Actual Status of Poverty in India

Actual Status of Poverty in India  

Mains Exam: General Studies Question 3

(Poverty in India)

August 10, 2023

Foreword:

  • According to NITI Aayog, at present more than 13.5 crore people are not poor in the country. The rate of increase in poverty has come down from 47 to 44 percent. While the actual situation of poverty in the country is something else.

NITI Aayog Statistics Related to Poverty:

  • The number of poor is decreasing rapidly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. This decline in data is most depicted in rural areas, according to which, poverty has come down from 32.59 percent to 19.28 percent.
  • It has also decreased from 8.65 percent to 5.27 percent in cities.
  • However, the report also acknowledged that a large section of the country's population is currently struggling for basic needs like nutrition, health education etc.

Actual Status of Poverty in India:

Oxfam, 2023 Report

  • 'Oxfam' (in January 2023) report is telling some other reality of poverty in India.
  • According to this report, at present India has the highest number of poor in the whole world, out of which 22.89 crore people are living in unbearable poverty.
  • While the number of billionaires in the country has increased by 62.7451 percent. Isn't it surprising, if we look closely at this disproportionate ratio of reduction in poverty and increase in the number of rich, then some other truth comes to the fore.

Acknowledgment and Shared Prosperity, 2022

  • According to the World Bank's 'Powty and Shared Prosperity, 2022' report, in the last two years, 5.6 crore people of the country have slipped from their lower middle class status to below the poverty line.
  • Out of the total number of poor who have increased by 71 million in the world, 80 percent of them are from India alone.
  • The 'World Inequality Report', an assessment of India's highly unequal economy, shows that the future of the country's new generation of vulnerable, disadvantaged families is becoming increasingly insecure.
  • The top 10 percent of the elite is spending 57 percent of the national income and the top 10 percent of the population has become the owner of 22 percent of the income, as a result, the share of the bottom 50 per cent in the national income has been reduced to just 13 per cent.

Basic Reasons:

  • There are several underlying reasons for such a situation, which can be outlined here.
  • Catastrophic inflation and uncontrollable unemployment could be the basic reasons for this situation.
  • Village and city, the democratic structure of settlements in the country, divided into two units, there is a huge difference in basic structures
  • Due to dogmatic schemes, short-sightedness-injustice in economic undertakings, civilized-uncivilized development and backwardness.
  • Dependence of rural farmers on urban unproductive system for sale of manpower, land, livestock, grain, milk, fruits, vegetables etc.
  • Government's apathy and reluctance to implement labor laws
  • Controlling the productive classes of the villages, the main basis of livelihood, by the consent and partnership of the corporate superpowers,
  • • Increase in poverty in the country due to market driven modern development management.
  • • Huge increase in the number of destitute people
  • • In the year 2022, the number of people suffering from poverty has increased from 19 crores to 35 crores.
  • • Twenty one rich people have more capital than the wealth of 700 million people of the country.
  • • On another page of the same script of double standards, there is a 3.19 percent reduction in the salary of the employees and a nine percent increase in the salary of the CEO.
  • • Whereas the International Labor Organization recommends that the minimum wage limit should be set in such a way that it does not hinder the essential needs of the working families.
  • • From the womb of this inequality-disparity, the truth has also arisen that twenty one rich have got more capital than the wealth of seventy crore people of the country. With an increase of 121 per cent in his net worth in the last two years, his number has also increased from 101 to 166.
  • Disorganized growth, concepts of neo-urbanization and dominance of modern markets
  • Fading of the concept of Gramswarajya.
  • Rapid dispersal of the symbiotic fabric, whose effect is leaving no stone unturned to make the relationships unproductive, especially in the rural environment.
  • Non-implementation of MNREGA program with full transparency
  • Import of food grains in large quantities
  • Continuous increase in migration from villages, backward areas, on the other hand people from the wealthy classes leave the metropolitan cities of the country and settle in foreign countries.
  • Short-sightedness in development plans.

Way Forward:

  • We have to reduce foreign imports and increase exports
  • Think that when we will import 50 lakh tonnes of pulses from abroad, then what will happen to the 'bowl of pulses' of Bundelkhand. About 130 lakh tonnes of edible oil is also being imported from abroad. The import bill has become three times more than the total agricultural budget of the country. In the last decade itself, the import bill has increased by 150 percent.
  • Instead of enriching the corporate houses and cities, the government should work to fulfill the interests of the farmers and the underprivileged of the country.
  • Emphasis should be given on the concept of Gram Swarajya in place of Public Distribution System.
  • A panel of agricultural experts should be formed for the formulation of agricultural policies so that they can give important suggestions towards eradicating poverty.

Conclusions:

  • Now the effect of Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan slogan has ended in the country. Currently, the country's new billionaires list includes thirty-two tycoons from the health sector, seven from the pharmaceutical industry, but not a single agriculturist. That is why, today it is difficult to believe the claims of reduction in poverty in the villages which were once the symbol of our rich culture. To impose all this on top, it seems like 'richness mixed with poverty'.

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Mains Exam Question

At present, India's estimated poverty is quite different from the actual poverty. In this context, underlining the causes of poverty, write your suggestions.