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Home , Poverty in India, Secondary poverty

International Journal of Research and Review Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Website: www.ijrrjournal.com Review Article E-ISSN: 2349-9788; P-ISSN: 2454-2237

Problem of in

Ankuran Alok

LL.M. I Semester, Noida International University, Greater Noida

ABSTRACT he calls secondary poverty. The recent studies done by Thomas Picketty and Lucas Hegel used to say that “poverty is a social in their essay from to Billionaire phenomenon’’. Mahatma Gandhi thought that Raj, they argue that the gap between the rich poverty was the worst crime to be committed by and poor in 2013-2014 was the most glaring any civil society. Poverty in India has two one as it had been in 1921-1922. [1] In India, facets, one, social and another socio-economic. Those who are poor socially are generally poor despite several efforts by the government to educationally and economically. Poverty in lift the poor out of the poverty drag, still mostly counted in absolute terms. there are millions who don’t have access to According to Damien and Rafi, poverty in India the basic amenities of life. is visible to the naked eye of anyone who tries The intensity of poor and the to understand it. According to them a poor downtrodden in India is a matter of serious cannot afford even to send his children to the concerns for both policy makers and government funded school where primary academia. [2] It is because of its widespread education provided free of any fees. He also implications. In absolute numbers, India could not afford to get his children treated in a accounts for largest number of poor persons primary care centre run by the amounting to nearly 300 million persons government. Incidence of poverty in India has been highlighted by several economist a few of with a huge percentage of them being forced to live in abject poverty due to socio- them consist of Prof. Amartya Sen, and [3] Jeanedreze, Suresh Tendulkar, N.C. Saxena to economic vulnerabilities. While quote a few. According to them around 25 measuring their plight on the basis of Sen percent populations still live in abject poverty. coefficient and multi-dimensional index, it Even the has conceded that appears that majority of people living urban around 20 crore people in India live in a state of and rural areas still struggle to eke out their abject poverty with no access to portable living. drinking water, sanitation, and two square While defining poverty, economists rely meals. upon subsistence level data which is

axiomatic and widely accepted across the Keywords: Poverty, Socio-economic, Government, Population, Social phenomenon world. Indian Poverty Measures: A Chronology INTRODUCTION Poverty lines as determined during One of the ironies of our rapidly the British Raj were flawed an initio simply developing and increasingly progressive because most of such lines were dependent world is that poverty continues to remain upon a contextual sense of adequacy. In widespread and rampant, and the vulnerable 1979, subsistence needs were systematically population seems to have grown ever more linked to nutritional needs and household vulnerable. Ragner Nurske considers that spending patterns. Calorie norms of 2,400 those who are poor remain poor simply per capita per day for rural India and 2,100 because at the mental and physical level for urban India were adopted, and the they suffer from the pangs of poverty, which expenditure equivalents of these norms were identified through the empirical distribution

International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 174 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Ankuran Alok. Problem of poverty in india of consumer expenditure from the NSS consumer price index for industrial workers survey of 1973–1974. [4] The studies during (CPIIW) for their urban counterparts. The 1970s conducted my M.S. Ahluwalia, V.N. updating of poverty lines was done purely Gadgil etc. became the new poverty lines on the basis of these cost estimates. [6] for both rural and urban areas in India. Most Over the years, this method lost of these studies assumed that per capita credibility. The price data were flawed and consumption expenditure or household successive poverty lines failed to preserve expenses generally a period of one month or the original calorie norms. Dr. Manmohan one year, was the right statistical choice for Singh government decided to further set up calculating poverty in India. Implicitly, an expert committee with Suresh Tendulkar subsistence was defined as the bundle as its head in 2005 and on the basis of consumed by households at these calorie whose report a new poverty line was levels. published in 2009. The report was officially Poverty alleviation has been on the adopted by the Planning Commission in national policy agenda for more than 2011. The Tendulkar Committee did not seventy years. During the National relate poverty lines to calories. However, for movement the Congress was also working the sake of continuity, it anchored the hard to spell out a future plan for adopting all‐India urban head count for 2004–2005 to the strategy of planned development once 25.7 percent, the official estimate under the India got independence. Accordingly, old procedure. Using this normalization, it in1938, the set up then arrived at rural and urban poverty lines a National Planning Committee (NPC) for each state using elaborate methods for headed by , which made a estimating regional price variations based declaration that the social objective of the on the aggregation of 23 price indices for Indian government should be ‘to ensure an different categories of expenditure. [7] adequate standard of living for the general The latest estimates on poverty masses, in other words, to get rid of the based on National Sample Survey (NSS) appalling poverty of the people’. The data show that poverty in India in 2011-12 importance of reduction in poverty and was around 22 per cent. [8] In other words, provision of other basic needs has been more than 300 million people are still below emphasized in all the five-year plans since poverty line in India. These numbers on independence particularly since the Fifth poverty indicate that the social objective Five-Year Plan. The government concerned declared by the NPC headed by Jawaharlal had adopted a two-pronged strategy, one, Nehru in 1938 is largely unaccomplished promoting economic growth and another even after nearly sixty years of direct action for alleviating poverty. [5] independence. Until the 1990s, no attempt was Poverty has many-sided realities made to capture differences in prices or which one calls multi-dimensional (viz., spending patterns across states. Poverty income poverty and non-income poverty). It estimates were revised with each covers not only levels of income and quinquennial NSS survey and price indices consumption, but also health and education, were used to adjust for price changes over vulnerability and risk, and marginalisation time. In 1993, an expert group set up by the and exclusion of the poor from the Planning Commission recommended mainstream of society. As shown by Dreze state‐specific poverty lines based on and Sen (1995), the performance of India in regional prices, which captured the cost of terms of non-income indicators (such as, living for poor households. For each state, education and health) has not been the new price deflators were the consumer satisfactory. This is not to deny that price index for agricultural labourers progress has certainly been made in (CPIAL) for rural populations and the reduction in poverty has been, however,

International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 175 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Ankuran Alok. Problem of poverty in india slow as compared to many other countries, 2004-2005 they constituted 37 percent of particularly those of South-East and East the total population, but 2011-2012 their Asia. percentage declined to 22 percent. In fact, In the post-reform period, there has the above data was culled from the reports been a debate about the impact of reform of the NSSO released by the Ministry of policies on poverty, inequality, and Statistics Programme Implementation. [9] employment. The objective of this chapter is Ever since Tendulkar Committee to put together the evidence on poverty and which used the methodology for poverty income distribution in the pre-and post- estimate mostly on the basis of consumption reform periods. An attempt is also made to expenditure, has since been a source of present the findings of various studies that debate as it leaves out many aspects of have identified the components of reforms poverty such as secondary poverty. having impact on these indicators. We However, Tendulkar Committee used the concentrate on income poverty in this same methodology which had been in chapter. practice ever since early 1970s. [10] Trends in poverty can be examined in two NSSO report of 2011-2012 suggest ways. One way is to directly estimate that despite the decrease in poverty ratio poverty ratios from the NSS consumer across the state, there are very big gap in the expenditure. One can also examine poverty percentage of poor living below the poverty situation indirectly by looking at the trends line in these states. For example, in in employment, unemployment, and real the poverty ratio fell from 54.4 percent in wages of workers. In this chapter, we will 2004-2005 to 33.7 percent in 2011-2012, concentrate on poverty ratios using NSS but in instead of it consumer expenditure data. Trends in falling, it rose by 3.6 percent that is, it rose employment and wages will be discussed in from 31.1 percent to 34.7 percent. Whereas the later chapters. The impact of reforms on in the decrease was only 3.2 percent, poverty may differ depending on whether whereas in it was only 2.4 percent. we are considering rural or urban sectors. The above marked disparity indicates that Are there any differences in the trends in bureaucratic machinery and political rural and urban poverty? Another issue leadership have not been able to bring about relates to absolute poverty and income any uniform transformation in the reduction distribution. The market-oriented reforms of poverty. have different effects on different social and Causes of Poverty in India economic groups within an economy. There 1. When the population rises at a whopping may be winners and losers even among the rate it leads to poverty in a country like poor. In a large continental economy like India. This further leads to high level of India, the reforms may have differential illiteracy, poor health care facilities and impact on different regions of the country. lack of access to financial resources. Therefore, we look at poverty by regions Moreover, when the population reaches and social groups. an inflection point which is generally Before the Planning Commission referred to as population explosion, was disbanded by the Modi government in economic growth is broadly affected and January 2015, the data on poverty as a as a result the per capita income also percentage of Indian population especially declines. [11] It is but natural that those living had been population in India would reach, as is released by the planning commission. In the most wild guess and estimation, 1.5 July 2013, accordingly, the planning billion by 2026 almost either equal to commission released data which showed that of or more than that. And, that those living below the poverty line in conversely, if India’s economy falters India had been constantly decreasing- in behind the estimated line, it would lead

International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 176 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Ankuran Alok. Problem of poverty in india

to declining income coupled with power, telecommunication, roads, railways increasing unemployment. Should this etc. which require long gestation period. If happen, one need to provide jobs to this does not happen it would lead to greater nearly 20 million unemployed every unemployment with productive labour force year. In this case there would be a being thrown out of the gear. [14] burgeoning population growth with As a result, the demographic relieve majority of people being pushed to the on land has been increasing resulting in poverty drag. [12] unemployment, and disguised 2. It is a basic economic sense that if rising unemployment in informal sector and demand is not matched by the rising agriculture. Thus has caused low poverty, supply in proportion to the demand, the productivity, and low incomes. prices of basic commodities would see a 4. Rate of inflation and level of food prices rise with the result the poor would is an important factor that causes further face the plight of poverty. The poverty. Inflation, especially rise in food government of India then had to face the prices, raises the cost of minimum wrath of the people which might cost it consumption expenditure required to dearly in politics. [13] meet the basic needs. [15] Therefore, 3. The informalisation of the Indian inflation especially makes a dent in the economy has given rise to pocket of the poor as a result of the rises unemployment and under• employment in food prices which consequently, pulls whose data is difficult to be collected down several households further below even by the government agencies. In so the poverty line. far as India’s semi urban and rural That is why Public Distribution economy is concerned this incidence is System has been designed to provide food- more pronounced. Hence, National grains and other essential items such as Commission on Enterprises in Kerosene oil, standard cloth, pulses at unorganised sector estimates that there subsidised prices, that is, prices which are are around 80 percent population in lower than the free market prices. India which hardly has access to full However, most of Public time employment and hence, should be Distribution Ration Shops are located in the counted among the unemployed. This urban areas. Therefore, the rural poor which has created a worrisome situation for the constitute 70 per cent of the total poor policy makers and the analyst as to how cannot get much benefit from the food to cope with the seasonal subsidies provided by the Government. [16] unemployment, and that to when the 5. Besides above, the unskilled labourers child labour is still being a reality with are paid very low wages despite the fact majority of children being employed in that they do hard work on daily basis. stone cutting, brass making, lock Hence, the problem lies with the making, slate making industries. Once structure and style of functioning of an economic slum with a brief spell unorganised sector which are largely grips such industries, the childhood is still out of the regulatory framework of lost as an army of unemployed while at the government. The owners of such the same time being deprived of the sectors are by and large exploitative in opportunities of compulsory education nature and make full use of the provided at the expense of the state. loopholes in the government system. For any emerging economy as India Their primary concern is to minimise is, it is necessary that capital formation cost and prop up more profit. Due to this should take place at regular intervals with fact which is a tailing and sordid saga of the state owning up the responsibility for labour exploitation, unskilled workers investment in infrastructural sectors like have no other option but to work for less

International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 177 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Ankuran Alok. Problem of poverty in india

money. The government must explore rural person suffers more than the urban ways and means to impose minimum one. wage standards for these workers with Many other parameters are also owners flouting the guidelines are taken involved in few of them are to task. lack of political stability and high rate of corruption, discrimination on basis of cast Urban and Rural Poverty in India and gender, lack of regulated landlord Initially poverty was only supposed arrangements and old and worthless to be limited in rural areas. Although in economic policies often make it tough for India people from both rural and urban part the rural person to emerge from condition of are suffering from problem of poverty. This poverty. was one of the major grounds because of Also, in urban areas challenges are which Rangaranjan committee considered in different form for example, to get a job rural and urban poverty in separate basket one need to have certain skills which rather than in same one as done earlier by generally the migrants from rural areas find Tendulkar committee. tough to gain. This further worsens their Income poverty being subset of conditions. Their dreams fall short and the poverty can be defined as scarcity of enough cruel sustains. money in order to provide food, clothing or It is difficult for urban people to find shelter. The overall harmful impact of adequate housing with a proper safety and poverty include greater exposure to sanitation without a proper income. In environmental disease such as, tobacco, addition to that a proper health care and and alcohol besides it few more education opportunities are very limited, severe issues are less parental involvement Crime and violence rate are also very high in school, excessively crowded and noisy in urban settings than in rural ones, living arrangements less cognitive threatening the authority of law enforcement stimulation, instable residential, negative, and the peace of mind of city dwellers. harsh and uncaring parenting, exposure to NSSO completed its 71st round of aggressive peer pressure, family insecurity survey where it had demonstrated that the and clashes, un-sufficient parental speed of reduction in poverty in rural areas inspection, need of emotional support. [17] have been less pronounced than it has been In rural areas we need more in urban areas. This report is supported by sophisticated medical facilities; the towns and study conducted by International are not concentrated and away from various Monetary Fund showing that due to the services and the public transportation are rapid growth of population in developing readily available. The academic countries rural poor flock to urban areas for qualifications of people living in these areas better economic opportunities. But finally, are generally low, most of the time they are they end up serving in a pitiable condition in not even high school graduate. urban areas making their living worse than According to the IMF report [18] in what it was in a rural areas. Recently, Times 2014, 63 percent of the world’s of India published an article in which it impoverished live in rural areas, prominent wrote that a rickshaw puller hardly earns challenges in these areas are Education, Rs.100 per day, but, if he is fortunate health care and sanitation in rural enough to earn between Rs. 150-200 he environments. To emerge from it people feels a happier lot. In fact, looking migrate to cities which results to raise in incisively at the rural urban poverty gap one poverty rate in urban areas. Wages in rural can say that due to the exodus of rural work areas are very low and exploiting and force to urban areas in search of greener because of poor services availability the pastures ha created a shortage of work force in rural areas thus enhancing a bargaining

International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 178 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020 Ankuran Alok. Problem of poverty in india power of the rural labour force, while at the and . FHFI seeks same time urban labour force is finding it to support and help the community and difficult to indulging bargaining which is grass-root organizations in activating the visible from their large presence at various Indian authorities to provide minimum labour chowks. [19] social support in the sectors mentioned As per the Statistics published by the above. [21] Times of India urban poverty in India is  Bill (2013): The Food over 25 percent, which means nearly 8 crore Security Bill was tabled in the people living in urban areas live below Parliament in 2011 and became an act poverty line. If we go by the urbanisation on 12 September 2013 making it one of trend as per 2011 census which shows that the largest food security schemes across over 30 percent of the Indian population live the world. in urban areas, which means by 2030 India’s Under the provisions of this law, urban population would stand at 50 percent. beneficiaries will get 5 kilogram of grains Accordingly, the ratio of urban poor is sure per person per month, including rice at Rs. to go up by around 17 percent. three per kilogram, wheat at Rs. two per kilogram and coarse grains at Rs. one per Solution & Steps Taken to Fight Against kilogram. The bill proposes meal Poverty in India entitlement to specific groups, including India has taken up various pregnant women and lactating mothers, programmes and schemes and to provide children between six months and fourteen employment to the poor so they can earn a years, malnourished kids, people affected by daily wage since 1980s. However, recent disaster, and those who are destitute, schemes in the past decade to reduce homeless and starving. The roll out entails poverty include: covering 75% of the rural population, since  National Rural Livelihood Mission: they happen to be the most deprived section Ajeevika (2011): The Ministry of rural in the society, and up to 50% of the urban Development launched this scheme in population. [22] 2011. It object to provide employment As the information provided by the Ministry which will make able rural poor for of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public good regular income on a monthly basis. Distribution in on 25 July 2017, To do so, self-help groups are formed in all the ration shops in and the villages to help those in need. [20] Puducherry have been closed. Both the  The Fight Hunger First Initiative (FHFI) union territories were to be allocated 91,584 Program (2011): It is often seen that tonnes of food grains for distribution among though numerous programs and schemes 857,000 consumers which has been stopped are started to help those in need, the from the year 2017-18 and replaced by assets do not reach the people who are in direct cash transfers so that people will be most need of them, be it due to able to use the ‘cash’ to buy goods of their exploitation, lack of awareness, or other choice from open markets. This might reasons. The Fight Hunger First inhibit the progress of food security in the initiative was taken up by the regions. government in 2011 to improve access  Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna of communities to the entitlements and (2015): This scheme was launched by rights accrued to them by the the Cabinet in March 2015 to provide government schemes like employment, skill training to 1.4 million youth with nutrition of child, basic education and an overlay of Rs 1120 crore. This is food supplies. The focus of this scheme done in partnership with the Ministry of is on most five backward states of India Skill Development and Entrepreneurship i.e. , , Orissa, via the National Skill Development

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Corporation. It focuses on helping in all its forms, everywhere” and “End newcomers into the labour market Hunger, achieve food security and catering to X and XII dropouts. improved nutrition, and promote  Farm Loan Waiver (2016-2018): Just sustainable agriculture”. This shows that before the State elections 2018 in the need of the hour is focusing on the Madhya Pradesh, and poverty and its most harsh side effect of , the government waived hunger. [25] farmers’ loans thus freeing them of the debt they were facing. This step was CONCLUSION previously taken by Telangana or in Poverty as mentioned earlier is other states in 2016. This step was primarily a social function. That’s why praised as well as criticised as it was a Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy who was a key temporary relief from the debts, it does figure in the judgment which is popularly not provide a long-term solution to the known as Indra Sawhney case or Mandal main problem at hand. [23] case providing 27 percent reservation to  10% Quota to Economically Weaker other backward classes in central Sections (2019): The Government of government jobs, says that backwardness is India announced 10% reservation for the mainly social moreover backwardness could economically weaker groups in general related to caste, occupation etc. but one category on 7 January 2019. The Union should be judged poor or backward on the Minister said that those who earn less basis of his or her social position. The than Rs 8 lakh a year and have less than Supreme Court in Ashok Kumar Thakur 5 acres land ownership will be eligible case in 2008 endorsed the above view of to avail the quota. Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy. Poverty therefore, can be eliminated from the Global Programmes Impacting Against society not through economic measures but Poverty in India through the participation of the community Many initiatives are being taken up at the in a way where historical wrongs are world level as well to solve the problem of corrected and the poor irrespective of their hunger and poverty. Some of these are: caste and creed see the light of the day and  Ending Child Hunger and are enabled by the state and the society to Undernutrition Initiative (ECHUI): This avail themselves of all the opportunities is a global initiative started by World made available by the state and society. It is Food Programme (WFP) that ensues only through this measure the poor can be global partnership and aims at reducing made to join the main stream of the causes and effects of child hunger development contributing their worth to the and undernutrition. It aims to marshal nation building. resources for actions on national levels to create awareness and address the REFERENCES issue on a global scale. On any given 1. Vicious Circle of Poverty and the Scarcity of Capital, available at day, WFP has 5,000 trucks, 20 ships http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/povert and 92 planes on the move, delivering y/problem-poverty/the-problem-of-poverty- foods and other assistance to those in in-india-an-overview/12842(last visited on [24] most need. 21st December 2019)  Agenda 2030: Agenda 2030 is the 2. Chandra Shekhar Gupta Boggarapu, shortened names given to the “Poverty in India”, Notion Press, Inc; 1 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) edition (23 May 2018) are 17 goals set by the UN General 3. Poverty in India, available at Assembly in 2015. The two important https://www.indiacelebrating.com/social- goals of the agenda are to “End Poverty

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International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 181 Vol.7; Issue: 1; January 2020