1. The document discusses poverty in India through the stories of two families - Ram Saran, a daily wage laborer in Jharkhand, and Lakha Singh, a landless farmer in Uttar Pradesh. 2. It outlines the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, which includes lack of food, healthcare, education, and stable income or employment. 3. The government of India has implemented various anti-poverty programs focused on employment generation, food security, and self-employment schemes. However, reducing poverty remains a significant challenge due to disparities between rural and urban areas.

1. Poverty as a
Challenge
Efforts By,
Ayesha,
IX - D

2.  In our daily life, we come
across many people who we
think are poor.
 They could be landless
labourers in villages or people
living in overcrowded jhuggis
in cities.
Introduction

3. Introduction
 They could also be beggars with
children in tatters.
 We see poverty all around us.
 In fact, every fourth person in
India is poor.

4.  This means, roughly 260 million
(or 26 crore) people in India live
in poverty.
 This also means that India has the
largest single concentration of the
poor in the world.
 This llustrates the seriousness of
the challenge.
Introduction

5. Urban Case
Two Typical Cases of Poverty:

6. • Thirty-three year old Ram Saran works as a daily-wage laborer in a
wheat flour mill near Ranchi in Jharkhand.
• He manages to earn around Rs 1,500 a month when he finds
employment.
• The money is not enough to sustain a family of six – including himself,
his wife, and four children [aged between 6 months to 12 years].
• He has to send money home to his old parents who live in a village near
Ramgarh.
• Ram Saran lives in a one-room rented house in a crowded urban
settlement in the outskirts of the city.
• His wife Santa Devi, works as a part time maid in a few houses and
manages to earn another Rs 800.
• They manage a meager meal of dal and rice twice a day, but its never
enough for all of them.
• His elder son works as a helper in a tea shop to supplement the family
income and earns another Rs 300.
• His 10- year-old daughter takes care of the younger siblings.
• None of the children go to school and have only 2 pairs of second hand
clothes. Shoes are a luxury.
• The children have no healthcare when they fall ill.
Story of Ram Saran

7. Rural Case

8. • Lakha Singh belongs to a small village near Meerut in Uttar
Pradesh.
• His family doesn’t own any land, so they do odd jobs for the big
farmers.
• At times they get paid Rs 50 for a hard day’s work..
• The family of eight cannot always manage two square meals a day.
• They live in a Kucha hut in the outskirts of the village.
• The women of the family spend the day chopping fodder and
collecting firewood in the fields.
• He had to start earning when he was 10 years old.
• His father a TB patient, passed away two years ago due to lack of
medication. His mother now suffers from the same disease and life
is slowly ebbing away.
• Although the village has a primary school, Lakha never went there.
• He started earning when he was 10 .
• New clothes are bought once in a few years, and even soap and oil
are a luxury for the family.
Story of Lakha Singh

9. 1.They show that
poverty means
hunger and lack of
shelter.
2.Poverty also means
lack of clean water
and sanitation
facilities.
What do they show?

10. 3.Poor people are in
a situation in
which they are ill-
treated at almost
every place.
4. It also means lack
of a regular job at
a minimum decent
level.
What do they show?

11. Poverty as seen by social scientists
• Poverty is looked through
other social indicators like
illiteracy level, lack of
general resistance due to
malnutrition, lack of access
to healthcare, lack of job
opportunities, lack of access
to safe drinking water,
sanitation etc.

12. • Analysis of poverty
based on social
exclusion and
vulnerability is
now becoming very
common.
Poverty as seen by social scientists

13. Social exclusion
• According to this concept,
poverty must be seen in terms
of the poor having to live only
in a poor surrounding with
other poor people, excluded
from enjoying social equality
of better -off people in better
surroundings.

14. Vulnerability
• Vulnerability to poverty is a
measure, which describes the
greater probability of certain
communities (say, members of a
backward caste) or individuals
(such as a widow or a
physically handicapped person)
of becoming, or remaining, poor
in the coming years.

16. Poverty Line
• A common method used to
measure poverty is based on
the income or consumption
levels.
• A person is considered poor
if his or her income or
consumption level falls below
a given “minimum level”
necessary to fulfill basic
needs.

17. • The present formula for food
requirement while
estimating the poverty line
is based on the desired
calorie requirement.
Poverty Line

18. • The accepted average
calorie requirement in
India is 2400 calories per
person per day in rural
areas and 2100 calories
per person per day in
urban areas.
Poverty Line

19. • Since people living in
rural areas engage
themselves in more
physical work, calorie
requirements in rural
areas are considered to be
higher than urban areas.
Poverty Line

23. Causes of Poverty
• Low level of economic
development under the
British colonial
administration.
• The failure at both the fronts:
promotion of economic
growth and population
control perpetuated the cycle
of poverty.

24. • Irregular small incomes
• Huge income
inequalities.
• Socio-cultural factors
• Economic factors.
Causes of Poverty

25. Anti-Poverty Measures By The
Indian Government
• The current anti-poverty
strategy of the government is
based broadly on two planks
• (1) promotion of economic
growth
• (2) targeted anti-poverty
programmes.

26. I. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005.
It aims to ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least
100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household
whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work

27. II. National Food for Work Programme (NFWP), which was
launched in 2004.
The National Food for Work Programme was launched minister of rural
development,central government on 14 November 2004 in 150 of the most backward
districts of India with the objective of generating supplementary wage employment.
The programme is open to all rural poor who are prepared to do manual, unskilled
labour.

28. III. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) is another scheme
which was started in 1993.
The PMRY has been intended to give employ to over million People by
starting seven lakhs micro ventures by the jobless educated youth. It
recounts to the starting of self-employment schemes through commerce,
service & business means.

29. IV. Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) was
launched in 1995.
To generate employment in rural areas. To develop entrepreneurial skill
and attitude among rural unemployed youth. To achieve the goal of
rural industrialization. To facilitate participation of financial
institutions for higher credit flow to rural industries.

30. V. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was
launched in 1999.
It aims at providing self-employment to villagers through the
establishment of self-help groups. Activity clusters are established based
on the aptitude and skill of the people which are nurtured to their
maximum potential. Funds are provided by NGOs, banks and financial
institutions.

31. VI. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) launched in
2000.
PMGY was launched in 2000-2001 in all States and Union Territories
(UTs) in order to achieve the objective of sustainable human
development at the village level.PMGY initially had five components
viz., primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking
water and nutrition.

32. VII. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is an Indian government sponsored
scheme for ten million of the poorest families.It is on the look out for the
'poorest of the poor'[1] by providing them 35 kilograms of rice and
wheat at Rs.3 & Rs.2 per kg respectively.

33. The Challenges Ahead
• Challenges that still remain: providing health
care, education and job security for all, and
achieving gender equality and dignity for the
poor.
• These will be even bigger tasks.

34. • But despite the progress, poverty reduction
remains India’s most compelling challenge.
• Wide disparities in poverty are visible between
rural and urban areas and among different states.
• Certain social and economic groups are more
vulnerable to poverty.
The Challenges Ahead

35. • Poverty reduction is expected to make better
progress in the next ten to fifteen years.
• This would be possible mainly due to higher
economic growth, increasing stress on universal
free elementary education, declining population
growth, increasing empowerment of the women
and the economically weaker sections of society.
The Challenges Ahead