Aayushi BansalAIR 7 · CSE 2024 · 154 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
Poverty in India is not just lack of basic minimum resources to survive, but rather a multi-dimensional phenomena. Prof Amartya Sen considers it lack of capacities to participate in society.
Body · points
- Arrival of colonial rule subserved the Indian economy. One way free trade de-industrialised local handlooms leading to artisans crowding agriculture.
- This combined with exploitative land tenures (e.g. Permanent Settlement) impoverished & pauperised peasantry. At independence, India had ~55% people below poverty line.
Close · a framework
Even post independence, graft, faulty land reforms and lack of manufacturing growth perpetuated poverty.
Critics accuse Indian State of acquiring a paternalistic stance and using poors as vote banks. Irrational subsidies created a dependency culture preventing building of capacities via human capital.
Today, Niti Aayog defines multi-dimensional poverty to curb it holistically. Schemes like PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana for skill building, Right to Education (Art 21A), Ayushmann Bharat are attacking poverty from all sides to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1.