Causes of Poverty in India

Causes of Poverty in India

The main causes of rural poverty in India are as follows :

Unemployment and underemployment: Even during the year in which there are good rains, agricultural labourers do not get work throughout the year.

Population pressures : Because of population pressure, there are many dependents per every earning member. And there is the problem of disguised unemployment. On a farm, there may be work for only four persons. But six or seven persons may be there on the farm. The marginal productivity of the extra persons is almost zero.

Indian agriculture is marked by low productivity. So majority of those engaged in agriculture are poor.

A majority of people in rural areas do not have enough assets, especially land. The main reason for this is the concentration of land in the hands of a few families.

The regional variations in the incidence of poverty are also high. For example, in 1987-88, 58 percent of the poor people in India were living in five states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

Many workers in urban areas suffered from sub-employment. They are the working poor. And migration of people from rural to urban areas is also one of the causes of urban poverty. 

Poverty alleviation programmes

The problem of poverty eradication is one of providing employment and raising the productivity of low level of employment. The following measures have been taken by the government to remove poverty from the country.