A long way to go PDF Print E-mail
Social Justice
Written by Shyam Sundar   

Mission Poverty Alleviation

It has been more than half a century but India is yet to wipe out poverty. The factors responsible for the same are faulty policies of the successive governments, corrupt administration and slow implementation. The need of the hour, however, is to learn from our past mistakes, make necessary changes and sincerely embark on a mission to alleviate poverty from India.

Sixty-two years back, when India gained independence, the people of the country had a lot of expectations. But, this political freedom turned out to be beneficial for only a small group of people, while the larger section of the population kept expecting improvement in their economic condition.

They had dreamt of prosperity, which they were deprived of, under the British rule. During the freedom struggle, their leaders had promised them all happiness in their independent homeland.

But, India’s independence brought prosperity only for politicians and a certain class of people, whereas the mass population’s dream still remains a dream unfulfilled. The policies adopted by the successive Indian governments have failed to wipe out poverty from the country.

Poverty generally implies a lack of basic necessities that determine the quality of life including food, clothing, shelter, medical care, safe drinking water, education, employment and a life of dignity. The poverty line refers to the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country.

Preliminary investigations show that the proportion of people below the poverty line has come down continuously in the last three decades. According to the Planning Commission, the percentage of population below poverty line has reduced over the years:

1977-78          51.3%
1993-94          36 %
2004-05          27.5%

Still, the absolute number of poor in India continues to be the highest in the world. The living conditions are abysmal by world standards. If we refer to the new international poverty line, then the number increases to 456 million people or about 42% of the population. This despite the fact that our economy has grown at an annual rate of 8% to 9% in the last five years. According to latest estimates provided by the World Bank, India is home to roughly one-third of all poor people in the world. Large sections of the population live on an income below that of even the people of sub-Saharan Africa.

More than half of the population does not have sufficient income to be able to live a decent life. About 370 million people are illiterate. Female literacy rate is only 53.7 % and infant mortality rate is still 58 per 1000 births.

It is well-known, that our planning and economic policies have failed to promote inclusive growth to enable substantial parts of the country to receive the benefits of development. Although we have made considerable progress in poverty reduction in proportionate terms, vast sections of our society are yet to enjoy the fruits of growth.

Over the last two decades, our growth has been uneven between different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas and there are regions and villages, which are predominantly poverty stricken. There is a concentration of poverty and backwardness in a group of contiguous states accounting for about as much as 50% of the total population of the major states of India. The gap between the highest and lowest per capita income among 15 major states has increased from 2.55 times to 3.76 times between the period 1980-81 to 2004-05. For example, in absolute    terms, per capita income in one state is Rs 5735 and in another state is Rs 14,967. This indicates a stark income disparity among the states and regions.

Taking cognizance of the high poverty level in our country (India), the Government of India has given priority to poverty alleviation and development of the social sector. The launch of national “ Food for Work” programme in 150 districts with the objective of providing 100 days work to every poor family in a year, increasing the coverage under Antyoday Anna Yojana, doubling institutional credit to farmers, availability of micro-finance through self-help groups are by itself commendable initiatives.

Still, it is equally true that such poverty alleviation programmes have been in operation for decades but are yet to make a significant impact. The fact remains that 85% of the resources earmarked for the poor do not reach the targeted beneficiary. Under the circumstances, it has become imperative to develop strategies and targets to wipe out the scourge of poverty from our country.

In this context, we recognise that growth is only a necessary first step towards addressing the mounting poverty levels in our country. The rational distribution of the dividends of growth is among the most important aspects for poverty reduction.

A better deal for our country, which could make significant dent in our poverty levels, also requires reforms in governance, procedures, implementation and delivery systems. Unless all this changes are effected, there can be no respite from poverty and hunger as the existing systems are quite irrelevant and inadequate and have failed to translate ideas and schemes into reality. The answer lies not in spending more but in spending well. Inclusive, equalising growth will benefit all sections of the community, not just those struggling to catch up.

Over 60% of the population, classified as poor, lives in rural areas indicating that poverty is widely a rural phenomenon. Thus, agriculture growth plays an important role in poverty reduction. This makes the hastening of reforms in agriculture sector, more of a necessity than an option. Outdated laws , non-merit subsidy and land ceiling laws, therefore, need review while the deficit of investment in agriculture needs to be addressed if rural populace has to partake in the fruits of prosperity witnessed in the urban areas of the country.

We gained considerably from harvesting the new seeds, fertiliser technology of the green revolution. We now need a second green revolution for exploiting more sophisticated versions of this technology for higher yields. This will help reduce poverty in rural areas. Agricultural diversification and commercialisation must be encouraged by stimulating other forms of employment.

Efficient infrastructure and logistics are crucial for improving our investment climate and this would go a long way towards reducing poverty. The vision of doubling per capita income in the next ten years, which would go towards making of a prosperous India, requires a strong infrastructure support.

Similarly, overcoming institutional bottlenecks should strengthen our investment climate and provide the poor with a better chance of finding employment. Improvement of rural infrastructure would lead to an increase in agricultural productivity, encourage shift from subsistence farming to high-income commercial farming, increase in rural wages, and enhance growth of non-agricultural employment.

It is also believed that, since poverty is not only about income poverty, public expenditure on education, health, sanitation and rural infrastructure must be made more efficient and accountable. In the past several years, literacy rate has increased from 52% to 65%, but, still there is large-scale illiteracy in the country. This figure has to be further enhanced, as education and skill-development would empower the under-privileged, enhance their employability and lift them out of poverty. We have to empower and invest in poor if they are to play an important role in the growth process and overcome poverty. There must be greater attention to poverty reduction in backward states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

There is a case for redefining the poverty line, line since it was constructed as the assumption that education and health care would be taken care by the state and should therefore not figure in personal consumption expenditure calculations. This is no longer the case. Government facilities for education and health care are grossly inadequate and mismanaged. With the result people are forced to incur private expenditure on this account.

For decades our country has followed a limited definition of poverty. The official poverty line in India is based only on calories and accounts for little else but the satiation of hunger. Planning Commission has set a norm of consumption of 2400 calories per capita per day for rural areas and 2100 calories per capita per day for urban areas. This calorie standard set by the Planning Commission is defective. It is important to go beyond a simple calorie standard, because the body also needs proteins, fat, minerals and vitamins. Nutrition deficiency is a leading cause of diseases. A nutritious diet is the fundamental need of human body and this must not be ignored when formulating a poverty line.

Besides, nutritional diet, definition of poverty line should also take into account other needs of life like shelter, clothing, health-care, sanitation, drinking water and education.

Unemployment is one of the major problems in India. Rural India suffers from seasonal, disguised and frictional unemployment, which lead to poverty. Hence, government must have focused programme to create employment opportunities in rural areas. We need to adopt a different model of growth, which would be more inclusive and enable us to spread economic development more evenly across different sections of the society.

India today can see a moment of opportunity. It possesses fiscal and political space, rich development experience, improved accountability tools and thriving democratic traditions to enable millions to rise out of poverty. Properly applied, these can unleash the energy to shine the light of shining India on all its citizens. The elimination of poverty certainly lies within the reach of nation’s resources.