POVERTY REDUCTION EFFORTS IN INDIA

1. POVERTY REDUCTION EFFORTS IN INDIA A Short Presentation By Rajeev K Mital

2. INDIA (Bharat) • Independence in 1947 • Democratic Republic- Elections every 5 years • Federal Setup with 28 Provinces • Population 1.2 billion • Lots of Diversity – language, culture, religion • Ranks third in terms of GDP (PPP) • Absolute number of poor 300-360 millions

3. I. AGGREGATE POVERTY MEASURES

4. I(2). AGGREGATE POVERTY MEASURES • Millennium Development Goal • Target of 50 % reduction of poverty estimates between 1990 and 2015. • With the recent trends of decline in poverty estimates India is well poised to achieve MDG target HCR of 23.9% by 2015

6. III. KEY INTERVENTIONS • Rights based approach: • Information Employment • Education Food • New generation of Welfare programs programs • Workfare programs • Microcredits and Self Help Groups. • Rural Infrastructure: • Rural Road Connectivity • Delivery Mechanism • Local self Government (Panchayati Raj) • NGOs

7. IV. Full Picture: Population and Poverty

8. V. Dynamic nature of poverty • Anirudh Krishna’s framework

10. VII. Chronic Poverty • Ref :Hulme, Barett • Threshold effects lead to multiple equilibria and poverty traps • Ref: Mehta & Shah : In context of India • Agricultural Laborers and Construction workers • Less Favored areas- Forest based economies and hill areas • Sociology- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Muslim Segments • Geography -5 states /provinces ( UP, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra)

11. VIII. INFERENCES • Health Initiatives including Health Insurance – strategic in combating poverty. • Microcredit programs have led to substantial diversification of income sources. • However a large number of interventions aim to ameliorate persistent poverty and these programs may assist the poor in very gradually improving their capacity to earn better • Self-employment, education, infrastructure development, seek to enable escape from poverty, although impacts of education-related schemes on the intergenerational transmission of poverty will occur only in the long run.

12. VIII(2). INFERENCES • The distinction between chronic (persistent ) and transient poverty is not fully imbibed in the Indian context and poverty alleviation schemes need to address both chronic poverty and the dynamics of poverty. • Uniform national policy may not be the best time. The various factors and forces associated with poverty and appropriate response could be better dealt at sub-national and local government levels. • Sound Rural Credit and Insurance Systems are very critical for making dents into chronic poverty.

13. IX. Emerging Programs/ Initiatives Rural Health Insurance: Started in 2007 ,Health insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Objective :to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization. Beneficiaries entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- ($ 600) while Central and State Government pays the premium to the insurer

14. IX(2). Emerging Programs/ Initiatives Mass/Community Marriages • Many couples tie the knot under the same roof at the same time. • They help parents spread the cost. • State Governments are increasingly incentivizing such endeavors

15. Thank You