We in this article have penned down the short and detailed notes of class 9th economics chapter 3 poverty as a challenge along with the ncert solutions to help students to prepare for their examinations. Students would be able to get a clear idea as to how to write answers and get their concepts clear. In this lesson, Poverty As A Challenge we will study the challenges and problems faced by our country, and one of the most important to tackle is poverty.
We will discuss the problems attached with it, the trends in India and the world are illustrated by the diagrams and graphs. We will also study the causes of poverty and anti-poverty measures to tackle this problem.
Introduction
We in our daily life have already heard about the word poverty and seen it all around us. Poverty can be seen where laborers live in slums or jhuggis, daily wage earners, or child workers in dhabbas or tea stalls. According to facts, in India, we have every fourth person as poor.
Two Typical Cases of Poverty
Poverty is defined as hunger and lack of shelter, lack of clean water and sanitation, lack of proper facilities to dwell, lack of job security. It is considered one of the most important and biggest challenges from which India is suffering. Post-independence we are still craving to be independent of poverty and its challenges.
Poverty as seen by social scientists
According to social scientists, poverty can be observed through a variety of indicators, like levels of income and consumption. But, now the way of looking and observation has changed, now we consider illiteracy level, lack of access to health care, lack of sanitation, lack of shelter, etc.
Poverty Line
The poverty line is a method to measure poverty through indicators like consumption or income levels. It varies according to time and place. It is also determined through a minimum level of consumption, food requirement, clothing, fuel, and light. These are then measured in monetary terms.
In India poverty is calculated based on the desired calorie requirement. The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas. Based on these calculations, for the year 2011–12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs 816 per month for rural areas and Rs 1000 for urban areas. The Poverty Line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).
Poverty Estimates
In India, there is a substantial decline in poverty ratios 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.
Worst affected groups from poverty:
Vulnerable Groups, Scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes, Agricultural labor households, Urban casual laborers.
Inter-State Disparities
In India, the proportion is not at all the same for e.gBihar and Odisha continued to remain the poorest state wherein urban poverty can be seen in Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, etc.
Punjab and Haryana have succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of the green revolution.
Kerala has also succeeded in reducing the poverty graph by focussing more on human resource development.
In West Bengal, through land reforms, there can be seen a decline in poverty.
In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, PDS has been able to work properly and proper food grains distribution has helped to reduce poverty.
Global Poverty Scenario
In China and Southeast Asian countries, poverty declined substantially as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource development. In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty declined from 51 percent in 2005 to 41 percent in 2015. In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has declined from 10 percent in 2005 to 4 percent in 2015.
Causes of Poverty
There are various reasons for widespread poverty in India.
Under colonization, India had a low level of economic progress and with new policies, the British government ruined our handicrafts and small-scale industries. Population explosion and low rate of growth worsened the situation and at that time India had very low capital income.
With the advent of modern farming methods and the introduction of the green revolution, job opportunities were created in the market especially in the agriculture sector. Another cause of poverty in India is income inequalities. This is the basic reason and unequal distribution of land and other resources has made the situation helpless.
Small farmers needed money to buy farm inputs and for other purposes so, they used to borrow money from landlords or moneylenders and are unable to repay even the principal amount.
Anti-Poverty Measures
The current anti-poverty scheme is divided into two parts.
1. Promotion of economic growth
2. Targeted anti-poverty programs
India’s economic growth has been the fastest in the world and there is a link between economic growth and reduction of poverty.
1.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 – it is aimed to provide 100 days wage employment to every household to ensure security. One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for women.
2. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana(PMRY)– It was started in 1993, to create self-employment opportunities for the uneducated youth of our country in the urban or rural sector.
3. Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) – it was started in 1995 to create self-employment opportunities in rural areas.
4. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched- it was started in 1999 to provide help through self-help groups by using bank credit etc.
5. The Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) – was started in 2000 to provide additional assistance to poor families by providing them with shelter, water, sanitation, and electrification.
The Challenges Ahead
Poverty has certainly declined in India, but it remains India’s most compelling challenge. Poverty reduction is expected to make better progress in the next ten to fifteen years. This can be achieved by higher economic growth, increasing stress on universal free elementary education, declining population growth, increasing empowerment of the women and the economically weaker sections of society.
NCERT Solutions For Class 9th Economics Chapter 3: Poverty As A Challenge
Q1. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India?
A common method used is based on income or consumption levels. The minimum level is considered very important to fulfill basic needs. While determining the minimum level, food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel, etc are determined for subsistence level. These are then measured in monetary terms. These are then multiplied by their rupees.
Q2. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India?
Causes of poverty in India:
1. Low level of economic development under colonial rule.
2. Fewer job opportunities and low growth rate of income.
3. Income inequalities.
4. Unequal distribution of land
5. Inefficient policies and their implementation.
Q3. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India?
Social groups, which are most vulnerable to poverty, are scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households.
Among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labor households and urban casual labor households.
Q4.Describe the current government strategy of poverty alleviation?
The current anti-poverty strategy of the government is based broadly on two planks
(1) promotion of economic growth
(2) targeted anti-poverty programs.
Q5. What do you understand about human poverty?
When a large number of the population are unable to fulfill their basic needs and as they do not have basic education or shelter or medical care. They are not free from caste discrimination or gender discrimination. Child labor is still common practice followed in India.
Q6. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India?
A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfill basic needs.
Q7. Who are the poorest of the poor?
Elderly people are basically retired or do not work, Female infants, Old people.
Q8. What are the main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005?
National Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 – it is aimed to provide 100 days wage employment to every household to ensure security. One-third of the proposed jobs have been reserved for women. The central government will also establish National Employment Guarantee Funds. Similarly, state governments will establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for the implementation of the scheme.
Conclusion
We have provided you with a summary of the lesson Poverty as a challenge along with the ncert solutions to help the students to prepare for their examinations and get the gist of the concepts.
