2 Poverty Thus only im the twentieth century that poverty and the poor have come to be matters of our concern and obligation. After a long neglect of the poor during the Bnush Rule, the measures adopted after Independence sigmify the recognition of poverty and the social responsibility for ajleviaimg and reducing 1. How did tus happen? What have we done ” How far have we succeeded 7 Before attempung to answer these questions, let us first take up the question of the concept of poverty The Concept ‘Three precepts are often used 10 define poverty (1) the amount of money required by a person to subsist, (11) the hfe below a ‘minimum subsistence level’ and ‘hving standard’ prevalent at a grven ume in a given place, and (1) the comparanve state of well-bemg of a few and the dl-bemg of the mayonty m society. The last approach explams Poverty im tems of relativity and mequality. Whereas the first two definitions refer to the econonuc concept of absolute poverty, the third defintnon views it as a soctal concept, that 1s, m terms of the share of the total nahonal income recerved by those at the botiom We will explain each of the three views separately The First View In terms of a minimum menme required for subsistence, poverty has ‘been defined as an inability w grapfy the physological needs, that 1s, need for survival, safety and secunty. These phystological needs are different from the social needs (ego-sausfaction and self-esteem), the