2316 Socilogy

Socio economic dimensions of poverty
“Socio economic dimensions of poverty”

Submitted By:
ANUJ RAJ
B.A.L.L.B (Hons) 2316
Submitted to:
Dr. Shakil Ahmad
Assistant professor of sociology
The final draft is submitted for the partial fulfilment of the
(B.A.L.L.B) Course in sociology
Date 02/02/2021
Date 02/02/2021
Chanakya national law university
1
Table contents
Declaration by the candidate ……………………………………………………………….…3
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………….………………….……4
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………....5
Aims and objective………………………………………………………………………….....6
Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………..........................6
Limitations………………………………………………………………………………...…..6
Research Methodology………………………………………………………………………...6
Socio economic dimensions of poverty……………………………………………….…..…..7
Poverty India..............................................................................................................................7
Causes of poverty……………………………………………………………...……………....8
Economical causes...................................................................................................................12
Types of poverty.......................................................................................................................13
Impact of poverty.....................................................................................................................15
Social impact of poverty…………………………………………………………………..…17
Impact of covid -19 on poverty..............................................................................................18
Measure to reduce poverty.......................................................................................................19
Flaws of the anti-poverty programmes.....................................................................................27
Critical analysis……………………………………………………………………….......…27
Conclusion ……………………………………………………….....................................….27
Bibliography…………………………………………….....................................................…28
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Declaration by the candidate
I, hereby, declare that the work reported in the L.L.B (Hons.) Project Report
titled “Socio economic dimensions of poverty” submitted at CHANAKYA
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA is an authentic record of my work carried
out under the supervision of Dr. Shakil Ahamad, Assistant Professor of
sociology. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree or
diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.
(Signature of the Candidate)
ANUJ RAJ
ROLL NO 2316
B.A.L.L.B 1ST YEAR
CNLU PATNA
3
Acknowledgement
I would like to show my gratitude towards my guide, Dr. Shakil

ahamad,Assistant Professor of Sociology under whose guidance, I structured
my project. I owe the present accomplishment of my project to everyone, who
helped me immensely with materials throughout the project and without
whom I couldn’t have completed it in the present way. I would also like to
extend my gratitude to my friends and all those unseen hands that helped me
out at every stage of my project
THANK YOU,
ANUJ RAJ
ROLL NO 2316
B.A.L.L.B 1ST YEAR
CNLU PATNA
4
Introduction
Poverty in India has been defined as that situation in which an individual
fails to earn income sufficient to buy minimum means of subsistence like:
• A reasonable satisfactory level of nutritional diet.
• Minimum required clothing, housing, and furniture.
• Minimum level of health facilities, clean water, and education.
Poverty is general scarcity or death, or the state of one who lacks a certain
amount of material possessions or money. It is a multifaceted concept, which
includes social, economic political elements. Poverty seems to be chronic or
temporary, and most of the time it is closely related to inequality. As a dynamic
concept, poverty is changing and adapting according to consumption patterns,
social dynamics and technological change. Absolute poverty or destitution
refers to the deprivation of basic human needs which commonly includes food,
water, sanitation, clothing, shelter and health care. Relative poverty is defined
contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people
live.1
Economic aspects of poverty focus on material needs, typically including the

necessities of daily living, such as food, clothing, shelter, or safe drinking water.
Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or
community is lacking in the basic needs for a minimum standard of well-being
and life, particularly as a result of a persistent lack of income2
1
Def. by NCERT
2
https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602
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Aims and objective
 Know the social impact of poverty

 Know the economical impact of poverty
 Causes of poverty
 Methods which helps poverty from India
Hypothesis
 Poverty is not God created phenomenon , it is created by humans

 Poverty can be eradicate with the help of government policy
 Poverty impacts on the social ( respect, life with dignity) and economical (health
,education facilities )
Limitations
The researcher has a limited time to prepare this project report. Having less
time, it is very difficult to make it more comprehensive. The researcher for
gathering the information and reviews have to go through various videos and
documentary. This was a horrible experience when it took hours for the video to
buffer and play on YouTube.
For The researcher , it is very difficult to gather the information about the
policy which is run by the government
Research methodology
The researcher has chosen to do doctrinal type of research. While doing this
project, he consulted various government notifications, schemes, news reports
and case study of various cities. The researcher, after reading the materials
available, prepared a comparative chart. This helped in understanding the
problems existing and brings out the solution for the problem existing in India.
The researcher went through various documentaries and government policy in

order to understand the method of the government in making poverty free India.
This made the researcher to better understand the flaws and problem with the
method. It also helped to point out the effectiveness of the method.
6
Background
Histories of the poverty line begin with the 'line of poverty' Charles Booth said he
used, in the late 1880s, to divide the people of London into those 'in poverty' and
those 'in comfort'. The poverty lines adopted by school boards, to determine criteria
of eligibility for the remission of school fees under the provisions of the 1870
Elementary Education Act, have been forgotten. Yet there are good reasons to
suppose that the London School Board's confidential and now rediscovered criteria
were used by Booth to define his own 'line of poverty'. This revision of the history
of the poverty line throws new light on the development of a fundamental concept
in the social sciences, and on the measurement of poverty in the nineteenth century.
In India
The 19th century and early 20th century saw increasing poverty in India during
the colonial era. Over this period, the colonial government de-industrialized
India by reducing garments and other finished products manufactured by
artisans in India3. Instead, they imported these products from Britain's
expanding industry due to the many industrial innovations of the 19th century.
Additionally, the government simultaneously encouraged the conversion of
more land into farms and more agricultural exports from India. Eastern regions
of India along the Ganges river plains, such as those now known as
eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal, were dedicated to
producing poppy and opium. These items were then exported to southeast and
east Asia, particularly China. The East India Company initially held an
exclusive monopoly over these exports, and the colonial British institutions later
did so as well. The economic importance of this shift from industry to
agriculture in India was large by 1850, it created nearly 1,000 square kilometres
of poppy farms India's fertile Ganges plains
3
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview
7
Facts of poverty in India
According to the release from the Planning Commission, 25.7% of people in

rural areas were below the so-called poverty line and 13.7% in urban areas. This
is comparable with 33.8% and 20.9%, respectively, in 2009-10, and 42% and
25.5%, respectively, in 2004-054. The poverty numbers are estimated on the
basis of consumption expenditure captured in the five- year surveysundertakeby
the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).5
causes of poverty
The causes of poverty in India are nothing short of complex but a lot of progress
has been made to tackle them. So, this article will focus more specifically
what’s
been done to alleviate poverty so far and what is still holding things back.
The economic reforms of 1991, despite spurring a huge growth of the economy,
have left the country with terrible inequalities, within cities as well as between
urban and rural areas. They were the best opportunity to seriously tackle the
causes
of poverty in India and more specifically rural poverty. With two thirds of the
population living in rural areas and some 500 million poor (or more), even
urban
poverty stems from the rural migrations to the city.
1. Rapidly Rising Population:

The population during the last 45 years has increased at the rate of 2.2% per
4
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/what-is-poverty-and-its-types-1523453034-1
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SURVEY OF GOVERNMENT Of India
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annum. On average 17 million people are added every year to its population
which
raises the demand for consumption goods considerably.
2. 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 counter .
.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5.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.
6. 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.
7. Shortage of Capital and 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.
8.Social Factors:
9
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.
9. 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. Education
According to UNESCO, if all students in low-income countries had just basic
reading skills (nothing else), an estimated 171 million people could escape
extreme poverty.
10
Poverty on the basis of caste
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the

Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)’s global
multidimensional poverty index (MPI), 2018, every second person belonging
to the Scheduled Tribes and every third person belonging to the Scheduled
Castes remains poor. Similarly, every third Muslim is multi-dimensionally
poor as are two in five children under the age of 10.
The report found that 50 per cent of all tribal’s in the country are poor as are
33 per cent of Dalits and 33 per cent of Muslims. Overall, the report shows
India still has the largest number of people living in multidimensional poverty
in the world at 364 million or around 27 per cent of the country’s population. Of
this, as many as 34.5 per cent are children. Moreover, 8.6 per cent of the
country’s population lives in “severe poverty”, as per the report.6
Not surprisingly, poverty levels are highest among SCs and STs. More than half
of the SC population belongs to the poorest two quintiles (based on
consumption expenditure data). The figure for STs is similar, as the chart below
shows. Roughly 40% of OBCs and 20% of upper caste Hindus are in the
poorest two quintiles, NSSO consumption expenditure data shows.
6
Survey done by the newspaper THE PRINT
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ECONOMICAL CAUSES
Unequal Distribution of Wealth
Distribution of personal income reveal the existence of concentration of

economic power in both the urban and rural areas in the country. This is
reflected in the prevalence of a wide range of variation between the income of
the top and the bottom levels of the population. According to the estimate of the
Reserve Bank of India from 1953- 54 to 1956-57, in the rural areas7, the top five
per cent of the population had seventeen per cent of the aggregate income while
the bottom twenty per cent 59 had only about nine per cent of the income.
Moreover, in the urban areas, the Rural and Urban Poverty top five per cent of
the population had twenty six per cent of the aggregate income but the bottom
twenty per cent had only seven per cent of the income.
The Pattern of Possession of Assets
The pattern of possession of assets in rural and urban areas also gives an idea
about the extent of poverty in India. The people living below the poverty line
have very few or almost negligible assets. The structure of landownership
would reveal the highly in egalitarian nature of asset distribution in rural areas.
Data on ownership of land during the 1950’s shows that about 47 per cent of the
population owned either no land or less than one acre of land and accounted for
about 1.38 per cent of the total land resources
Various land reform measures have been adopted by the government. However,
the heavy concentration of land has remained practically unaltered. The twenty-
sixth round report of the National Sample Survey for the year 1971-72 shows
that about two per cent of the rural households own about twenty-three per cent
of the land areas while about forty-five per cent of the households own only two
per cent of the land . Moreover, it has also been observed in some studies that in
the two decades between 1961 and 1981 the proportion of cultivators came
down from 52.3 per cent to 41.5 per cent while during the same period the
percentage of agricultural labourers increased from 17.2 per cent to 25.2 per
cent of the total labour force. This reflects an increasing incidence of
pauperisation of the rural poor.
7
https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/issues.html
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TYPES OF PROVERTY
On the basis of social, economical and political aspects, there are different

ways to identify the type of Poverty:8
1. Absolute poverty.
2. Relative Poverty.
3. Situational Poverty.
4. Generational Poverty.
5. Rural Poverty.
6. Urban Poverty.
1. Absolute poverty: Also known as extreme poverty or abject poverty, it

involves the scarcity of basic food, clean water, health, shelter, education
and information. Those who belong to absolute poverty tend to struggle to
live and experience a lot of child deaths from preventable diseases like
malaria, cholera and water-contamination related diseases. Absolute Poverty
is usually uncommon in developed countries.
2. Relative Poverty: It is defined from the social perspective that is living

standard compared to the economic standards of population living in
surroundings. Hence it is a measure of income inequality. For example, a
family can be considered poor if it cannot afford vacations, or cannot buy
presents for children at Christmas, or cannot send its young to the university.
Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population

with income less than some fixed proportion of median income.
It is a widely used measure to ascertain poverty rates in wealthy developed

nations.
3.Situational Poverty: It is a temporary type of poverty based on

occurrence of an adverse event like environmental disaster, job loss and
severe health problem.
People can help themselves even with a small assistance, as the poverty
comes because of unfortunate event.
8
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/what-is-poverty-and-its-types-1523453034-1
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4. Generational Poverty: It is handed over to individual and families

from one generation to the one. This is more complicated as there is no
escape because the people are trapped in its cause and unable to access
the tools required to get out of it.
5. Rural Poverty: It occurs in rural areas with population below 50,000.

It is the area where there are less job opportunities, less access to
services, less support for disabilities and quality education opportunities.
People are tending to live mostly on the farming and other menial work
available to the surroundings.
The rural poverty rate is growing and has exceeded the urban rate every
year since data collection began in the 1960s. The difference between the
two poverty rates has averaged about 5 percent for the last 30 years, with
urban rates near 10–15 percent and rural rates near 15–20 percent (Joliffe,
2004).
6. Urban Poverty: It occurs in the metropolitan areas with population

over 50,000. These are some major challenges faced by the Urban Poor:
• Limited access to health and education.
• Inadequate housing and services.
• Violent and unhealthy environment because of overcrowding.
• Little or no social protection mechanism.
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IMPACTS OF PROVERTY
Poverty in India impacts children, families and individuals in a variety of

different ways through:9
 High infant mortality

 Malnutrition
 Child labor
 Lack of education
 Child marriage
 HIV / AIDS
 The high infant mortality
million children die each year in India before their fifth birthday. In addition
to Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and China, India is
one of the countries with the highest child mortality rates. Pneumonia, malaria
and diarrheal diseases as well as chronic malnutrition are the most frequent
causes of death.
India is one of the world’s top countries when it comes to malnutrition: More than
200 million people don’t have sufficient access to food, including 61 million
children. 7.8 million infants were found to have a birth weight of less than 2.5
kilograms - alarming figures for a country commonly referred to as the emerging
market.
 Child labour - no time to play and learn
Although child labor for children under the age of 14 in India is prohibited by law,

according to official figures, 12.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 14
are working. Aid agencies assume that in reality, there are many more
estimating that 65 million children between 6 and 14 years do not go to
school. Instead, in order to secure survival, it is believed that Indian children
contribute to the livelihood of their families; they work in the field, in factories, in
quarries, in private households and in prostitution.
9
https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602
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 Lack of education - no opportunities without education
According to UNICEF, about 25% of children in India have no access to

education. The number of children excluded from school is higher among
girls than boys. Although women and men are treated equally under Indian
law, girls and women, especially in the lower social caste, are considered
inferior and are oppressed by their fathers, brothers and husbands. Without
education, the chance of finding a living wage from employment in India is
virtually hopeless.
 Child marriage - the early end of childhood
In spite of banning minors from marrying in 2006, it is still widespread

in many regions of India. The main leaders in this practice are young
girls, who are still children themselves and become mothers too
early. Many of them die at birth. According to an investigation by the
medical journal The Lancet, 44.5% of girls are still married in India
before they are of legal age.
Due to poverty, many parents encourage early marriages for their

daughters in hopes of better lives for them.
 HIV / AIDS - a taboo in Indian society
16
2.7 million Indians are infected with the HIV virus; about 220,000 of
them are children, with the tendency rising. The lack of education and
the lack of condoms mean that the virus is spreading faster and faster
and more and more people are dying of AIDS - especially in the slums
of the growing cities. More and more children are living there as so-
called AIDS orphans , often being infected with the virus as well.
Social impact of poverty10
Regardless of its causes, poverty has devastating consequences for the people
who live in it. Much research conducted and/or analyzed by scholars, government
agencies, and nonprofits organizations has documented the effects of poverty
(and near poverty) on the lives of the poor. Many of these studies focus on
childhood poverty, and these studies make it very clear that childhood poverty
has lifelong consequences. In general, poor children are more likely to be poor as
adults, more likely to drop out of high school, more likely to become a teenaged
parent, and more likely to have employment problems. Although only 1 percent
of children who are never poor end up being poor as young adults, 32 percent of
poor children become poor as young adults
Family Problems
The poor are at greater risk for family problems, including divorce and domestic
violence. Even in families that are not poor, running a household can cause stress,
children can cause stress, and paying the bills can cause stress. Families that are
poor have more stress because of their poverty, and the ordinary stresses of
family life become even more intense in poor families. The various kinds of family
problems thus happen more commonly in poor families than in wealthier families.
Compounding this situation, when these problems occur, poor families have
fewer resources than wealthier families to deal with these problems
Housing and Homelessness
The poor are, not surprisingly, more likely to be homeless than the nonporous but also more
likely to live in dilapidated housing and unable to buy their own homes. Many poor families
spend more than half their income on rent, and they tend to live in poor neighbourhoods that
lack job opportunities, good schools, and other features of modern life that wealthier people
take for granted. The lack of adequate housing for the poor remains a major national problem.
Even worse is outright homelessness. An estimated 1.6 million people, including more than
300,000 children, are homeless at least part of the year..
10
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/a-socially-distant-poverty-line/article31877203.ece
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Impact of covid -19 on poverty11
COVID-19 affected extreme income poverty across the world? We may never
know the full answer. Poverty data is typically drawn from household surveys, and
for obvious reasons it is nigh impossible to conduct proper surveys under current
conditions in many countries
11
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/poverty-eradication-why-do-we-always-fail-56927
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MEASURES TO REDUCE POVERTY
I. General Measures
1) Employment opportunities
Poverty can be eliminated if the poor people are given the jobs according to their needs and
talents. Self employment can also be provided to them. Government can set up institutions
which trains them in some practices and skills.
2) Establishment of Small Scale Industries
Government should develop cottage, handicrafts and other small scale industries to in the
backward regions of our country. Moreover this will transfer resources from the areas of
surplus to the deficit solving the problem of urbanization.
3) Education
Government should take steps to spread awareness for education so that the people do not
have to depend on others for their income. They can also protect themselves from
exploitation by the greedy traders.
4) Reduce Inflation
Inflation tends to make poor poorer and rich richer. There should be stability in the price
level of the country. Government should also reduce the burden of tax on the poor and charge
more on the richer class .Rationing should be promoted so that the poor people get the basic
necessities of life at lower price level.
5) Check Population growth
much of the problem of poverty can be solved if the population of the country can be reduced
to a average level. This will make developmental plans successful and the poor people will
have a greater share in the funds of the government.
6) Proper Utilization of Resources
Resources of the country should be utilized properly so that we can have the benefits of those
free gifts of nature.
7) Uplift of Agriculture
Agriculture is the backbone of our country. It provides income to vast number of people.
Hence the government should also concentrate on it and not only on the industries.
19
II. Special Measures for poverty alleviation &
employment generation in:12

A) Rural Areas
SHIKSHA SAHAYOG YOJANA
The scheme was launched on 31 December 2001, with the object to lessen the burden of
parents in meeting the educational expenses of their children. It provides scholarships to
students of parents living below or marginally above poverty line and who are covered under
Janashree Bima Yojana and are studying in 9th to 12thstandard (including ITI courses) A
scholarship amount of Rs 300 per quarter per child is paid for a maximum period of four
years and for maximum two children of a member covered under Janashree Bima Yojana. No
premium is charged for this benefit. As on 31 March 2006, scholarship were disbursed to
3,20,253 beneficiaries.
SAMPOORNA GRAMEEN ROJGAR YOJANA
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) was started on September 25, 2001 by
amalgamation of the on-going program of EAS & the JGSY. It is done with the aim of
offering extra earnings employment &food safety, besides making of sturdy community
possessions in rural regions. The program is self-aiming in character with provisions for
particular stress on women, scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, & parents of kids inhibited
from dangerous professions. While inclination is provided to families BPL for giving wage
employment in SGRY, deprived families over the poverty line may as well be given
employment every time NREGA has been started.The yearly expend for the scheme is Rs.10,
000 crore and it comprises investment on food grains as of 50 lakh tones. The money part is
mutual among the Centre &the States.
KRISHI SHRAMIK SAMAJIK SURAKSHA YOJANA
The multi-benefit scheme for the agricultural workers, commenced on 1 July 2001, provides
life insurance protection, periodical lump sum survival benefit and pension to those who were
between the age of 18-50 years. Minimum membership of the group at commencement
should be 20. Gram Panchayat was to act as nodal agency and with the help of NGO/SHG or
any other agency, would identify the agricultural workers. As on 31 March 2006, 29,074
agricultural workers have been covered. Sale of new policies discontinued from December
2003. No new lives are to be added even under existing schemes at the time of renewal.
INDIRA AWAAS YOJANA
Indira Awaas Yojana, which used to be a component of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana became an
independent Scheme from 1997-1998 onwards. Its objective is construction of free houses to
members of the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, Freed Bonded Labourers in Rural areas
and also to non SC/ST rural poor living below poverty line. The beneficiaries are selected
12
Gov.in
20
from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list approved by the Grama Sabha. At least 60% of the
total IAY allocation during a financial year should be utilized for
construction/upgradationofdwelling units for SC/ST BPL rural households. A maximum 40%
of allocation is for nonSC/ST BPL rural households. 3% of the above categories should be
allocated for physically and mentally challenged persons. Government of India has also asked
the States to earmark 15% of the beneficiaries from amongst minorities. It is funded by the
Centre and State in the ratio of 75:25.
ANTYODAYA ANNA YOJANA
• The Antyodaya Anna Yojana, an important milestone in providing food grains to the poor
was launched on December 25, 2000. It contemplated providing 25 kg. Offood grains per
month at highly subsidized rates of Rs. 2 per kg. For wheat and Rs. 3 per kg. For rice to each
Antyodaya family. The total number of families to be covered under this scheme was placed
at one crore.
• Antyodaya Anna Yojana has started in six States - Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
• About 36 lakh families in these States have been identified and are being given distinctive
Antyodaya ration cards.
• It is expected that by April end this year the Antyodaya Anna Yojana would start in most of
the States.
• The annual requirement of food grains for Antyodaya families would be 30 lakh tones.
• The total subsidy on Antyodaya Anna Yojana for a full year will be Rs. 2315 crore.
NATIONAL FOOD FOR WORK PROGRAMME
National Food for Work Programme was launched in November, 2004 in 150
most backward districts of the country, identified by the Planning Commission in
consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State governments.
The objective of the programme was to provide additional resources apart from the
resources available under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) to 150
most backward districts of the country so that generation of supplementary wage
employment and providing of food-security through creation of need based
economic, social and community assets in these districts are further intensified.
The scheme was 100 per cent centrally sponsored. The programme has since been
subsumed in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act which has come in force
in 200 identified districts of the country including 150 NFFWP districts. The Act
provides 100 days of work guarantee to every rural household whose members
volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
.
21
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT
GUARANTEE SCHEME13
VISION
Mahatma Gandhi NREGA seeks to enhance the livelihood security of the households in rural
areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every
financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual
work.
MISSION
To augment wage employment opportunities by providing employment on demand
and thereby extend a security net to the people and simultaneously create durable
assets to alleviate some aspects of poverty and address the issue of development in
the rural areas.
Brief History
Mahatma Gandhi NREGA was launched in 200 select districts on 2.2.2006 and
was extended to 130 additional districts during 2007-08. All the remaining rural
areas in the country have been covered under the Act w.e.f. 1.4.2008. Presently,
Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is being implemented in all the notified rural areas of
the country.
The Ministry of Rural Development is the nodal Ministry for the implementation
of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. It is responsible for ensuring timely and adequate
resource support to the States and to the Central Council. It has to undertake
regular review, monitoring and evaluation of processes and outcomes. It is
responsible for maintaining and operating the MIS to capture and track data on
critical aspects of implementation, and assess the utilization of resources through a
set of performance indicators. MORD will support innovations that help in
improving processes towards the achievement of the objectives of the Act. It will
support the use of Information Technology (IT) to increase the efficiency and
transparency of the processes as well as improve interface with the public. It will
also ensure that the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA at all levels is
sought to be made transparent and accountable to the public.
13
https://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx
22
14
BHARAT NIRMAN
The renowned business plan Bharat Nirman has been designed for augmenting and
creating fundamental rural infrastructure. This scheme comprises various pro0jets
on roads, irrigation, Sadak Yojana, housing or Indira Awaas yojana, national rural
water schemes for water supply, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen vidyutikaran yojana or
electrification and telecommunication.
Bharat Nirman is a branded programme. Accepting the Policy ‘a step towards
villages’
Union Government launched a new scheme named Bharat Nirman Yojana on

December 16 2005. It is now 8 years old, taking huge strides into rural
development. Bharat Nirman
Programme is the mixture of old and new schemes and flagship programme based
on the philosophies of Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Ambedkar, Rajiv Gandhi and
other leaders.
This scheme aims at developing rural infrastructure. In recognition of the role
played by infrastructure in poverty removal, the Government launched a time
bound programme of construction of rural infrastructure under the name Bharat
Nirman for implementation during the four year period 2005-09.
B) Urban Areas
14
https://niti.gov.in/planningcommission.gov.in/docs/plans/planrel/fiveyr/11th/11_v3/11v3_ch6.pdf
23
Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (P.M.R.Y) For Educated Unemployed Youth 15
Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana for providing self-Employment to Educated

Unemployed Youth was announced by the Prime Minister on 15th August, 1993 to
provide self-employed opportunities to one million educated unemployed youth in
the country. The Scheme has been formally launched on 2nd October, 1993.
1.Objectives: The PMRY has been designed to provide employment to more

than a million People by setting up of 7 lakhs micro enterprises by the educated
unemployed youth. It relates to the setting up of the self-employment ventures
through industry, service and business routes. The scheme also seeks to associate
reputed non-governmental organisations in implementation PMRY scheme
especially in the selection, training of entrepreneurs and preparation of project
profiles.
2.Coverage: The scheme intends to cover urban areas only during 1993-94 and
whole of the country from 1994-95 onwards. From 1994-95 onwards, the existing
self-employment Scheme for the Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY) will be
subsumed in PMRY.
3.Eligibility: Any unemployed educated person living in any part of the country
rural or urban fulfilling the following conditions will be eligible for
assistance. However, during 1993-94, the scheme would be operated only in
urban areas.
a.Age: Between 18 to 40 years (SC/ST - 45 years).
b. Qualification: Metrics (Passed or Failed) or ITI passed or having undergone

Govt. sponsored technical course for a minimum duration of 6 months.
c. Residency: Permanent resident of the area for at least 3 years Document like
Ration Card would constitute enough proof for this purpose. In its absence
any other document to the satisfaction of the Task Force should be produced.
d. Family Income: Up to Rs.40, 000/- per annum. Family for this purpose
would mean spouse and parents of the beneficiary and family income would
include income from all sources, whether, wages, salary, pension,
agriculture, business, rent etc.
4.Reservation: Preference should be given to weaker section including women.

The scheme envisages 22.5% reservation for SC/ST and 27% for other
Backward Classes (OBCs)
15
https://www.bajajfinserv.in/pradhan-mantri-rozgar-yojana
24
Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana 16
Introduction
 The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) was launched on

01.12.1997 after subsuming the earlier three schemes for urban poverty
alleviation, namely Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), Urban Basic Services for
the Poor (UBSP), and Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty
Eradication Programme (PMIUPEP). The key objective of the Scheme was
to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed or underemployed
through the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage
employment.
 To overcome the difficulties faced by the States/UTs and address certain

drawbacks in the implementation of SJSRY, the Guidelines of the Scheme
have been revised. It is presumed that the revised guidelines will assist in the
effective implementation of SJSRY and make a dent on the urban poverty
scenario in the country. The Revised Guidelines will come into effect from
1.4.2009
Objectives
The objectives of the revised Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) are:
 Addressing urban poverty alleviation through gainful employment to the
urban unemployed or underemployed poor by encouraging them to set up
self-employment ventures (individual or group), with support for their
sustainability; or undertake wage employment;
 Supporting skill development and training programmes to enable the urban

poor have access to employment opportunities opened up by the market or
undertake self-employment; and
 Empowering the community to tackle the issues of urban poverty through

suitable self- managed community structures like Neighborhood Groups
(NHGs), Neighborhood Committees (NHC), Community Development
Society (CDS), etc.
The delivery of inputs under the Scheme shall be through the medium of urban
local bodies and community structures. Thus, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar
Yojana seeks to strengthen these local bodies and community organizations to
enable them address the issues of employment and income generation facing the
urban poor.
16
http://smb.gov.in/schemes/Swarna_Jayanti_Shahari_Rozgar_Yojana.pdf
25
Valmiki Ambedkar Awaas Yojana

The VAMBAY was started in 2001, December to improve the circumstances of the
slum inhabitants in urban areas living under the poverty row lacking sufficient
refuge.
The plan has the main aim of assist the building & up-gradation of house for slum
residents & offering healthy & enabling urban surroundings by society toilets in
the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a constituent of the proposal.
The Central Government gives a subsidy of fifty percent, the remaining fifty
percent being approved by the Government of State.
There are agreed upper limit on expenses both for house units & society toilets.
During the year of 2003-04, Central financial support to the amount of 239 crore
Rs. has been given. Since beginning up to 2004, May 522 crore Rs. has been given
as Government of India financial support for the building/up gradation of dwelling
units 2, 46,035 in number & toilet seats of 29,263 numbers in the plan.
The scheme has the primary objective of facilitating the construction and up gradation of
dwelling units for slum dwellers and providing a healthy and enabling
urban environment through community toilets under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a
component of the scheme. The Central Government provides a subsidy of 50 per
cent, the balance 50 per cent being arranged by the State Government.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)17
JNNURM is a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of

India under Ministry of Urban Development. It envisages a total investment of
over $20 billion over seven years. Named after Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister of India, the scheme was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on 3 December 2005 as a programme meant to improve the
quality of life and infrastructure in the cities.
It was launched in 2005 for a sevenyear period (up to March 2012) to encourage cities to
initiate steps for bringing phased improvements in their civic service levels. The government
had extended the tenure of the mission for two years, i.e., from April 2012 to March 31 2014.
JNNURM is a huge mission which relates primarily to development in the context
of urban conglomerates focusing to the Indian cities. JNNURM aims at creating
‘economically productive, efficient, equitable and responsive Cities’ by a strategy
of upgrading the social and economic infrastructure in cities, provision of Basic
Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and wide-ranging urban sector reforms to strengthen
municipal governance in accordance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.
17
http://www.jaipurmc.org/PDF/Auction_MM_RTI_Act_Etc_PDF/JNNURM_Projects_SP.pdf
26
FLAWS OF THE ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMMES18
 Wrong choice of beneficiaries

 Inadequate funding
 Poor asset Quality
 Lack of accountability
 Lack of involvement of local community
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Information poverty is one of the main forms of poverty today that affects the lives of billions of
people on a daily basis and as such it is argued in this thesis that this form of poverty should be on
the world’s moral agenda – not merely as a discussion item but as an action item. It is furthermore
argued that the information and knowledge society cannot be build without taking into
consideration the moral challenges associated with this form of poverty.
CONCLUSION
In the light of the analysis of poverty, I argued that poverty is a complex phenomenon and
that the causes of poverty are multidimensional. It further means that there is no single or just
a few solutions for the problem. Secondly, poverty is an individual problem within a societal
context which should rather be understood and interpreted within a economic-political and
socio-cultural framework. The “blame” for poverty can rarely be placed on individuals.
Poverty is also no respecter of persons. Thirdly, the impact of poverty on people and the
environment is enormous. It does not only affect the quality of life of billions of people, but
in many cases their dignity and humanness. For this reason poverty and its implications have
a strong moral claim on society.
Bibliography
18
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220380802265074?journalCode=fjds20
27
 Socio-economic dimensions of poverty in rural areas of India – by dr.

Maher Meerja
 The sociology of poverty – jstor
 Addressing the multiple dimensions of poverty- OECD Library
 The end of poverty – By Jeffrey sachs
 Poverty – By NCERT
Webliography
 NEWS PAPERS – THE HINDU , INDIAN EXPRESS, THE PRINT
 GOVERNMENT WEBSITE OF INDIA LIKE NASSO
28

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Socio economic dimensions of poverty

“Socio economic dimensions of poverty”

B.A.L.L.B (Hons) 2316

Dr. Shakil Ahmad

Assistant professor of sociology

The final draft is submitted for the partial fulfilment of the

(B.A.L.L.B) Course in sociology

Chanakya national law university

Aims and objective………………………………………………………………………….....6

Socio economic dimensions of poverty……………………………………………….…..…..7

Social impact of poverty…………………………………………………………………..…17

Impact of covid -19 on poverty..............................................................................................18

Measure to reduce poverty.......................................................................................................19

Flaws of the anti-poverty programmes.....................................................................................27

Declaration by the candidate

(Signature of the Candidate)

I would like to show my gratitude towards my guide, Dr. Shakil

Poverty in India has been defined as that situation in which an individual

fails to earn income sufficient to buy minimum means of subsistence like:

• A reasonable satisfactory level of nutritional diet.

• Minimum required clothing, housing, and furniture.

• Minimum level of health facilities, clean water, and education.

Economic aspects of poverty focus on material needs, typically including the

 Know the social impact of poverty

 Poverty is not God created phenomenon , it is created by humans

The researcher went through various documentaries and government policy in

According to the release from the Planning Commission, 25.7% of people in

1. Rapidly Rising Population:

2. Low Productivity in Agriculture:

4. Low Rate of Economic Development:

7. Shortage of Capital and Entrepreneurship:

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the

Unequal Distribution of Wealth

Distribution of personal income reveal the existence of concentration of

The Pattern of Possession of Assets

On the basis of social, economical and political aspects, there are different

1. Absolute poverty: Also known as extreme poverty or abject poverty, it

2. Relative Poverty: It is defined from the social perspective that is living

Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population

It is a widely used measure to ascertain poverty rates in wealthy developed

3.Situational Poverty: It is a temporary type of poverty based on

4. Generational Poverty: It is handed over to individual and families

5. Rural Poverty: It occurs in rural areas with population below 50,000.

6. Urban Poverty: It occurs in the metropolitan areas with population

Poverty in India impacts children, families and individuals in a variety of

 High infant mortality

 The high infant mortality

 Child labour - no time to play and learn

Although child labor for children under the age of 14 in India is prohibited by law,

According to UNICEF, about 25% of children in India have no access to

 Child marriage - the early end of childhood

In spite of banning minors from marrying in 2006, it is still widespread

Due to poverty, many parents encourage early marriages for their

 HIV / AIDS - a taboo in Indian society

Social impact of poverty10

Housing and Homelessness

Impact of covid -19 on poverty11

MEASURES TO REDUCE POVERTY

2) Establishment of Small Scale Industries

5) Check Population growth

6) Proper Utilization of Resources

II. Special Measures for poverty alleviation &

employment generation in:12