every village)
b. Indira Awas Yojana ( rural housing schme for the poor)
c. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana ( housing scheme for urban poor of slum areas)
d. Basava Vasathi Yojana (in Karnataka)

Project Oriented Question (Five Marks)

Suppose you are a resident of a village, suggest a few measures to tackle the problem
of poverty.