CHAPTER - II

CHAPTER - II

A REVIEW OF BASIC CONCEPTS AND LITERATURE

The purpose of this chapter is to throw adequate emphasis and

necessary light on

1. Some of the basic concepts which find their popular appearance

in the whole of the research work, and

2. Some of the earlier views expressed by great thinkers in the

field of poverty Alleviation which paved the way for developing

this research piece.

II. 1. A REVIEW OF CONCEPTS

Absolute Poverty^

Absolute poverty', as distinguished from 'relative poverty' is a

situation in which the income of a person that he earns is not enough

even to satisfy his bare necessities of life such as food, shelter,

clothing, education, health ejtc. This is the sense in which the term

'poverty' is used in India and other underdeveloped countries.

1. N.B. Ghodke, A Dictionary of Economics , p. 1.

 30

Anti - Poverty Programmes^

A model employment programme should be designed based on

the experience of various schemes such as Employment Guarantee

Scheme (EGs), Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) and Jawahar

Rozgar Yojana (JRY) and should cover the whole country. It should

constitute the major thrust of anti-poverty initiatives. Employment

programme are self-targeting, as bulk the wages accrue to the poor,

self-adjusting as per need for employment, and self-terminating. Also

when properly designed and executed they create productive assets.

Beneficiary^

A person who gains as a result of beneficiary.

Employment"

Employment is work that you do in order to earn money. The

availability of jobs for the population of a town, area, or country.

Eradication of Poverty^

Eradication of poverty and hunger through employment in the

community has been one of the main goals of planning in India. Since

the planning era, various target - oriented as well as area oriented

2 . Editor, A Decade of Economic Reforms in India, p. 381.

3 . Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Oxford University press 2002. p. 103.
4 . Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, Collins Publishers 1998. p. 462.
5 . V. Ambumani And T. Lingamurswari, "Poverty Alleviation Measures in India",
Poverty and its Alleviation. S.N. Misra 2005. pp. 79-80.
 31

programmes and schemes have been implemented for generation of

Income with the purpose to eradicate poverty, inequality and

backwardness from the rural areas.

Human Development^

The process of widening people's choices and the level of well-

being they achieve are at the core of the notion of human development.

Such choices are neither finite nor static. But regardless of the level of

development, the three essential choices for people are to lead a long

and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to the

resources needed for a decent standard of living. Human development

does not end there, however. Other choices, highly valued by many

people, range from political, economic and social freedom to

opportunities for being creative and productive and enjoying self-

respect and guaranteed human rights.

Income clearly is only one option that people would like to have,

though an important one. But it is not the sum total of their lives.

Income is also a means, with human development the end.

Incidence of poverty^

The incidence of poverty, expressed as a headcount ratio, is

simply an estimate of the percentage of people below the poverty line.

6. Southern Economist, November, 1, 1997 pp.37,38.

7. Southern Economist, November, 1, 1997 pp.37,38.
 32

It does not indicate anything about the depth or severity of poverty and

thus does not capture any worsening of the conditions of those already

in poverty.

Infrastructure^

The basic systems and services that are necessary for a country

or an organization for example buildings, transports, water and power

supplies and administrative systems.

Nutrition^

All the proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc which are contained in

food and which help your body to grow and healthy.

Poverty^"

Poverty can be defined as a social phenomenon in which a

section of the society is unable to fulfil even its basic necessities of life.

When a substantial segment of a society is deprived of the minimum

level of living and continues at a bare subsistence level, that society is

said to be plagued with mass poverty.

Poverty Eradication Programmes'^

There are two basic pre-requisitions a poverty eradication

programme. Firstly, re-orientation of the agricultural relations so that

the ownership of land is shared by a larger section of the population.

8. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary Op.cit: pp. 666-667.

9. Collins Cobuild Englisin Language Dictionary. Op.cit; p. 988.
10 . Ruddardatt K.P.M. Sundharam, Indian Economy, p. 336.
11 . ibid. pp. 354-355.
 33

Besides this, the tenancy right provide security to the cultivating

classes.

Poverty Line^^

The mid-point of the per capita monthly expenditure of people

having a daily calorie intake of 2400 in rural areas and 2100 calories in

urban areas. All those who cannot undertaken consumption

expenditure required for the minimum calorie intake fall belov^ the

poverty line (BPL).

Reduce Poverty^^

<* it creates jobs that 'pull up' the poor into gainful employment by

providing more economic opportunity.

*> it provides the revenues with which we can build more schools

and provide more health facilities for the poor;

•> it creates that incentives that enable the poor to access these

facilities and also for the advancement of progressive social

agent as generally.

Relative Poverty^'*

Relative poverty indicates inequalities of income. The

individuals with lower income are said to be relative poor compared

12 . N.B. Ghodke, A Dictionary of Economics , p. 123.

13 . Jagdish Bhagwati, A Decade of Economic Reforms in India, p. 115.
14. N.B. Ghodke, Loc.cit, p. 1.
 34

with those with higher incomes, even though they (the former) may be

living above the minimum level of subsistence.

Removal of Poverty^^
*

The fourth plan categorically stated. "In the implementation of

the programme, the weakest are looked after and the benefits of

development are made to flow by planned investment in the under

developed regions and among the more backward sections of the

community".

Respondent^^

A person who answers questions, especially in survey.

Starvation"

The state of suffering and death caused by having no food : to

die from starvation.

Rural poor^«

Rural poor population includes landless agricultural labour

households, agricultural labour with small holding, landless non-

15 . Ruddardatt K.P.M. Sundharam, Qp.cit. pp. 348-349.

16 . Sally wehneier s michael Ashby, Oxford Advanced Leaners' Dictionary of

Current English", p. 1088.
17 . Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Op.cit, p. 1266.
18 . K.K.Yadav, "Rural Poverty Alleviation Programmes", Poverty and its
Alleviation S.N.Misra, 2005. p. 24.
 35

agricultural rural labourers including villages artisans progressively

losing their traditional jobs and small and nnarginal operators cultivating

holding of less than 2 hectares and particularly less than 1 hectar.

Sanitation^^

The equipnnent and systems that keep places clean, especially

by removing human waste.

Severity of poverty^"

The severity of poverty can be measured as a weighted average

of the squared distance below the poverty line, expressed as a

proportion of that line. The weights are given by each individual gap.

Again, the average is formed over the entire population. Since the

weights increase with poverty, this measure is sensitive to inequality

among the poor.

Subsidy^^

Money that is paid by a government or an organization to

reduce that cost of services or of producing goods so that their prices

can be kept low ; agricultural state / housing subsidy.

19 . Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Op.cit, p.1133.

20. Southern Economist. November, 1, 1997 pp.37,38.
21 . Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Op.cit, p.1297.
 36

11.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abdul Aziz^ viewed that high incidence of poverty and its

socio - political implications caused the policy - makes and political

leaders in India to evolve, from time to time, a series of anti -

poverty strategies and poverty alleviation programmes. As India

celebrations the Golden Jubilee of her Independence, it will be of

interest here to build a brief of such attempts in their historical

perspective and examine whether any change can be thought of in

the strategy.

The impact of poverty alleviation programmes can be

maximised by property managing them. Proper management implies

that the benefits of the programmes should be targeted to the really

poor, and in full, without leakages. The performance of the

programmes should be monitored so that the mid - course

corrections, if necessary, can be carried out. In this context, a

bureaucratic approach to the problem will not help. Innovative

institutional arrangements are desirable. In the light of the

experience gathered, NGOs, social workers and decentralised

governance system can play a big role in alleviating poverty under

the NEP regime.

1. Abdul Aziz, "Anti-Poverty Programmes in India; A Profile", Southern

Economist, November 1,1997, pp. 13-14.
 37

Ambumani And Lingamurugeshwari^ disclosed that

Eradication of poverty and hunger through employing in the

community has been one of the main goals of planning in India.

Since the planning era, various target - oriented as well as area

oriented programmes and schemes have been implemented for

generation of income with the purpose to eradicate poverty,

inequality and backwardness from the rural areas.

Anbalagan and Selvam^ visualized that Improving the access

of the poor to the financial services is one of the effective tools to

tackle poverty and for broad - basing the economic growth. It is a

means to increase the asset base of the poor, for providing

opportunities to gainfully employ them and enhance their

contributions to the development of the country. In a country like

India, where there are about 320 million poor (36%) of the

population), the potential of using institutional credit and other

financial services for poverty alleviation cannot be ignored. Most of

the poor, other than those who are under employed, or self -

employed or employed are in micro enterprises in the unorganized

sector.

V. Ambumani And T. Lingamurugeshwari, "Poverty Alleviation Measures

in India", Poverty And Alleviation. Indian Economic Association - 2005.
pp.9-90.
M. Anbalagan and V. Selvam, "Re-Engineering The Mechanism of Micro
Finance for Poverty Alleviation and Social Change" Economic Affairs. Vol. 51
Qr. 2. June 2006, pp. 155-161.
 38

Avtar Singh Sahota'' made open the fact that Market oriented

reforms have different effect on different groups within an economy.

It is generally felt that reforms will increase growth and reduce

poverty at medium level but hurt a large number of poor in the short

run. Since it is felt that agriculture output, inflation rate, relative food

prices, non - agriculture employment, government developmental

expenditure, infrastructure and human development expenditure are

the importance determinants of rural poverty macro level policy can

help reduce poverty in long run.

Bandana Roy^ : as quoted by Debeudra Renal Poverty (2000)

Leaders of the poverty and backwardness of people in the villages.

Ganhiji repeatedly asserted that real India lived in the Villages. His

programmes of spinning. Khadi, rural hygiene, revival of traditional

crafts and village industries, fight against untouchability were aimed

at creation of Self - reliant and autonomous rural development.

Jawahar Lai Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose delivered that science

and technology hold the key for alleviation of poverty. In his

message to the Silver Jubille Session of the Indian Science Congress

in 1938. Nehru said. It was science alone that could solve these

problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of

superstition and deadening custom and tradition, of vast resources

running to waste, of a country inhabited by starving people. Nehru

4. Avtar Singh Sahota "Poverty Reduction Strategies in a Market Economy"

kurukshetra. July 2002, pp.4-13.
5. Bandana Roy, "Science, Technology and Eradication Rural Poverty"
Dynamics of Rural Development: Perspective and Challenges, pp. 154-164.
 39

believed that growth and strengthening the base of science and

technology in the country will somehow by itself solve the problems

of poverty and disease. In dealing with the anomalous situation of

growing disparity between the rural poverty and urban development, he

said, "These contrasts one finds in the country are natural because

India has remained static and is now attempting to grow rapidly. I have

no doubt that this process of development will gradually remove many

of the anomalies that exist Indian Society today these anomalies are

there, and they way to remove them, I think, is the way of science".

Das^ opined that no doubt, rural development efforts since

independence has brought about considerable changes in the country

in certain sectors.

Since the inception of green revolution, the productivity level in

the agricultural sector has increased considerably. As a result, the

country has met successfully the crucial challenge of food security.

The production level of food grains which was mere 51 million tonnes

during the beginning of the planning era, has been stepped up to more

than three and a half times. The resultant sufficiency of buffer stock

now can withstand one or. two very bad agricultural years without

importing foodgrains.

But the food security achieved at national level, speaks little

about the poverty alleviation at household level. On one hand, due to

P.K.Das, "Poverty Alleviation in India. Kurukshetra, August 1998, pp. 26-33.

 40

lack of purchasing power quite a good chunk of the rural mass are still

deprived of harnessing the benefits of huge buffer stock. The lifting

from buffer stock which stands at over 19 million tonnes, is hardly 14

million tonnes. Inspite of all innovative approaches in the public

distribution system, the food security of the poor households could not

be met appreciably.

Editor^ said that as the UN's largest provider of grant funding

for development, and the main coordinating body for UN

development assistance, UNDP clearly has a major role in the effort to

eradicate extreme poverty in developing countries.

In India, UNDP implements, in cooperation with the

government and wider civil society, what is emerging as its largest

country programme world wide, currently running at an annual

average of $ 40 million or so in grant assistance. The activities

supported over the years have responded to national priorities in key

areas such as technology transfer towards enhancement of

industrial productivity, agricultural development, energy and

environment, transport and communication and social infrastructure.

In life with its global mandate and the new development

challenging in India, UNDP's programmes are now oriented to

present - day realities, its new Country Cooperation Frame work

7. Editor, "Beating the Poverty Clock in India", Southern Economist. November,

1, 1997. pp. 11.
 41

{CCF-1), which commenced in 1997 (Concurrent to India's 9'^ Five -

Year Plan), emphasises cross - cutting themes of poverty, employment

environment and women to build an enabling environment for

sustainable human development. This will be pursued through an

integrated approach which encourages national execution, focusing

especially on people-centred programme interventions which

promote growth with equity with emphasis on poverty reduction.

Editor^ declared that Biovillage Persisting rural poverty is

addressed by providing the resource - poor with access to multiple

sources of livelihood through technological empowerment for income,

employment generating activities and skill up gradation. The effort is

to provide an enabling environment for the resource - poor to add

value to their time and labour rooted in the principle of the five

"E"s: ecology equity, economics, energy efficiency and employment

generation.

Editor^ said that Eradication of poverty in 1995 at the World

Summit for Social Development, Governments declared their

determination to eradicate poverty. This report looks at the progress

that has been made since then and, in particular, at UNDP's

involvement in poverty eradication strategies, programmes and

projects.

8 . Editor, "Biovillage Sustains Attack on Rural Poverty", Southern Economist,

November 1, 1997. pp. 29-30.
9 . Editor, "Concerted Action for Eradication on Poverty", Southern Economist.
October 15, 1998. pp. 5-6.
 42

The report notes that around one third of people in dejveloping

countries continue to live in income poverty - earning less than $ per

day. But it emphasises the importance of looking beyond income to

address human poverty - the lack of essential human capabilities such

as being literate, heal-thy and adequately nourished. It points out, for

example that in the developing countries, about 30 percent of all

children under five are malnourished, and 38 percent of all adult

women are illiterate.

Editor^" Poverty alleviation is one of the thrust areas in India's

Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997 - 2002), Which is being lunched in the 50'^

year of Independence. The principal task of the Ninth Plan is to usher

in a new era of people-onented planning, in which the governments at

the centre and states as well as the people at large, particularly the

poor, can participate.

Editor^'' reported that the micro credit movement, of which

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank have been leading

pioneers, makes two important contributions to development practice;

first to demonstrate the credit worthiness and collateral do not go hand

in hand and there-fore it is possible to delink the two; and secondly, it is

possible to use a collectivist ethos and group solidarity (and implicit

joint liability) to minimise the risk of loans being made to persons with

10 . Editor, "India's Ninth Five - Year Plan Targets and Poverty", Southern
Economist. November 1, 1997. pp. 9-10.
11 . Editor, "Micro Credit, NGOs and Poverty Alleviation", The Hindu. November
15,2006.
 43

high-risk propositions (adverse selection) or of their being utilised for

purposes other than that for which they are contract (nrioral hazard),

and to use peer pressure to ensure that repayment schedules are met.

Editor^^ echoed that trying to carry out policy reforms favourable

to the poor without corresponding reforms in the State and in civil

society has proven difficult. This has been UNDP's experience in

providing assistance to countries to reform their system of governance.

What then would be the elements of a system of governance that is

genuinely pro-poor?

Editor^"' declared that the poverty strategies initiatives Early in

1996, to help countries formulate strategies and plans to fight poverty,

and fulfill the commitments they made at the WSSD, UNDP launched a

multi-donor programme - the Poverty Strategies Initiative (PSI). The

$20 - million programme was funded by UNDP ($11 million) and

supplemented with bilateral contributions from Denmark, Finland,

Norway, and the Netherlands. All the funds are allocated to country

level activities based on national proposals, and as of mid- 1998,

nearly 100 proposals had been approved for funding.

The funds are being used to improve the analysis of poverty,

develop plans of action, and support advocacy for antipoverty

programme.

12 . Editor, "Poverty Focused Governance", Southern Economist. October 15,

1998. pp. 17-30.
13. Editor, "Recording Progress - National Poverty Strategies", Soutliern
Economist. October 15,1998. pp.13.
 44

Editor^'* reported that the eradication of poverty the world

conferences of the 1990s have helped transform the way we see

development. They have directed attention firmly toward the needs of

people. They have declared that development must be sustainable.

And they have established a new priority in the eradication of poverty.

The 1995 World Summit for Social Development (WSSD)

offered the most emphatic expression of this when 117 heads of State

and government and representatives of 186 countries identified poverty

eradication as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of

humankind.

This new people - centred commitment follows almost tow

decades of a very different approach. The "Washington Consensus,

developed in the 1980s, equated development with good economic

performance - and equated good economic performance with

liberalisation, deregulation, and privatisation. This consensus

entrusted markets with the task of allocating resources and of

promoting economic grov\rth, while relegating governments to the role

of providing a market- friendly policy framework.

Editor^^ said that the Deputy Chairperson of the Planning

Commission, Prof. Madhu Dandavate, has asserted that poverty

14. Editor, "With in our Reach - The Eradication of Poverty", Southern

Economist, October 15, 1998. pp. 7-11.
15 . Editor, "Why Poverty Eradication is and uphill Task", Southern Economist.
November 1, 1997. pp. 6a.
 45

eradication cannot be actualised without eliminating all disparities

within society. "End of all disparities is the road to poverty

eradication". Prof. Dandavate has rightly said that concealing the

number of neo - rich above line of affluence was a crime and

concealing the number of poor was an indignity to them.

Even as estimates of poverty and the ways of tacking it have

varied over the years, poverty has been one of the perennial

problems facing the country and no one knows when it would be

wiped out totally, if at all. Most of the state governments have

adopted a standard recipe to alleviate poverty by announcing a

number of anti - poverty schemes. Whether the poor really get the

benefits of these schemes is of secondary importance. Presently,

there are over 40 anti poverty schemes being implemented by public

sector banks and a few more by regional rural and cooperative

banks. In the rural areas, it is the large number of middle man who

from a part of the long chain of persons as the main beneficiaries,

along with bank officials, panchayat pradhans, block level officials

and people from state and central bureaucracy.

. Ethlrajulu Naidu^^ disclosed that he study of the impact of

NREP on employment generation in this case is uneven. It has helped

the targeted groups no doubt, but its vitality is sapped by a series of

distortions. The attempt is half hearted and often aimed at spending

16 . A. Ethirajulu Naidu, "Poverty Alleviation through NREP - A Study", Yoiana.

July16-31,1990, p. 31.
 46

the allotted fund within a targeted period with corruption making its

inevitable inroads. The author lists the priorities and calls for proper

dovetailing of the short and long term measures to make NREP more

meaningful.

Hanumantha Raos^^ paper examines the potential and

prospects for integrating the major Poverty Alleviation Programmes

(PAPs) in rural areas with overall development. The potential for such

integration, it is suggested, is quite high, both by way of better choice

of activities and more effective implementation of the activities chosen,

the latter being for more important than the former. Devising

appropriate institutional mechanisms for planning the activities under

PAPs within the framework of area development planning and, more

particularly, for their effective implementation constitutes the biggest

challenge in the drive for eradication of rural poverty.

Indiresan^^ says that such slogans as Garibi Hatao may win

votes, but only Amiri Banao can bring prosperity to people - poverty

alleviation produces a blinkered view as it concentrates attention on the

poor to the exclusion of others. Enrichment is universal; it helps the

rich too. Citing the President, Mr. Abdul Kalam's prescription for

Kerala's development.

17. C.H.Hanumantha Rao, "Integrating Poverty Alleviation Programmes with

Development Strategies Indian Experience", Economic and Political Weekly
November 28, 1992, 00. 2603 - 2607.
18 . P.V.Indiresan, "Vision 2020 Enriching is the best anti-poverty strategy", The
Hindu Business line. Monday, October 3, 2005.
 47

In the matter of human development, Kerala has been, and

continues to be, far ahead of not merely the rest of India but even parts

of New York. Though Kerala's Human Development stands head and

shoulders above the rest of the country, in another sense, it lies in the

same boat as all other parts of India: Kerala has done v^ell but its

Human Development is not improving any faster than the rest of the

country.

In this inimitable way, the President, Mr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, has

taken this problem head-on and in an address to the State Assembly

proposed a ten-point programme of development. The State

government has responded promptly and has planned several

programmes with poverty alleviation and employment generations as

its two major objectives.

Jain^^ as quoted by the Sixth Plan 1980-85 states that "it will be

necessary to ensure that at every stage of planning and

implementation there is full participation and involvement of the

people... the institutional mechanisms for this purpose will need to be

adapted to changing requirements. The panchayati raj institutions

should be strengthened so that they can become institutions of

democratic management of rural development both at the district and

the block levels".

19. L. C. Jain, "Alleviating Poverty", Population. Poverty and Hope. 2001,

pp.496-514.
 48

In short, the Plan envisage that for effective implementation of

anti-poverty strategies and programmes and for accelerated rural

development, three agents are required, namely : Panchayati Raj

bodies, Development administration, and non-governmental

institutions.

This paper explores ways of establishing a purposeful and

practical partnership among the people's institutions, development

administration and non-governmental organisations, for a determined

assault on poverty.

Kakv\^ani and Subbarao^° viewed that to understand the impact

of economic grov/th on poverty, it is important to measure separately

the impact of changes in average income and income inequality on

poverty. This paper makes an attempt in this direction. It examines

past trends in the distribution and growth of consumption and assess

their relative impact on the poor and the ultra poor, over time and

across states. The paper addresses the following questions: How has

the distribution of per capita consumption changed over time across

the states, and to what extent it has nullified the beneficial impact of

growth on poverty? How have the poor and the ultra poor fared in the

wake of changes in consumption and its distribution? What have been

the regional patterns and to what extent can these patterns be

explained by our knowledge of the characteristics and public

20 . N. Kakwani and K.Subbarao, "Rural Poverty and Its Alleviation in India",

Economic and Political Weekly. March 31, 1990, pp. A-2, A-16.
 49

interventions in operations in different regions / states? The authors

consider the potential indirect role of agriculture and manufacturing, as

well as contribution of direct anti-poverty programmes that have been

in operation for over a decade now and the trends in social sector

expenditure and their outcomes.

Mahesh Prasad^^ declared that the one major task the Budget

was called upon to tackle in an election year was that of presenting a

pro-poor image of the government. Allied to the question of poverty

alleviation has been the larger question of bringing down the rate of

inflation, which is of concern both to the poor and to the industrial

sector with a view to bringing down costs. Doubts have been

expressed by the media as also by economists whether with the

increase in expenditure on social sectors and anti-poverty measures,

the government would be able to limit fiscal deficit to 5.5 percent of

GDP as targeted, with some commentators questioning the Finance

Minister's arithmetic.

Malik^^ paper is concerned with the possible impact of the

economic reforms undertaken by the government in the 1990s, on the

nature and incidence of poverty in India. The point of departure is the

observation from NSS data that poverty, which had not showed any

time trend at all till the mind - 1970s and the end-1980 but appears to

21 . Mahesh Prasad, "Fiscal Correction and Poverty Alleviation Go Hand In

Hand", Yojana. May 1995, pp. 17-19.
22 . M.S.Malik, "Economic Reforms and Effect on Poverty", Yojana. July 2000,
pp. 10-18.
 50

have increased again in tine 1990s. In other words, poverty appears to

have declined only in the decade and a half beginning the mtd-1970s

during which there was an explosion in public expenditure leading to

the fiscal crisis which, among other things, precipitated the economic

reforms in 1991. This suggests that there might be a much stronger

link between public expenditure and poverty reduction than is usually

appreciated, and this in turn has the implication that the reforms

process may actually impinge adversely on the poor of its focus to be

on the reduction of public expenditure. For this reason it is important to

identify the direct and indirect effects of public expenditure, and of

other aspects of the economic reform policies on poverty alleviation.

Martha Chen, Joann Vanek, James Heintz^^ paper seeks to

focus attention on the challenge of decent work for the working poor in

the informal economy. The findings presented here are based on

recent analyses of national data in a cross-section of developing

countries. The data illustrate the multi-segmented structure of the

labour force - both formal and infomaal - and the average earnings and

poverty risk associated with working in the different segments.

Metl Says^'' that India is a developing country with 104 crores

96 lakhs population out of which 70% of population is in rural area.

India is rich with poor people, rich with the natural resources, rich with

23 . Martha Chen, Joann Vanek, James Heintz, "Informality, Gender and Poverty
A Global Picture", Economic and Political Weekly. May 27, 2006. pp. 2131 -
2139.
24 . S.K. Metl, "Rde of Rural Youth and Poverty Alleviation", Kisan World.
September, 2004. p. 26.
 51

technology, rich with educated people, poor standard of living, poor in

technical know how to use the technology for tacking rural poverty

effectively.

To reduce poverty and population the youth should be educated

regarding fannily planning, ennployment opportunities with the

appropriate training for skillful development will definitely contribute to

reduce poverty.

Mohanan^^ endorsed that the poverty level in the country has

not declined notwithstanding the spectacular increase in the budget

estimates for poverty alleviation programme over the years. The forces

of competition unleashed by the liberalisation and reforms process

have blunted the poverty alleviation programmes hard-hitting the poor

and the underprivileged. Besides strengthening the programmes

further, structural and functional changes should be effected in their

design and implementation. Also, the very concept of poverty line

should be redefined linking it with the general well-being rather than to

a rigid level of calorific intake, the author opines.

Mukta S. Adi^^ his paper examines the broad trends in the

public expenditure of India on poverty alleviation programmes during

the post-economic reforms period.

25 . S. Mohanan, "Poverty alleviation Programmes in India - New Challenges",

Kurukshetra December 1997, pp. 56-59.
26 . Mukta S. Adi, "Public Expenditure on Poverty Alleviation", Poverty And Its
Alleviation. Deep & Deep Publication Pvt. Ltd. 2005. pp. 3-23.
 52

Munjal^^ Says that eradication of poverty has long been

recognized one of the major challenges confronting human society.

Over the last century or so, incidence of poverty has been more

pronounced in the third world countries. In the post-second v^orld war

era, when these countries secured independence, sharper focus was

trained on the problem of poverty. Initially, the view was that poverty

could best be addressed through the "trickel-down" effect of economic

growth. Growth in overall production creates the capacity to reduce

poverty, but perhaps, in needs long time to do so. In the last few

decades, serious doubts have been raised on whether the time

required to bring this about is acceptable or if it is possible at all to

eradicate poverty through this process in a sustainable manner.

Another issue that has arisen is that the countries in which a large part

of the population is poor, whether it is possible to achieve aggregate

growth without optimal use of the utilized capacity of the poor. To

overcome this deep rooted crisis, more direct attempts are required to

alleviate poverty, also structural reforms are heeded so that the poor

could improve systematically their output in quantitative and qualitative

terms.

Nadine Gordimer^^ said that like the bold concept of a year

dedicated to the eradication of poverty, the refusal to throw up

hands, internationally, and accept that a certain level of poverty has

27 . S. Munjai, "Reducing Poverty", Survey of Indian Economy, Raj Publishing

House, 1999, pp. 139-184.
28 . Nadine Gordimer, "Ihe sum of all our Hungers", Southern Economist.
November 1,1997. p.22.
 53

been part of the human conditions since Adam and Eve were cast

out of Paradise, and will be with use forever.

The exploration of the truly human fullness of existence and

of the ever - expanding limits of our consciousness with conceptual

tools that rouse curiosity, wonderment at why we are here to earth,

what influences and forms our attitudes to one another, to other

creatures, to that layer of being, our environment, which encases us -

the mind that has no access to these, no access to music beyond pop

jingles, literature beyond the bubble text of comics, beauty of form

beyond the poses of cover girls, is in a state of poverty. First feed

the belly, then talk aesthetics? Yes. But lest us understand and

poverty as the sum of all its hungers, the conscious and the

unconscious ones of its victims. Our responsibility is all -

encompassing, this and every year.

Nagoor^^ that the strategy of direct attacking on poverty is of

recent origin. Only with the Fifth Plan, poverty alleviation came to be

accepted as one of the principal objectives of economic planning in this

country. Of course, India has been aware for a long time of the need to

alleviate absolute poverty, particularly in the rural areas. The early

classic study of Indian poverty is Dababhai Naoroji's (1901) "Poverty

and Un-British Rule in India".

29. B.H.Nagoor, "Poverty Alleviation Issues and Challenges", Poverty and Its
Alleviation. Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2005. pp. 61-67.
 54

Until the late 1970, decision - making in the government and

planning commission were of the view that the trickle down effects of

growth could alleviate poverty in the country in the coming years. But it

did not 'benefit' automatically and inequal proportion to all regions and

sections of the population, for a variety of reasons. Since then, the

planners realised, the need of a determined and specific programmes

for the alleviation of the poverty in the country. These targeted poverty

alleviation programmes did improve the absolute poverty in the country

both in rural and urban area. According to official estimate, in rural

area the poverty ratio has declined from 56.4% in 1973-74 to 45.7% in

1983 and 37.3% in 1993-95 to 27% in 1999-2000, and in urban area

poverty ratio has declined from 49.0% in 1973-74 to 40.8% in 1983

32.4% in 1993-94 to 23.6% in 1999-2000.

Naik^° disclosed the truth that the process of social mobilisation

can lead to sustainable development and poverty eradication. But the

success of social mobilisation depends to a large extent on the policy

frame work of the Government and other parameters. Social

mobilisation is the critical element, centre - piece and fulcrum around

which the UNDP programmes revolve. The basic premise and

conviction on which the programme is firmly based is "the willingness

within the people to help themselves. This potential is being harnesses

by providing social guidance through the triad of social organisation,

30 . N.T.K. Naik, "Poverty Alleviation Through Social Mobilisation - A Strategy",

Kisan World. January 2000. pp. 29-30.
 55

skill development and capital fomnation which if implemented would go

a long way in enabling the social mobilisation strategy to succeed.

Sharma^^ said that realising that agriculture sector alone cannot

reduce rural poverty on a sustained basis, government initiated

several programmes to directly provide employment and attack the

problem of rural poverty. Side by side, initiatives were taken to

improve the quality of human life by investing in health, education,

drinking water, sanitation and so on. It was hoped that these steps

would not only drastically reduce poverty but also create conditions for

the benefits of growth to trickle down.

The problem on rural unemployment in India is one of low-

income employment. The sustainable solution lies in increasing the

productivity of agricultural sector by accelerating public and private

investment in infrastructure technology and skills. A well-diversified

agricultural growth will enhance the employment opportunities. At the

same time, the dynamism of rural non-farm sector should be exploited

by deregulating this sector to make it attractive to investors.

Pattanaik^^ says that "Lift sustaining" Basic Needs the prime

responsibility of a nation is to provide basic amenities to its people and

raise their quality of life. People have certain basic needs without

which life would be impossible and these "life sustaining" basic human

31 . Pradeep K.Sharma, "Unemployment and Poverty in Rural Areas",

Kurukshetra. April - 2000, pp. 2-8.
32 . B.K. Pattanaik, "Poverty, Basic Needs and Rural Livelihood", Kurukshetra,
September 2005. pp. 33-38.
 56

needs include food, shelter, health and protection. Employment

creation in the rural informal sector, creation of self-employment and

increase in income through the diversification of agriculture and

promotion of allied sector and small scale and cottage industries would

be helpful in the eradication of poverty besides ensuring basic needs.

Puran Singh^^ said that Government has made an array of

interventions in the past for reduction of rural poverty. One such

intervention is provision of wage employment for the poor. Sampooran

Grameen Rozgar Yojana, a centrally sponsored wage - employment

programme of the Ministry of Rural Development was launched on 25*^

September, 2001 with an annual outlay of Rs.10,000 crores. The

Programme is self-targeting in nature and is open to all rural poor.

Government has made an array of Interventions in the past for

reduction of rural poverty. One such intervention is provision of wage

employment for the poor. Several wage employment programmes like

NREP (1980), RLEGP (1983), JRY (1988), EAS (1993), JGSY (1999),

have been in operation in the past for rural poor. Sampooran Grameen

Rozgar Yojana, a centrally sponsored wage employment programme of

the Ministry of Rural Development is latest among them. Programme

was launched on 25^*^ September 2001 with an annual outlay of

Rs. 10,000 crores by merging, the hitherto on-going schemes of the

Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS), (the only additional wage

33. Puran Singh, "Sampooran Grameen Rogar Yojana and EEmployment

Generation: An Assessment, Kurukshetra. August 2005. pp. 15-21.
 57

employment scheme for rural areas) and the Jawahar Gram Samridhi

Yojana (JGSY) (a rural infrastructure development scheme).

Rachna Suchinamayee^ said that A human right approach to

poverty reduction provides a conceptual framework for the process of

sustainable development. It is a normative framework derived from

internationality accepted human rights standards and it is one that can

be operationally directed towards promoting and protecting the human

rights of people living in poverty. The draft plan of implementation for

the world summit on sustainable development, recognzed poverty

eradication as the greatest global challenge facing the world today and

an indispensable requirement for the sustainable development.

Rajagopalan^^ echoed that poverty dimension by 2000. AD

depends on a number of factors and policy commitments on a long

terms basis. • Consumption expenditures based poverty will decline

only when the inequality in the consumption expenditure declines and

the extent to which lower deciles of population increase their

consumption expenditure at constant prices.

The direct attack on poverty has brought only 10 percent of

the people exposed to the programme above the poverty level on

a temporary basis. If this trend continues, 50 percent of the

population will be below the poverty line even at 2000 AD. This

34 . Rachna Suchinmayee, "A Human Right Approach to the Disaster of Poverty

in India". Economic Affairs. June. 2005. pp. 114-128.
35. S.Rajagopalan, "Profile of Poverty in India by Nex Century", Southern
Economist. November 1,1997. pp. 18.-19.
 58

depends on the income growth and its distribution pattern. When

nearly 50 percent of the population are poor by definition and believed

to be so, the benefits of anti - poverty programmes now and it future

has to be gauged for predicting poverty levels of the century by 2000

AD. In additions the general economic programmes, income

generation and distribution by 2000 AD will also influence, poverty

level. If price hike, wage rise, inflation are not compatible as it is now,

the overall impact may even be negative.

Ram Vichar Slnha^^ declared that poverty ercidication

programmes through rural development schemes have got a

considerably significant place in almost all the Five - Year Plans but

their content and focal points have been varying from plan to plan.

Satendra^^ opined that In India more than 320 million people

live under the poverty line; out of this 244 millions are in rural areas.

Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India through its

various programmes and schemes is engaged in the job of poverty

alleviation in rural areas. Despite its best intended efforts, it could

not achieve the planned target for poverty alleviation from the rural

India and still more than 36% population of the country is forced to live

a miserable life. In the present paper an attempt is made to analyse

the causes for this partial failure in the field of poverty alleviation and

36. Ram Vichar Sinha, "Poverty Alleviation Programmes", Economic

Development of India, Ashish Publishing House, pp. 165.175.
37. Satendra, "Management Tools for Poverty Alleviation Programmes",
Kurukshetra. July 2001. pp. 21-24.
 59

its programmes. Various techniques and methods based on new

concepts of budgeting and accountancy for measuring the progress

and performance have been suggested for programmes' efficiency,

effectivity and sustainability.

Satish Shrivastav^^ said that India comprises of 22% of the

world's poor. Nearly 260 million people in the country are deprived

of the bare minimum needs of the life. Poverty is associated with low

quality of life, malnutrition, deprivation and illiteracy. It leads to poor

development of human resources. Therefore, alleviation of poverty

has been a major component of economic development in India.

P.N.Sharma^^ declared that Alleviation of Poverty has

consistently been one of the major objectives of our Five year Plans.

The earlier Five Year Plans had generally proceeded on the

assumption that the normal programmes of development would raise

the living conditions of the poor through the trickle - down benefits.

The trickle - down hypothesis means that rapid growth of per capita

income will trickle - down in improved level of living for the very

poor. In the context of rural India, this theory has been interpreted to

mean that agricultural growth without major institutional reform will

reduce poverty.

38 . Satish Shrivastav, Quotedy S.N. Missa "Poverty Alleviation Programmes;

Their Impact", Poverty and its Alleviation. Deep & Deep Publication Pvt. Ltd.
2005. pp. 49-59.
39 . P.N.Sharma, "Poverty Alleviation Programmes and Poverty Reduction",
Poverty and Its Alleviation. Deep & Deep Publication Pvt. Ltd. 2005, pp.
68-78.
 60

Sibnath Bhattacharya"" said that the package of poverty

alleviation programmes will continue at an accelerated pace in the

Seventh plan. The Sixth Plan envisaged the reduction of the

percentage of people below the poverty line to less than 10 by 1984-

85. This will continue to be the goat. The attainment of this goal will

require a larger investment in the programmes aimed at giving self-

employment and wage-employment to the poorer section of the

community.

Since the incidence of poverty varies among and within the

States, there has to be a degree of selectivity in terms of approach,

outlays and programmes for different areas. The defects and

drawbacks that have come to light in the implementation of the

programme have to be remedied. The tendency to view poverty

alleviation activities in isolation has to be given up, and effective

linkages have to be forged with other developmental activities in the

rural areas to ensure that the flow of benefits from all these schemes

coverage on the poverty - stricken group as a package. They have to

be implemented in an integrated manner.

Simha"*^ opined that Hundreds of able and clever economists

have been making fortunes by writing on the various aspects of

poverty - extent, causes and ways and means of its eradication,

40 . Sibnath Bhattacharya, "Poverty Alleviation Measures in the Seventh Five-

year Plan", Rural Poverty in India, Ashish Publishing House, pp. 269-274.
41 . S.L.N.Simha, "Poverty Eradication", Southern Economist, November, 1997.
pp.1-6.
 61

through action on many fronts. The majority of them, it would

appear, did not experience any poverty in their eariy years. This

author lays claim to being a poverty economist, not an expert on

poverty economics, but one who was the victim of poverty for many

years in the early part of his like and who also saw much stark

poverty around, and who later became a student of economics!.

Active involvement of Government is essential for poverty

reduction, together with substantial non - government effort,

especially by private sector industry and various institutions and

agencies engaged in rendering public service in a variety of ways.

Sivasubramanian''^ Visualized that based on the success of the

Group Credit, Government has formulated an innovative scheme

integrating all credit based Anti Poverty schemes and implementing

them through group approach. Considering the magnitude of the

financial outlay and the outreach in terms of the number of people to

be covered under the new approach, if successful, is likely to set a

trend for other developing countries to follow. The Paper analyses

the genesis of the anti - poverty schemes in India, their multiplicity,

their past achievements and shortcomings and highlights as to how

the present strategy makes distinct break from the past. It is,

however, argued that, to be successful, certain essential

42. M.N. Sivasubramanian, "Credit Based Poverty Alleviation Programme,

Kurukshetra. November 1999. pp. 37-41.
 62

organisational, institutional and financial aspects have got to be

incorporated for its success.

Syed Neman Ahmad'*^ viewed that poverty alleviation

sustainable development are one of the most debated issued in recent

times. While it is generally clear what constitutes poverty or what

constitutes parameters, or contours ore dimensions of poverty

conditions under various situations, no one approaches very clearly the

economic environment required for any development plan that is

designed to alleviate poverty

The aim of this paper is to argue that the very approach to

economic reforms targeting poverty alleviation and sustainable

development becomes meaningless if it is not accompanied by the

concurrent reforms in adininistrafion. The great many shortcomings

and failures of our developmental efforts at the grassroots level may be

ascribed to the implementing machinery that is woefully inadequate in

many respects and in particular not geared to tackle the problems at

the ground level. The paper focuses on the key factor or input that is

essential for realising any socioeconomic objective that is, the whole

gamut of the administrative machinery for achieving success in the

development process.

43 . Syed Noman Ahmad, "Critical issues in Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable

Development", Poverty and Sustainable Development. Abhiject Publications,
Delhi - 2005. pp. 79-89.
 63

Thakur'*^ said that equity Dimension of growtli study of poverty

in social perspective : The growth achieved during the reforms

period has not been of a magnitude as to ensure steep decline in

i

poverty. There is no unanimity of opinions whether decline in poverty

was higher in 1990s as compared to 1980s. We have four sources of

information regarding the comparative scenario of poverty reduction

between pre & post reforms periods. Official estimates show that

rural poverty declined from 45.7 per cent in 1983 to 37.3 per cent in

1993 - 94. It declined by 8.4 percentage points over a 10 and a half

- year period implying 0.8 percentage points decline per annum. In

the post reforms period, it declined 10.2 percentage points over a 6

- year period, indicating 1.7 percentage points decline per annum.

Similarly in urban areas, the average annual decline in pre and past

reforms periods were 0.80 and 1.47 percentage points respectively.

Thus decline of poverty in rural and urban areas was higher in the

1990s as compared to 1980s.

The estimate made by Deaton and Dreze (2202), the rate of

reduction in rural poverty during 1993 - 94 and 1999 - 2000 was

similar to that of the chances between 1987 - 88 and 1993 - 94. In

both periods, rural poverty declined 6 to 7 percentage points. Their

estimates also show that urban poverty is only 12 percent in 1999 -

44 . B.K.Thakur, "Poverty Among Tribals ; A Comparative Study of Pre-reform

and post reform periods", Southern Economist, July 1, 2006. pp. 27-30.
 64

2000, which is significantly different from the official estimate (23.6

percent).

Sundaram & Tendulkar (2003) used comparable mixed

reference period (MRP) based measures in 50'^ round in order to

compare them with 55*^ round estimates. Their estimates show that

rural poverty declined from 49 percent in 1983 to 39.8 per cent in

1993 - 94 (uniform reference period). Rural poverty declined by 9.3

percentage points during a ten and half year period, indicating 0.9

percentage point decline per annum. In the post - reform period,

poverty declined from 34.2 per cent in 1993 - 94(mixed reference

period) to 28.9 per cent in 1999 - 2000, showing a 5.3 percentage

points decline (0.90 percentage points per annum) during the

reforms period.

Their estimates for rural poverty thus show that the rate of

poverty decline during 1990 was similar to that of the 1980s.

Sundaram & Tendulkar (2003) however, divide the average annual

decline with initial values of poverty rations and show that the rate of

decline in rural poverty was higher in both rural and urban poverty.

Infact, the rate of decline in urban poverty was lower in the 1990s as

compared to 1980s.

Sen and Himanshu (unpublished study 2003) after making

several adjustments observed in their studies that rural poverty

declined from 31.6 per cent in 1993 - 94 to 28.8 per cent in 1999 -
 65

2000 i.e a marginal decline by only 3 percentage points with an

average annual decline of 0.5 percentage points during 1 9 9 3 - 0 4

to 1999 - 2000. According to their study, the decline in urban

poverty was also similar during the same period.

Thakur and Thakur"*^ Said that impact of economic reforms

the new economic polity of India, introduced in July 1991, has

unleashed a series of reforms leading to liberalisation, globalisation,

privatisation and transparency. Radical changes have been made in

trade and foreign exchange regulations and industrial policies.

Economic policies and reforms must be formulated and

implemented with human face and egalitarian outlook, and regional

disparities must be narrowed. In every successive budget, there

should be an upward revision in the allocations for social sector and

rural development in real terms having full regard to inflationary

spiral. It is the urgent need of the hour to aim economic grov\4h

more directly at the poor.

UNDP"^ Responsed that More progress has been made in

reducing global poverty in the past five decades than in the previous

five decades than in the previous five centuries.. Developing countries

have halved child death rates since 1960, reduced malnutrition by one

-third and raised school enrolment rates by one-quarter of the

45 . S.P.Thakur and P.K.Thakur, "Challenge of Poverty and Economic Reforms",

Southern Economist, November 1, 1997, pp. 15.
46. UNDP, "World Poverty ; UNDP Response" Southern Economist. November,
1,1997. pp. 7-8.
 66

developing world's population lives in "human poverty," lacking the

basics required for a decent life. Almost one-third - or 1.3 billion

people- currently lives on less than a dollar a day. Nearly a billion

people are illiterate. Well ;over a billion lack access to sate water.

Some 840 million go hungry every day and face food insecurity.

Women comprise 70 percent of the world's poor. Nearly a third of the

people living in the least- developed countries are not expected to live

to the age of 40.

In focusing on poverty eradication, UNDP has adopted a

simplified resource allocation formula under which 60 percent of its

core (non - earmarked) resources go to the least-developed countries,

and 87 percent to low-income countries with annual per capita income

of $ 750 or less. These low-income countries are home to 90 percent

of the world's people living in absolute poverty.

In 1994 and 1995 UNDP allocated 39 percent of its core

resources to projects directly concerned with poverty eradication and

sustainable livelihoods: 32 percent to promoting good governance,

without which poverty eradication is not feasible: and 21 Percent to

capacity building to protect and regenerate the environment, the state

of which is linked with poverty eradication.