Poverty as a Challenge

Q19. ‘Every fourth person in India is poor’. Justify the statement.

Ans. In fact, every fourth person in India is poor. This means, roughly 300 million (or 30 crore) people in India live in poverty. This also means that India has the largest single concentration of the poor in the world.

Q20. What is Vulnerability?

Ans. Vulnerability describes the greater probability of being more adversely affected than other people when bad time comes for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a fall in the availability of jobs.

Q21. How is poverty line estimated periodically? State the organisation which is responsible for estimating poverty?

Ans. The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every five years) by conducting sample surveys. These surveys are carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

Q22.  What kinds of people in India are considered poor?

Ans. They could be landless labourers in villages or people living in overcrowded jhuggis in cities. They could be daily wage workers at construction sites or child workers in dhabas. They could also be beggars with children in tatters.

Q23. Write a note on Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yozana (PMGY).

Ans. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yozana (PMGY) launched in 2000, additional central assistance is given to states for basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.

Q24. Write a note on Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY).

Ans. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched in 1999. The programme aims at bringing the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organising them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.

Q25. What is poverty?

Ans. Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter. It also is a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school or a situation where sick people cannot afford treatment. Poverty also means lack of clean water and sanitation facilities. It also means lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level. Above all it means living with a sense of helplessness.

Q26. Why the results of the poverty alleviation programmes have been mixed up?
Or
What are the major reasons for less effectiveness of anti-poverty measures?

Ans. The results of these programmes have been mixed. One of the major reasons for less effectiveness is the lack of proper implementation and right targeting. Moreover, there has been a lot of overlapping of schemes. Despite good intentions, the benefits of these schemes are not fully reached to the deserving poor.

Q27. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India.

Ans. Social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are:

1. scheduled caste households
2. scheduled tribe households

Economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are:

1. rural agricultural labour households 
2. urban casual labour households

Q28. Mention any one common indicator of poverty.
Or
What are the other indicators of poverty besides income and consumption level?
Or
What are the major indicators of poverty?

Ans. Usually the indicators used relate to the levels of income and consumption. But now 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.

Q29. What is poverty line?

Ans. Poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. For example, a person not having a car in the United States may be considered poor. In India, owning of a car is still considered a luxury.