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Poverty is the state of lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money.
Poverty Means
- Deprives people of their security and well-being;
- Deprives people not only of safe water and adequate food, clothing and shelter, but also education and healthcare;
- Takes away people’s rights, and their freedom, dignity and peace of mind;
- Puts people's lives in danger and robs them of their future.
Poverty is not just about physical deprivation, it is also about lack of opportunity and loss of hope.
Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation”
(UN Statement, June 1998 – signed by the heads of all UN agencies)
Absolute poverty: was defined as "a condition characterised by severe deprivation of
basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,
shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to
services." About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live in absolute poverty today.
Overall poverty: takes various forms, including "lack of income and productive resources
to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of
access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from
illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments and social
discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterised by lack of participation in decision making
and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets. (UN, 1995)
After the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, 117 countries
adopted a declaration and programme of action which included commitments to eradicate
“absolute” and reduce “overall” poverty.
India, in its Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002–2007) survey, BPL for rural areas was based on the degree of deprivation in respect of 13 parameters, landholding, type of house, clothing, food security, sanitation,consumer durables, literacy status, labour force, means of livelihood, status of children, type of indebtedness, reasons for migrations, etc. The Planning Commission fixed an upper limit of 3.26 lakh for rural BPL families on the basis of simple survey.
Below Poverty Line
Below poverty line is an economic benchmark and poverty threshold used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid.
Fixation of poverty line:
The poverty line was originally fixed in terms of income/food requirements in 1978. It was stipulated that the calorie standard for a typical individual in rural areas was 2400 calories and was 2100 calories in urban areas. Then the cost of the grains (about 650 gms) that fulfils this normative standard was calculated. This cost was the poverty line. In 1978, it was Rs. 61.80 per person per month for rural areas and Rs. 71.30 for urban areas. Since then the Planning Commission calculates the poverty line every year adjusting for inflation. The poverty line in is as follows - (Rs. per month per head)
| Year
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India rural
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India urban
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| 2000–2001
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328
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454
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| 2005–2006
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368
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560
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This income is bare minimum to support the food requirements and does not provide much for the other basic essential items like health, education etc.
Poverty has traditionally been defined in terms of income or consumption. Thus it is “the inability to attain a minimum standard of living” (WDR, 1990). The level of income which ensures the minimum standard of living is taken as the income poverty line. Those persons whose income is less than this poverty line fall in the category of “poor”. In India, all those who fail to reach a certain minimum level of income ( Rupees 49 for rural areas and rupees 57 per capita per month for urban areas at 1973-74 price) and having a daily calorie intake (less than 2400 per person in rural areas and 2100 per person in urban areas) are regarded as poor. The World Development Report (2000-01), providing a new perception to poverty (using one U.S. dollar per day as measure of the international poverty line), has estimated that 44.2 percent of the population was living below the poverty line in India in 1997.
Even after more than 50 years of Independence India still has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line, of which 193.2 million are in the rural areas and 67.1 million are in urban areas. More than 75% of poor people reside in villages. Poverty level is not uniform across India.
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