NCERT Class 9 Economics Chapter 3 Poverty as a Challenge

Chapter 3 Poverty as a Challenge

Question 1: Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India.
Answer:
• Social groups which are most vulnerable to poverty are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes households.
• Among the economic groups the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households.

Question 2: Who are the poorest of the poor?
Answer: Women, elderly people and female infants are the poorest of the poor.

Question 3: Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.
Answer:
• A common method used to measure poverty is based on the income or consumption level.
• A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to satisfy the basic needs.
• While determining the poverty line in India, a minimum level of food requirements (calorie requirements), clothing, footwear, fuel; educational and medical requirements etc., are determined for subsistence.
• On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs. 816 per month for rural areas and Rs. 1000 per month urban areas.

Question 4: Describe the poverty trends in India since 1993.
Answer:
• In the year 1993, the poverty ratio decreased from 50.7% to 26% in 2011 in the rural areas and 32% to 14% in urban areas.
• The number of poor people in India, in rural areas decreased from 329 million to 217 million and 75 million to 53 million in urban areas.

Question 5: Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India.
Answer:
• One of historical reason is the policies of the colonial British government which ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles.
• This resulted in less job opportunities and low growth rate of incomes. This was accompanied by a high growth rate of population.
• With the spread of irrigation and the Green Revolution, many job opportunities were created in agricultural sector to all the job seekers, by both public and private sectors. But the effects were limited to few parts of the country.
• Another major reason of high poverty rates is the unequal distribution of land and other resources.
• Many other socio-cultural and economic factors also are responsible for poverty.
• In order to fulfil social obligations and observe religious ceremonies, people in India, including the very poor, spend a lot of money.

Question 6: Give an account of interstate disparities of poverty in India.
Answer
• The All India Head Count Ratio (HCR) was 21.99% in 2011-12.
• In comparison, there has been a significant decline in poverty in the following states:
→ Kerala: Kerala focused more on human resource development.
→ West Bengal: In West Bengal, land reform resources have helped in reducing poverty.
→ Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu: In Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu public distribution of food grains could have been responsible for the improvement.
→ Punjab & Haryana: Punjab & Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.
→ Bihar & Odisha: Bihar & Odisha continue to be the two poorest states with poverty ratio of 33.7% and 32.6% respectively.

Question 7: Describe Global Poverty Trends.
Answer:
• If a person earns less than $1.9 per day, he is known as a poor person according to the world.
• Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it is marked with great regional differences.
• Poverty declined substantially in China and Southeast Asian countries as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investments in human resource development.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact declined from 51 per cent in 2005 to 40.2 per cent in 2018.
• In Latin America, the ratio of poverty has also declined from 10 per cent in 2005 to 4 per cent in 2018.
• Poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia, where officially it was non-existent earlier.

Question 8: Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation.
Answer: The current anti-poverty strategy of the government is based broadly on two planks
• promotion of economic growth
• targeted anti-poverty programmes
→ Since the eighties, India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world.
→ The higher growth rates have helped significantly in the reduction of poverty.