The document discusses poverty in India. It defines poverty as lacking basic necessities like food, shelter, healthcare, education, and employment. Statistics show that over 85% of Indians live on less than $2.50 a day, and poverty rates in some states are higher than in countries like Malawi. Causes of poverty include British colonial policies that destroyed India's industry, exacerbated famines, and enforced the caste system. While poverty alleviation efforts have faced challenges, India's growing middle class and focus on education, reservation, and empowerment are expected to help reduce poverty rates in the coming decades.

1. 1
"THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF HEALTH IN
THE DEVELOPING WORLD IS POVERTY."
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2. WHAT IS POVERTY???
 Poverty is hunger.
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 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.
 Poverty is losing a child to illness brought
about by unclean water.
 Poverty is powerlessness, lack of
representation and freedom.
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3. Facts & Figures….
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 As of 2005, 85.7% of the population lives on less than $2.50 (PPP) a day.
 the Planning Commission of India has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below
the poverty line in 2004–2005.
 Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi
(7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh
(3.5%).Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are higher than in the world's
poorest countries such as Malawi.
 A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector
(NCEUS) found that 25% of Indians, or 236 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day
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4. Statistical Study
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6. Causes…
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The view blaming British
•The Indian economy was purposely and severely
deindustrialized through colonial privatizations,
regulations, tariffs on manufactured or refined
Indian goods, taxes, and direct seizures.
•Not only was Indian industry losing out, but
consumers were forced to rely on expensive British
manufactured goods, especially as barter, local
crafts and subsistence agriculture was discouraged
by law.
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7. Contd….
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•British policies in India exacerbated weather
conditions to lead to mass famines which, when
taken together, led to between 30 to 60 million
deaths from starvation in the Indian colonies.
•Community grain banks were forcibly disabled,
land was converted from food crops for local
consumption to cotton, opium, tea, and grain for
export, largely for animal feed.
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8. Causes contd….
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 Unemployment and underemployment, arising in part from protectionist policies pursued till
1991 that prevented high foreign investment.
 About 60% of the population depends on agriculture whereas the contribution of agriculture
to the GDP is about 18%.
 High population growth rate, although demographers generally agree that this is a symptom
rather than cause of poverty.
 The caste system, under which hundreds of millions of Indians were kept away from
educational, ownership, and employment opportunities, and subjected to violence for "getting
out of line." British rulers encouraged caste privileges and customs, at least before the 20th
century.
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9. Outlook for Poverty alleviation
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 Poverty alleviation is expected to make better progress in the next 50 years than in the past, as a
trickle-down effect of the growing middle class.
 Increasing stress on education, reservation of seats in government jobs and the increasing
empowerment of women and the economically weaker sections of society, are also expected to
contribute to the alleviation of poverty. It is incorrect to say that all poverty reduction
programmes have failed.
 The growth of the middle class indicates that economic prosperity has indeed been very
impressive in India, but the distribution of wealth is not at all even.
 After the liberalization process and moving away from the socialist model, India is adding 60-70
million people to its middle class every year. At the current rate of growth, a majority of Indians
will be middle-class by 2025.
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Thank You all for being cooperative and patient.
- Jonty Mohta
5/16/2010 UGP/09-12 IIPM AHMEDABAD