+91-8076753736 [email protected]
logo
logo

Poverty As A Challenge

Sponsor Area

Question
CBSEENSS9008088
Wired Faculty App

Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India?

Solution

The poverty line is estimated in India into the following  methods:

(i)Income Method — Under Income method, a minimum per capita income is fixed like in 1999-2000, the income was fixed at Rs. 328 per capita per month, and in urban areas it was Rs. 454. If any family has less than the fixed income, it is considered as below the poverty line. This method is used to distribute food at subsidized price through PDS.

(ii)Expenditure Method —

(a)Under this method the minimum nutritional food requirement for survival is estimated. The total minimum food requirement is firstly measured in calories. The calories is then converted into money value.

(b)A minimum amount which is required for clothes and other requirements is added to the money value of food. This total amount is considered as poverty line.

(c)All the families which spend less than the poverty line are considered as below the poverty line families. In India, the daily minimum nutritional requirement for a person has been fixed at 2400 calories in rural areas, and 2100 calories in urban areas.

Sponsor Area

Question
CBSEENSS9008089
Wired Faculty App

Do you think that the present methodology of Poverty estimation is appropriate?

Solution

No, the present methodology of poverty estimation is not appropriate.
It is only a quantitative concept. It captures only a limited part of what poverty really means to the people. It is about a ‘minimum’ subsistence level of living rather than a 'reasonable' level of living.

Question
CBSEENSS9008090
Wired Faculty App

Describe the poverty trends in India since 1973.

Solution

 

Poverty ratio (%)

Number of Poor

Year

Rural

Urban

Cambined

Rural

Urban

Combined

1973-74 1993-94

56.4 37.3

49.0 32.4

54.9 36.0

261 244

60 76

321 320

1999-00

27.1

23.6

26.1

193

67

260

(i)It is clear from the above table that there is substantial decline in poverty ratio in India from about 55 per cent in 1973 to 36 per cent in 1993.
(ii)The proportion of people below poverty line further came down to about 26 per cent in 2000.
(iii)If the trend continues, people below poverty line may come down to less than 20 per cent in the next few years.

Question
CBSEENSS9008091
Wired Faculty App

Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.

Solution

The major reasons for poverty in India are discussed below:


(i) One historical reason is the low level of economic development under the British Colonial administration.
(ii)The policies of the Colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged development of Industries like textile.

(iii)With the spread of irrigation and the Green Revolution many job opportunities were created in the agricultural sector. But the effects were limited to some parts of India.

(iv)Another reason of high poverty rate has been the huge income inequalities.
(v)One of the major reasons for this is the unequal distribution of land and other reasources.

Sponsor Area

Mock Test Series

Mock Test Series

NCERT Sample Papers

Entrance Exams Preparation