Class IX – Poverty as Challenge

Ans. (i) Villages: Landless labourers

(ii) Cities: People living in Jhuggis and daily wage workers at construction site.

Ans. Approximately 27 crore people live in poverty

Ans. (i) Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter.

(ii) A situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school

(iii) Poor cannot afford treatment for their sicks.

Ans. Social exclusion is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits etc., that other enjoy. The example is caste system in India which denied the facilities to the lower classes of shudras.

Ans. Gandhji said that India would be truly independent only when the poorest of its people become free of human suffering.

Ans. Social indicators are illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare, lack of job opportunities etc.

Ans. Vulnerability to poverty is measure which describes the greater probability of certain communities of individuals of becoming, or remaining, poor in the coming years.

Ans. A common method used for measuring poverty is based on income or consumption levels.

Ans. The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas.

Ans. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) carries out surveys for determining poverty line in India.

Ans. (i) Urban area – Rs 1000 per month

(ii) Rural area – Rs 816 per month

Ans. $ 1 per person per day

Ans. In order to fulfil social obligations and observe religious ceremonies, people in India including the very poor spend a lot of money.

Ans. Economic growth widens opportunities and provides resources needed to invest in human development.

Ans. (i) Meaning of vulnerability to poverty: It is a measure which describes the greater probability of certain communities like backward castes or individuals like a widow or physically handicapped person of becoming, or remaining, poor in the coming years.

(ii) Determination of vulnerability: It is determined by the options available to different communities for finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities.

(iii) Basis of analysis: It is analysed on the basis of the greater risk these groups face at the time of natural or manmade disasters (earthquakes, tsunami and terrorism etc.) Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks.

Ans. (i) States like Punjab and Haryana have traditionally succeeded in reducing poverty with the help of high agricultural growth rates.

(ii) In West Bengal land reform measures have helped in reduced poverty.

(iii) Kerala has focused more on human resource development

(iv) In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, public distribution of food grains could have been responsible for the improvement.

Ans. (i) (a) Wide disparities in poverty are visible between rural and urban areas and among different states.

(b) Certain social and economic groups are more vulnerable to poverty.

(ii) Poverty reduction will make better progress in the next ten to fifteen years due to the following reasons:

(a) Higher economic growth

(b) Increasing stress on universal free elementary education

(c) Declining population growth

(d) Increasing empowerment of the women and the economically weaker sections of society.

Ans. The high level of indebtedness is both the cause and effect of poverty because the people in India, including the poor, spend a lot of money to fulfil social obligations. They borrow money from the moneylenders at high rate. However later on they are unable to repay in time. Similarly, small farmers need money to buy agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides. They do not have savings. So they too borrow. Unable to repay, because of poverty, they too become victim of indebtedness. Thus, high level of indebtedness is both cause and effect of poverty.

Ans. The accepted average calorie requirement in rural India is 2400 and in urban areas is 2100.

Ans. The poverty line in India is estimated after every 5 years.

Ans. The poverty line surveys are conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation.

Ans. The landless families who also belong to the scheduled class or caste or more acutely affected.

Ans. In recent years there has been resurgence of poverty in socialist countries.

Ans. The new sustainable development goal of UNO is ending poverty of all types by 2030.