Poverty is a complex problem with many causes and effects. The document defines poverty as a lack of basic needs like food, shelter, healthcare, and education. It discusses absolute poverty, which is not being able to afford minimum living requirements, versus relative poverty, which is defined in comparison to others. Common causes of poverty include population growth, underutilized resources, low agricultural productivity, and unemployment. The effects of poverty especially impact children, women, and education levels. The government of India has implemented various programs and schemes aimed at reducing poverty through rural employment, infrastructure development, and social welfare programs.

2. Economics Project
Topic :- Poverty
Presented to :Presented by :-

3. POVERTY
 INTRODUCTION
India‟s economic structure has changed dramatically over last 5-6
decades; among the most dynamic economies recently.
• Benefits of growth not widely spread to various sections in society,
reached only marginally to low income groups.
•
 WHAT IS POVERTY
•
The world bank describes poverty as :
“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack
of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor.
Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to
read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one
day at a time.”

4. POVERTY LINE
 Poverty Line is drawn on the basis of Expenditure that is
necessary to Secure the Minimum Acceptable Living Standard for
Work & Efficiency.
 Since, Food is the most Basic Requirement, thus, Poverty Line is
drawn on the basis of a Minimum Necessary Nutritional Standard
expressed in terms of Calories per Day.
 In India, the Minimum Calories intake of a Person has been put at
2,400 in Rural Area & 2,100 in Urban Areas.
 To convert this Calorie intake based Poverty Line into a Monetary
Measure
of
Poverty;
the
Cost
of
Minimum
Consumption
Requirements of Food providing the minimum calories is
calculated at prevailing Price.
 Thus, Government defined a Person with an Income of Less than
Rs.672 (Rural) & Rs.859 (Urban) per month as living below Poverty

5. TWO WAYS OF POVERTY
 Relative Poverty : Relative Poverty refers to the Income or Asset Position of one
Class or Group of People in comparison with the other Classes or
Groups, or of one Individual.
 The essential point here is that Poverty of One is Relative to the
Richness of the other.
 For Example, an Average Middle Class Person is Poor when
compared to the Upper Middle Class Person, who in turn, may be
poorer than the Richer Person and so on.

6. Absolute Poverty : It is associated with a Minimum Level of Living or Minimum
Consumption Requirements of Food, Clothing, Housing,
Health, etc.
 All those People who fail to Secure Income or Assets to
have access to even these Minimum Consumption
Requirements are classified as „Poor‟.
 Is relevant for the Less‐Developed Countries.

7. METHODS OF POVERTY
 EXPENDITURE METHOD : Under this the minimum food requirements for survival is
estimated.
 The food value is converted into calories.
 The caloric value of food is then converted into the money value
i.e. in rupees.
 The total equivalent amount is considered as the poverty line.
 INCOME METHOD : This method is used by the government while distributing food
through PDS at the local level.
 Under this a poverty line is fixed by the government.
 All the families whose total income is less than the poverty line
fixed by the government are considered as BPL.

8. CAUSES OF POVERTY
Rapidly
Rising
Population
Under
Utilized
Resources
Low
Productivity in
Agriculture
CAUSES
OF
POVERTY
Low Rate of
Economic
Development
Social
Factors
Unemployment
Price Rise

9. EFFECTS OF POVERTY
 Effects of poverty are divided into 3 parts :1) Effects on Children
2) Effects on Women
3) Effects on Education

10. 1.Effects on children:
22,000 children die each day
 27-28 % of all children in develping
countries are underweight
 10.6 million died in 2003

For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world,
there are:
 640 million without adequate shelter
 400 million with no access to safe water
 270 million with no access to health services

11. 2.Effects
on Women:
 70% of the world's poor represent a staggering population.
 Of the 500,000 women who die in childbirth every
year, 99% live in developing countries.
 4 million girls and women were sold.
3.Effects on Education:
 About 72 million children of primary school age in the
developing world were not in school 57 per cent of them
were girls.
 Nearly a billion people were uneducated after entering 21st
century.
 121 million out of education worldwide.

12. : Govt. Policy Regarding Reduction of Poverty
 The Govt, of India took certain measures to reduce poverty, inequality of
income and wealth in its five year plan periods. Followings are some steps
taken by the Govt, from time to time.
1. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
2. National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)
3. Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP)
4. Jawahar Rozgar Yojna
5. Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment
6. Development of Women and Children
7. Drought Prone Area Programme
8. Desert Development Programme
9. Employment Exchanges
10. Employment Guarantee Scheme
11. Employment Assurance Scheme