this is an informative slide on poverty in india and it's causes

1. Made by:
Nisarg Patel
Parthasarathi Khirwadkar
Swetang Finviya
Aarsh Agrawal
Samarth Parikh
Mihir Madhani
Rushan Mukherjee

2.  Poverty in India is widespread, with the nation estimated to have a third
of the world's poor. In 2011, World Bank stated, 32.7% (39,56,70,000)of the
total Indian people fall below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25
per day (PPP) while 68.7% live on less than US$ 2 per day while the
estimated in 2004 was to be 24 %.
 According to a new poverty Development Goals Report, as many as 320
million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme
poverty in the next four years, while India's poverty rate is projected to
drop to 22% in 2015.The report also indicates that in Southern
Asia, however, only India, where the poverty rate is projected to fall from
51% in 1990 to about 22% in 2015, is on track to cut poverty in half by the
2015 target date.
 The latest UNICEF data shows that one in three malnourished children
worldwide are found In India, whilst 42 percent of the nation's children
under five years of age are underweight. It also shows that a total of 58
percent of children under five surveyed were stunted. Rohini
Mukherjee, of the Naadi foundation-one of the NGO's that published the
report-stated India is "doing worse than sub-Saharan Africa,".
 The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report places India amongst the
three countries where the GHI between 1996 and 2011 went up from 22.9
to 23.7, while 78 out of the 81 developing countries studied, including
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Myanmar, Ugand
a, Zimbabwe and Malawi, succeeded in improving hunger condition.

4.  Tendulkar was a member of the Prime Minister's Economic
Advisory Council (PMEAC) from 2004 to 2008. Suresh
Tendulkar headed committee named as Suresh Tendulkar
Committee to look into the people living under poverty line
in India. Prof. Tendulkar's pioneering contribution was his
extensive work on poverty and estimation of people below
poverty line (BPL). A committee was formed by
government of India in 2009, with Tendulkar as Chairman
to 'report on methodology of estimation of poverty'. In
2009, this committee came out with a new method to
calculate poverty. According to this method, the number of
the poor in India in 2004–05 rose from 27.5 per cent of the
total population to 37.2 per cent. This report has also helped
strengthen the case for donating to the needy and giving In
past, poverty was estimated by looking at a limited view of
money required for stipulated minimum calorie intake by
individuals. But the Tendulkar committee moved to a wider
definition, including spending on food as well as
education, health, light(electricity), clothing and footwear.

5.  The main causes of urban poverty are predominantly due to
impoverishment of rural peasantry that forces them to move out
of villages to seek some subsistence living in the towns and cities.
In this process, they even lose the open space or habitat they had
in villages albeit without food and other basic amenities. When
they come to the cities, they get access to some food though other
sanitary facilities including clean water supply still elude them.
And they have to stay in the habitats that place them under sub-
human conditions. While a select few have standards of living
comparable to the richest in the world, the majority fails to get two
meals a day.

6.  The causes of rural poverty are manifold including inadequate
and ineffective implementation of anti-poverty programmes. The
overdependence on monsoon with non-availability of irrigational
facilities often result in crop-failure and low agricultural
productivity forcing farmers in the debt-traps. The rural
communities tend to spend large percentage of annual earnings on
social ceremonies like marriage; feast etc. Our economic
development since Independence has been lopsided .There has
been increase in unemployment creating poverty like situations
for many. Population is growing at an alarming rate. The size of
the Indian family is relatively bigger averaging at 4.2. The other
causes include dominance of caste system which forces the
individual to stick to the traditional and hereditary occupations.

8.  Rapidly rising population (The population
during the last 45 years has increased at the
rate of 2.2% per annum. On average 17 million
people are added every year to its population
which raises the demand for consumption
goods considerably.
 Low Productivity in Agriculture (The level of productivity
in agriculture is low due to subdivided and fragmented
holdings, lack of capital, use of traditional methods of
cultivation, illiteracy etc. This is the main cause of poverty in the country.
 Under Utilized Resources:
(The existence of under employment and disguised unemployment of human resources
and under utilization of resources has resulted in low production in agricultural sector.
This brought a down fall in their standard of living.)
 Low Rate of Economic Development (The rate of economic development in India has
been below the required level. Therefore, there persists a gap between level of
availability and requirements of goods and services. The net result is poverty.)

9.  Price Rise(The continuous and steep price rise has added to the
miseries of poor. It has benefited a few people in the society and
the persons in lower income group find it difficult to get their
minimum needs.)
 Unemployment (The continuously expanding army of
unemployed is another cause of poverty. The job seeker is
increasing in number at a higher rate than the expansion in
employment opportunities.)
 Shortage of Capital and Able Entrepreneurship (Capital and able
entrepreneurship have important role in accelerating the growth.
But these are in short supply making it difficult to increase
production significantly.)
 Social Factors (The social set up is still backward and is not
conducive to faster development. Laws of inheritance, caste
system, traditions and customs are putting hindrances in the way
of faster development and have aggravate" the problem of
poverty.)
 Political Factors (The Britishers started lopsided development in
India and reduced Indian economy to a colonial state. They
exploited the natural resources to suit their interests and weaken
the industrial base of Indian economy.
 In independent India, the development plans have been guided by
political interests. Hence, the planning a failure to tackle the
problems of poverty and unemployment.)

10.  Overpopulation in India is not just a myth but a crude fact to both the
nationals and the government. According to an estimation, around 53% of
the below 5 years Indian population is malnourished and 37% had no
access to safe drinking water. In Mumbai, about 15 million people are
compelled to reside at the sidewalks and more than 25% of Indian
populace falls under the poverty line. This scenario is good enough to
prove that overpopulation problems in this country have become
extremely concerning.
 Another survey revealed that India is one country that contributes largest
daily counts in the total world population which sums up to an increase
of 12 million people every year. Slums of India are simply over boarded
with countless children taking birth every day. People, who are unable to
arrange for two times’ foods on regular basis, do not refrain from giving
birth to babies. These street children simply grow up without adequate
food, facilities and education. Thus they contribute to the overwhelming
unemployment in India. It is almost impossible for the government to
award all the young people of India with a job and sufficient food.

11.  The biggest challenge facing India's policy makers is the persisting
high incidence of poverty.
 One of the reasons for the high incidence of poverty in India is its
backward agriculture,whose productivity per hectare and per
capita is amongst the lowest. The low per capita production is not
only due to huge population, but also due to low productivity,
which is only 64 percent of the world average.
 The productivity potential of Indian agriculture has been amply
demonstrated in Punjab, where it is nearly equal to those of
developed countries. If India attains the productivity level already
achieved in Punjab, the national income of India would be more
than double of what it is today. Taking into consideration the vast
untapped potential of Indian agriculture, the pool of unutilized
scientific knowledge and the eagerness of Indian farmers respond
to opportunities, neither Indian agriculture should remain
backward, nor our people should remain almost the poorest in the
world.

12.  Unemployment leads to financial crisis and reduces the overall
purchasing capacity of a nation. This in turn results in poverty
followed by increasing burden of debt. Now, poverty can be
described in several ways. As per the World Bank
definition, poverty implies a financial condition where people are
unable to maintain the minimum standard of living.
 In India, the problems of unemployment and poverty have always
been major obstacles to economic development.
Underemployment and unemployment have crippled the Indian
economy from time to time. Even during the period of good
harvest, the Indian farmers are not employed for the entire year.
Excessive population is another major problem as far as Indian
economy is concerned. Regional disparity is also crucial in this
context. A part of the urban workforce in India is subjected to sub-
employment. Mass migration from rural to urban regions is
adding to the problems of unemployment and poverty in India

13.  The government should become more accountable, carry out labour and land
reforms, ensure higher credit flow to rural India and improve education to bring down
poverty in India, according to a study carried out by London [ School of
Economics."India is growing at an unprecedented rate. But there are concerns. How
much of the benefits of growth are shared with the poor?" the study commissioned by
World Bank and Department of International Development said.
 "Given its large population, the pattern of poverty reduction in India will have a
significant bearing on whether the millennium development goal of halving global
poverty by 2015 is achieved," the study jointly carried out by Timothy Besley, Robin
Burgess and Berta Esteve-Volart, said.
 India has reduced its poverty level to less than 26 per cent but the number of people
below poverty line is still a staggering 260 million (26 crore).
 During the last 40 years, the study said economic growth was given more importance
than income distribution and inequality. Service sector growth was one of the important
source of poverty reduction, it added.
 The London School of Economics mooted a five point agenda to reduce poverty in India
- accountability of government, relaxation of labour laws, increasing access to bank
finance to rural poor, increasing literacy level and land reforms.
 Elaborating on the 5-point agenda, Besley said political economy must take centre stage
in efforts to reduce poverty and government needs to be more responsive to needs of
citizens.
 Deregulation of labour laws to make it more pro-employer has helped some of the states
to log higher economic growth and reduce urban poverty while those adopting pro-
worker policies witnessed higher unemployment, he said.