Skip to content
ForumIAS Blog
  • Resources and Guides
    • Guides
      • IFoS Guide
      • Interview Preparation guide
      • Indian Polity Guide
      • Indian Economy Guide
      • Environment Guide
    • Yojana and Kurukshetra Summaries
    • Government Schemes and Program
    • Government | Bills | Acts | Laws | Regulations
    • Qrious Project
  • Current Affairs
    • Current Affairs- Main
    • Subject-Wise News
      • History News
      • Polity News
      • Economy News
      • Environment News
      • IR News
      • Society News
      • Disaster News
      • Social issues News
      • Geography News
      • Security News
      • S&T News
      • Agriculture News
    • Factly for Prelims
    • Weekly Current Affairs
      • Weekly Current Affairs Highlights
      • Weekly Current Affairs Compilations
    • Monthly Current Affairs
  • Prelims 2022
    • Prelims 2022 Study Material- Learn with ForumIAS
    • Prelims Capsules 2021
    • Prelims 2021 Material
    • Prelims Guidance
      • UPSC Booklist
      • Story of Minal Karanwal
      • How To Clear Civil Services
      • Abhishesk Surana Rank 10
    • Prelims Previous Year’s Questions
      • UPSC prelims question paper
      • Subject-wise PYQs
    • Prelims Question Bank
    • Static Material for Prelims
      • Polity Guide
      • Environment Guide
      • Economy Guide
    • Factly Current Affairs
      • All Factly Articles
      • Factly-Indian Economy
      • Factly-Environment
      • Factly-IR
      • Factly-Science and Technology
      • Factly-Bills and Acts
      • Factly-Schemes and Programs
    • Important CA Topics
  • Buy IAS Books
  • Free Daily Initiatives
    • 7PM Editorial
    • Must Read News Articles
    • 9 PM Current Affair Brief
    • Prelims Marathon
    • Mains Marathon
    • 10 PM Daily Quiz
    • Factly for UPSC Prelims
    • 9 PM Articles List
    • Factly Articles List
  • PYQs and Ques. Bank
    • Prelims/Mains PYQs
    • Mains Question Bank
      • Mains Question Bank and Answers-1
      • Mains Question Bank and Answers-2
      • Mains Question Bank and Answers-3
    • UPSC Mains PYQs- Paperwise
      • UPSC PYQs (GS-1 )
      • UPSC PYQs (GS-2)
      • UPSC PYQs (GS-3)
    • UPSC Prelims PYQs- Subjectwise
      • Ancient/Medieval History
      • Art & Culture
      • Economy
      • Environment
      • Geography
      • International Relation
      • Modern History
      • Polity
      • S&T
      • Social and Schemes
    • Prelims Question Bank
    • Indian Economy Quiz/MCQs bank
  • Interview
    • Interview – Main Page
    • Interview Process
    • Myths About Interview
    • Board Members Profile
    • Interview Transcripts
    • Common Questions
      • Hobby Based Question
      • Sports Based Question
      • State Based Question
    • Important articles
  • Downloads
    • EPIC/Factly magazine
    • Weekly Current Affairs PDF For UPSC
    • Monthly Current Affairs For UPSC PDF Download
    • Compilation of Initiatives
    • Official Answer Key
    • UPSC Syllabus
      • UPSC Prelims Syllabus
      • UPSC Mains Syllabus
    • UPSC Previous Year Papers
      • Prelims Paper
      • Mains Paper
    • Economic Survey 20-21
  • Toppers Space
    • Toppers Strategy
      • Prelims Strategy
      • Mains Strategy
      • Interview Strategy
    • Topper’s Testimonials and Test Copies
    • Motivation
      • Motivation Articles
      • Articles by Newayn
  • Others
    • Announcement
    • Contact Us
    • Careers

Poverty in India-Perspectives, Dimensions, Causes, Committees, Benchmarks

Posted on January 3rd, 2017 Last modified on June 29th, 2017 CommentsViews : 5.9k

Poverty refers to the condition of people who not able to meet their requirements of basic necessities in life like food, clothes and shelter.

Historical perspective: 

Poverty was very high during the British Rule. The country suffered from a number of famines and economic distress. The publication of theories like ‘Drain of Wealth‘ made it clear that the British rule is a major causative factor for India’s poverty. The reasons were

  1. The British made India their source of raw material and a market for their manufactured goods.
  2. The British did not provide an amicable climate for development of industries in India as they had a forced policy of import from England. For Example:  Textiles
  3. The imposition of Zamindari System and exploitation of farmers by the Zamindar, British administrators and the money lenders impoverished the farmers
  4. The salaries of officials and the administrative expenses to maintain the British rule were drawn from the Indian government’s expenses.

The British rule was a major reason for India’s poverty because they ruled India for more than 200 years at a time when many Western Countries were on their path for development, for Example America which became independent in 1783 progressed well in its economy and its people became prosperous.

Contemporary Perspective: 

India achieved a huge economic growth, but even now a significant proportion of its population was not able to gain prosperity and were left out of the development process, in other words the economic growth was not inclusive.

Dimensions:  

Poverty can have two broad categories like absolute poverty and relative poverty.

Absolute Poverty is a condition in which people do not even get a minimum income needed to maintain their lives. India has higher prevailing rates of malnutrition, hunger, homelessness, unemployment and hence its absolute poverty also remains high.

Relative poverty refers to a comparative perspective where a section of population is relatively deprived compared to another better off section of population. This definition is more broader and includes amenities like a well sanitised pucca house, access to education, healthcare, social security benefits, leisure, comfort etc.,

While poverty is considered as a single dimensional measure, the term Social Exclusion is even more broader and multidimensional. It indicates that a section of population is not able to participate effectively in social life. I.e, taking part in activities of society like festivals, getting an employment or indulging in leisure activities. From an Indian point of view it includes the weaker sections like SC/STs, disabled, women, etc.,

Inequality refers to the social and economic divide between the rich and poor. In India the inequality between well off sections of the society and the rest of the population is increasing. According to Credit Suisse the richest 1% of population in India owns 53% of its total wealth.

In India, there is a regional dimension of poverty as some states like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu etc., have significantly reduced their poverty whereas states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal etc., have a higher proportion of poor people.

At another level there is Rural-Urban disparity as generally the Urban areas have less poverty indices than compared to rural areas because of the availability of jobs in manufacturing, service sector etc., Even informal employment that pays a meagre wage is mostly concentrated in urban areas, also the agricultural sector is not much profitable in rural areas due to crop failures, fragmentation of land holdings etc.,. As a result there is widespread rural- urban migration for search of better jobs and livelihood.

Causes: 

Committees:

YK Alagh Committee: 

In the initial decades after Independence poverty was measured in terms of income levels of individuals. Alagh Committee is the first to come up with an official poverty line. It recommended a poverty line based on calorie intake. It considered people who consume less than 2100 calorie in Urban areas as poor whereas in rural areas it is 2400 calories. The difference is justified by the fact that rural people do more physical work than their Urban counterparts. This committee had a drawback because Health and education was assumed to be provided by State Governments.

Lakdawala Formula: 

This formula included the calorific limits of Alagh committee and it also included health and education components. It considered the total amount of money needed per person in a house to meet his calorie intake. This method was reported to have methodological errors as it showed the poverty line as double compared to previous estimates. 

Tendulkar methodology:

It suggested a shift away from calorie based model and focused on nutritional outcomes and included health, education, transport and electricity. It is based on spending per individual over a fixed period for an essential basket of goods Ie., cost of living. India presently follows this method for estimation of poverty. It set Rs 27 for rural areas and Rs 33 in urban areas for consumer spending as the reference limit and based on this they estimated that 21.5% of the Indian population as poor.  This estimation involved criticism from various quarters as it seemed to be very low and thus Rangarajan committee was constituted.

Rangarajan committee on poverty:
It has taken monthly consumption expenditure per person or per household as a tool for calculating poverty lines. Based on this 972 INR (Rs 32 per day) in rural areas and 1407 INR (Rs 47 per day) in urban areas is calculated based on 2011 to 2012  prices. According to this estimate, poverty in India stood at 29.5% in 2011-12 which is significantly higher than the Tendulkar model. The group went for separate rural and urban poverty lines as there is huge complexity associated with them.There are two components in this  method

SECC methodology:

To estimate the BPL population, SECC followed a three-step process:

  • Automatic Exclusion: It identified the parameters to automatically exclude certain households. Some parameters are pucca house with four or more rooms, a car, AC or computer with internet connection or any three among a landline phone, washing machine, fridge and two-wheeler.
  • Automatic Inclusion: Those facing certain residential, social or occupational vulnerabilities, such as being homeless or living in informal housing; households with no able-bodied persons or adults or groups like beggars, rag pickers or sanitation workers.
  • Then as a third step, SECC considered households who could be neither automatically included nor automatically excluded. This section was graded on a scale of 0-12, with 12 being the most vulnerable, closest to automatic inclusion. Zero excluded the household from the poverty list.

After applying above methodology, it was found that the percentage of people below the poverty line in 2011-12 was 30.95 percent in rural areas and 26.4 percent in urban areas.

 1.) Food component
2.) Non food component such as
A.) Education
B.) Clothing
C.) Conveyance
D.) House rent
E.) Behavior related expenditures

In the food component the group has been criticised for going back to calorie norms but the new poverty line not only includes calorie component but also proteins and fats. The non-food component remains an important part of a decent living thus it has been included. The report also talks about relative  poverty and defines the poverty line in terms of median or average consumption expenditure.
Limitations of Rangarajan Committee
  1. This measure cannot be suited to various welfare programs that will have to take into account the particular kind of deprivation.
  2. Poverty is not same as that of hunger which is even worse.
  3. It also does not mean a comfortable standard of living.
  4. It only represents an absolute minimum.

Other Benchmarks: 

Human Development Index (HDI):

It is released by United Nations Development Program. It ranks countries based on Life Expectancy, Education and Per Capita Income. Though not a core measure of poverty, it has become an important for measuring the social and economic well being of people living in any country. India ranked 130 among 188 countries in 2014. India belongs to the category of medium development. UNDP also releases a Gender Inequality index which takes into account the loss of development due to Gender Inequality. In India women are more affected by poverty which contributes to Feminization of Poverty.

World Bank’s Methodology:

The World Bank determines poverty based on Purchasing Power Parity and previously it set a minimum of USD 1.25 a day as a consumption limit and according to this poverty in India stood at 23.6% in 2005. In the later years, the World Bank considered the Uniform Reference Pricing Period which is based on household consumer expenditure on each item for a period of 30 days. The World Bank in 2016 estimated poverty based on Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP)  which considers the spending of people on food for a period of 7 days for food items and 1 year period for non-food items. According to this measure poverty rate in India stood at 12.4%.

Global Hunger Index (GHI):

It is a tool to measure the prevalence of hunger. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) along with Welthungerhilfe (a German Non Profit Organization) publishes this report. In 2016 GHI Report, India was ranked 97th out of 118 countries. It is estimated using four components such as wasted and stunted children under the age of five, Infant Mortality Rate and the proportion of Undernourished population.

Print Friendly and PDF
Published January 3, 2017By Sathosh Rajan
Categorized as NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL & SOCIAL

Post navigation

Previous post

Good Governance

Next post

Human Resource Policies

Buy IAS Books

  1. Click here to Buy IAS Books →

Prelims 2022 Study Material

  1. Prelims 2022 Study Material- Learn with ForumIAS →

Free IAS Preparation by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to the blog followed by several Rankholders and ensure success in IAS

Testimonials and MGP Copies

  • [Download] – Vikas Mahato IAS Rank 110 (UPSC CSE 2021) – MGP Test Copies + Testimonial
  • [Download] – Pragya Jat IAS Rank 91 (UPSC CSE 2021) – MGP Test Copies + Testimonial
  • [Download] – Utkarsh Dwivedi IAS Rank 5 (UPSC CSE 2021) – MGP Test Copies + Testimonial
  • [Download] – Ayush Venkat Vats IAS Rank 74 (UPSC CSE 2021) – MGP Test Copies + Testimonial
  • [Download] – Naman Goyal IAS Rank 30 (UPSC CSE 2021) – MGP Test Copies + Testimonial

Most Popular Articles

  1. How to crack IAS in first attempt →
  2. Booklist for Prelims 2020 →
  3. IAS Rank 1 Anudeep D Testimony & Copies →
  4. Inspiring story of Minal, twice failed in Prelims, Now Rank 35 →
  5. Fighting Depression in Times of UPSC Preparation ( & Corona ) →

Strategy And Motivation :

  • Toppers Strategy to Clear CSE
  • Sachin Gupta Rank 3 CSE 2017
  • Rajarshi Shah Rank 81 CSE 2017
  • Life at LBSNAA
  • Rank 54 CSE 2018
  • Suman Sourav Mohanty Rank 9 CSE 2016
  • Sumit Rai Rank 54 CSE 2018
  • Political Science Optional Strategy
  • Avoid Exhausting Attempts in CSE

Preparation Guides

  • Indian Forest Service Preparation Guide
  • Myths about IAS
  • Guide : How to crack IAS without exhauting attempts
  • History | Art and Culture – Updates and News
  • Polity and governance – News and Updates
  • Environment – News and Updates
  • Economy – News and Updates
  • Agriculture – News and Updates
  • Social Issues – News and Updates
  • International Relations – News and Updates
  • Geography – News and Updates
  • Security – News and Updates
  • Disaster Management- News and Updates
  • Science & Tech. – News and Updates
About ForumIAS

ForumIAS is India’s leading Online website for UPSC IAS Exam Online Preparation and guidance. At ForumIAS, we have a dream. Our dream is to make its members achieve their IAS dream. Today thousands of aspirants have joined the elite services such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS and other central and state services with the right inputs provided by ForumIAS. Take a look at our IAS Toppers

Free IAS Online Preparation Initiatives by ForumIAS

Current affairs is the most important part of UPSC IAS exam. ForumIAS provides a detailed analysis of important news articles through its 9PM brief. In current affairs reading Editorials Online needs an in-depth focus and hence we provide a separate analysis of daily editorials which is not found in any other website. Click the following link to access these free preparation initiatives in Portal. ForumIAS also provides compilations and Free downloads for UPSC IAS preparation Knowing is never enough for IAS exam. An IAS aspirant must be engaged in answer writing practice to do well in UPSC IAS Mains Exam. ForumIAS has launched a Mains Marathon initiative for IAS mains Online answer writing. Click here to access UPSC Mains Marathon initiative. For Daily Must Read Newspaper articles, Visit Must Read Newspaper page here. Must Read Newspaper is an Initiative by Team ForumIAS to provide Current Affairs links to the Must Read Articles of The Day from Newspaper.

UPSC Syllabus

The most important part of UPSC IAS exam is its syllabus and there is a need to take an in-depth look at it. Click here to view the UPSC IAS Prelims syllabus. Visit UPSC IAS syllabus page here

UPSC IAS Study Material

ForumIAS is the repository of many toppers’ Online study materials for GS Mains and Optional subjects. The most unique thing about it is that they are handwritten by toppers themselves. Click here for UPSC sample notes

Interview Preparation for IAS

Interview is the last and crucial stage for becoming an IAS officer. How to prepare for it? We provide a solution. ForumIAS is the only online website where quality IAS interview preparations happen. Online Current affairs from an interview perspective are extensively discussed and specific preparation based on candidate’s profile and hobbies can be done. Please visit this link for UPSC Interview Preparation At ForumIAS we have an exclusive Online page to read the UPSC Interview Transcripts

Indian Forest Service (IFoS)

IFoS is one of the most sought after All India Service. ForumIAS provides the right approach to excel in this exam through their toppers who have shared their success mantras and their study materials in an elaborate manner.

About Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

IAS is considered as one of the best jobs on earth. IAS officers hold the most important positions in Central and State Governments and in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). They also represent India in international organizations. They take the most important decisions in the administration of Government policies and development programs.

About Indian Police Service (IPS)

IPS officers occupy higher positions in the State Police Departments, Central Armed Police Forces and Intelligence Agencies. Their most important responsibilities are maintenance of Law and Order and internal security.

About Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

IFS officers serve as diplomats in international missions and embassies of India around the world and in prominent international organizations like United Nations (UN), World Bank, and IMF. They work to promote India’s interests from a bilateral and a global perspective. The Study portal is a single point of online IAS preparation through its several initiatives like the Must Read News Articles, the 9 PM Brief, the Mains Marathon. If you are preparing for IAS exam online, ForumIAS is the place to go. ForumIAS is proud of ForumIAS Alumni in UPSC Service who have secured top Ranks in past 5 years.

Guides by ForumIAS

Polity | Environment | Economy | IFoS Preparation Guide | Crack IAS in first Attempt | Interview Preparation Guide

Buy IAS Books

About

  • About Us
  • Work With Us
  • Our Mission
  • Credits
  • Team
  • Privacy Policy

Reach Us

  • Queries: blog@forumias.academy
  • Support: helpdesk@forumias.academy
  • Enquiry: admissions@forumias.academy

Our Initiatives

  • Must Read News Articles
  • Prelims Marathon
  • Mains Marathon
  • Toppers Interview
  • Preparation Strategy
  • 9 PM BRIEF

Site Links

  • Discussion Forum
  • ForumIAS Academy
  • Blog
  • Portal ( Deprecated )
  • FAQ

Visit Us At

Forum Learning Centers

#Delhi - 19, Pusa Road, 2nd Floor, IAPL House, Opposite Metro Pillar 95-96, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005, View Google Map Location

#Patna - 2nd floor, AG Palace, E Boring Canal Rd, Patna, Bihar 800001, View Google Map Location

#Hyderabad - 1st Floor, SM Plaza, RTC X Rd, Indira Park Road, Jawahar Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500020, View Google Map Location

CIN No.: U80904DL2018PTC338126 | GST No.: 07AADCF4830D1Z0

© ForumIAS Blog. Designed & Developed by Stellar Digital Pvt. Ltd.Privacy & Terms of Use