Chapter 3
Poverty as a Challenge
Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and
essentials necessary for a minimum standard of living.
Poverty-stricken people and families might go without proper housing, clean water, healthy food,
and medical attention.
Every fifth person in India is poor. This means roughly 270 million people in India lived in poverty
during 2011-12.
Indicators of Poverty
Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter.
It is a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school or a situation where
sick people cannot afford treatment.
Poverty means a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.
Poverty means a lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level.
Poverty means living with a sense of helplessness.
Poor people are in a situation in which they are ill-treated at almost every place, including farms,
factories, government offices, hospitals, railway stations, etc.
One of the biggest challenges of independent India has been to bring millions of its people out of
poverty.
Mahatma Gandhi always insisted that India would be truly independent only when the poorest of
its people became free of human suffering.
Poverty as seen by Social Scientists
Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators:
1) Levels of income and consumption
2) Social indicators like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of
access to healthcare, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation etc.
Social Exclusion
According to this concept, poverty must be seen in terms of the poor having to live only in poor
surroundings with other poor people, excluded from enjoying social equality.
Social exclusion is both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in the usual sense.
Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits,
and opportunities that others enjoy.
A typical example is the working of the caste system in India, in which people belonging to certain
castes are excluded from equal opportunities.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability to poverty is a measure that describes the greater probability of certain communities
or individuals becoming or remaining poor in the coming years.
, Vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people
when a bad time comes for everybody.
This creates a probability of being more adversely affected.
Poverty Line in India
A minimum level of the following is required for survival:
Food
Clothing and footwear
Fuel and light
Education
Medical facilities
These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
The present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired
calorie requirement.
The calorie needs vary depending on age, sex, and the type of work that a person does.
The accepted average calorie requirement in India is:
2400 calories per person per day in rural areas
2100 calories per person per day in urban areas
Since people living in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work, calorie requirements
in rural areas are considered to be higher than in urban areas.
Based on these calculations for the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at:
816 rupees per month for rural areas
1000 rupees per month for urban areas
Despite less calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban areas has been fixed because of the
high prices of many essential products.
The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample
surveys.
These surveys are carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO).
The World Bank uses a uniform standard for the poverty line: $1.90 per person per day.
Poverty Estimates
There is a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India, from about 45 percent in 1993-94 to 37.2
percent in 2004-05. The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to about 22
percent in 2011-12.
If the trend continues, people below the poverty line may come down to less than 20 percent in the
next few years.
The number of poor people declined from 407 million in 2004-05 to 270 million in 2011-12 with an
average annual decline of 2.2 percent.
Poverty as a Challenge
Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and
essentials necessary for a minimum standard of living.
Poverty-stricken people and families might go without proper housing, clean water, healthy food,
and medical attention.
Every fifth person in India is poor. This means roughly 270 million people in India lived in poverty
during 2011-12.
Indicators of Poverty
Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter.
It is a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school or a situation where
sick people cannot afford treatment.
Poverty means a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.
Poverty means a lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level.
Poverty means living with a sense of helplessness.
Poor people are in a situation in which they are ill-treated at almost every place, including farms,
factories, government offices, hospitals, railway stations, etc.
One of the biggest challenges of independent India has been to bring millions of its people out of
poverty.
Mahatma Gandhi always insisted that India would be truly independent only when the poorest of
its people became free of human suffering.
Poverty as seen by Social Scientists
Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators:
1) Levels of income and consumption
2) Social indicators like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of
access to healthcare, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation etc.
Social Exclusion
According to this concept, poverty must be seen in terms of the poor having to live only in poor
surroundings with other poor people, excluded from enjoying social equality.
Social exclusion is both a cause as well as a consequence of poverty in the usual sense.
Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits,
and opportunities that others enjoy.
A typical example is the working of the caste system in India, in which people belonging to certain
castes are excluded from equal opportunities.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability to poverty is a measure that describes the greater probability of certain communities
or individuals becoming or remaining poor in the coming years.
, Vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people
when a bad time comes for everybody.
This creates a probability of being more adversely affected.
Poverty Line in India
A minimum level of the following is required for survival:
Food
Clothing and footwear
Fuel and light
Education
Medical facilities
These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
The present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based on the desired
calorie requirement.
The calorie needs vary depending on age, sex, and the type of work that a person does.
The accepted average calorie requirement in India is:
2400 calories per person per day in rural areas
2100 calories per person per day in urban areas
Since people living in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work, calorie requirements
in rural areas are considered to be higher than in urban areas.
Based on these calculations for the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at:
816 rupees per month for rural areas
1000 rupees per month for urban areas
Despite less calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban areas has been fixed because of the
high prices of many essential products.
The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample
surveys.
These surveys are carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO).
The World Bank uses a uniform standard for the poverty line: $1.90 per person per day.
Poverty Estimates
There is a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India, from about 45 percent in 1993-94 to 37.2
percent in 2004-05. The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to about 22
percent in 2011-12.
If the trend continues, people below the poverty line may come down to less than 20 percent in the
next few years.
The number of poor people declined from 407 million in 2004-05 to 270 million in 2011-12 with an
average annual decline of 2.2 percent.
