Relative Poverty:

 It refers to poverty relation to different classes or regions.

 It is a measure of inequality of income.
 It is an indicator of the contract between the lives of the poor & the lives of those
around them.
Absolute Poverty:
 It refers to the actual number of people who living below the poverty line.
 It is a measure of income.
 It is measured with the help of the concept of the poverty line.

The govt’s approach to, poverty reduction was of three dimensions:

 Growth oriented approach: It was believed that if there is a growth of gross domestic
product & per capita income by allowing the rich to flourish, it would eventually
benefit the lower income groups through increased economic activity & reduced
unemployment. It was felt that rapid industrial development & transformation of
agriculture through green revolution would benefit the underdeveloped regions & the
more backward sections of the society.
 Creation of income generation assets & poverty alleviation programmes: Creation of
income generating assets implies resources like land, social networks, which
encourage empowerment & community services, fixed public assets like wells,
clinics, schools, bridges, dams etc which generate employment. Policy makers
thought of making these income earning assets accessible to the poor so that they
could earn a regular income. This was done through the implementation of poverty
alleviation programmes.
 The third approach is to provide minimum basic amenities to the people through
public expenditure on social consumption needs – provision of food grains at
subsidized rates, education health, water supply & sanitation. This will improve the
living standards of the people.

 The scheme I will apply for assistance is Opportunities for Self-Employment.

 This is because the scheme focuses on offering low interest rates on loans by
banks and other financial institutions for setting up small enterprises and start-
ups.

Some measures that can be taken are: -

 Increasing economic growth rate through capital formation
 Keeping a check on population growth/ growth rate – population control
 Reducing income and wealth inequalities
 Development of proper deliver mechanism and PDS
 Reduction in corruption to ensure that maximum help reaches the poor
 Development of infrastructure
 Achieving a lower rate of inflation
 Providing better health care facilities
 Increasing employment opportunities
 Providing social security to the poor
 Gender equality and women empowerment
 Better living conditions and access to essentials like drinking water, food etc.
 Setting up more NGO’s to help the poor
 Setting up rural credit system and ensure its proper functioning
 Development of rural area – building roads, proper housing, etc.
 Creation of income earning assets
 Organising training camps for imparting vocational training and skills