Magnitude of Rural Poverty in India
Magnitude of Rural Poverty in India
Introduction
Poverty refers to that state or condition which fails to provide minimum necessities of life. Thus, poverty leads to extreme lower standard of living, denying even the basic requirements of life to a vast majority of population.
Poverty can be defined as a social phenomenon in which a section of society is unable to get even the basic necessities of life. When a substantial segment of population is deprived of minimum standard of living, that society is said to be plagued with mass poverty.
Background about Poverty
Study of poverty is an important issue in the field of rural development. No development can be thought of if any household/person in any country lives Below the Poverty Line (BPL).
Planning Commission of India has defined poverty line on the basis of recommended nutritional requirements of 2400 calories per person per day for rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day for urban areas. Based on this, income criterion has been adopted in India to determine poverty line.
The income criterion to determine poverty line in India based on 2004-05 data is stated that all India level minimum income for rural and urban areas for a person per month should be Rs. 356.30 and Rs.538.60 respectively, whereas, it is revised as Rs. 672.8 and Rs. 859.6 for rural urban areas respectively for 2009-2010.
Dimensions of rural poverty in India
With the sustained efforts of Government interventions the proportion of population Below the Poverty Line (BPL) has been brought down from 54.8% in 197374 to 35.9% in 1993-94 and further to 29.8% in 2009-2010. The rural poverty during this period has also been brought down from 56.4% in 1973-74 to 37.27% in 1993-94 and 33.8% in 2009-2010.
The point of concern, however, is that, over a quarter of the world’s poor are still concentrated in India. The latest estimate by the Planning Commission (2009-2010) shows that more than 350 million people continue
Introduction
Poverty refers to that state or condition which fails to provide minimum necessities of life. Thus, poverty leads to extreme lower standard of living, denying even the basic requirements of life to a vast majority of population.
Poverty can be defined as a social phenomenon in which a section of society is unable to get even the basic necessities of life. When a substantial segment of population is deprived of minimum standard of living, that society is said to be plagued with mass poverty.
Background about Poverty
Study of poverty is an important issue in the field of rural development. No development can be thought of if any household/person in any country lives Below the Poverty Line (BPL).
Planning Commission of India has defined poverty line on the basis of recommended nutritional requirements of 2400 calories per person per day for rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day for urban areas. Based on this, income criterion has been adopted in India to determine poverty line.
The income criterion to determine poverty line in India based on 2004-05 data is stated that all India level minimum income for rural and urban areas for a person per month should be Rs. 356.30 and Rs.538.60 respectively, whereas, it is revised as Rs. 672.8 and Rs. 859.6 for rural urban areas respectively for 2009-2010.
Dimensions of rural poverty in India
With the sustained efforts of Government interventions the proportion of population Below the Poverty Line (BPL) has been brought down from 54.8% in 197374 to 35.9% in 1993-94 and further to 29.8% in 2009-2010. The rural poverty during this period has also been brought down from 56.4% in 1973-74 to 37.27% in 1993-94 and 33.8% in 2009-2010.
The point of concern, however, is that, over a quarter of the world’s poor are still concentrated in India. The latest estimate by the Planning Commission (2009-2010) shows that more than 350 million people continue
References: Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Annual Report 2007-08, New Delhi, India 3-15. Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, (2009) Gram Vikas: Programmes at a Glance, New Delhi, 3-4, 11. REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGAMMES FOR THE TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN(2002-2007), PLANNING COMMISSION, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DECEMBER-2001.