Poverty

5.1 Concept and Measurement

Poverty denotes insufficient access to resources (income, food, shelter, health, education) to maintain a minimum acceptable standard of living. Measurement approaches differ:

Absolute poverty: Fixed monetary threshold below which a person is poor. India's official poverty line is based on consumption expenditure estimated through NSSO/PLFS surveys.

Relative poverty: Defined as income/consumption below a percentage of median — more used in developed countries.

Multidimensional Poverty: UNDP-OPHI's MPI measures 10 indicators across 3 dimensions — Health (nutrition, child mortality), Education (years of schooling, school attendance), Living Standards (cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets).

5.2 India's Poverty Data

NITI Aayog National MPI 2023:

• India's multidimensional poverty fell from 29.17% (2013-14) to 11.28% (2022-23) — a reduction of ~17.89 percentage points in 9 years
• In absolute numbers: approximately 24.82 crore persons escaped multidimensional poverty during 2005-06 to 2015-16 (World Bank assessment)
• Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh have highest poverty headcounts
• Rajasthan's MPI 2023: ~18% multidimensional poor (below national average of earlier periods)

Poverty Line Committees:

• Alagh Committee (1979): First calorie-based norms (2,400 kcal/day rural, 2,100 urban)
• Lakdawala Committee (1993): Calorie-based poverty lines by state
• Tendulkar Committee (2009): Shifted to consumption-based, recommended Rs 446/month (rural) and Rs 578/month (urban) — widely used today
• Rangarajan Committee (2014): Recommended higher poverty lines of Rs 972/month (rural) and Rs 1,407/month (urban); government did not officially adopt this

5.3 Types and Causes of Poverty

Type	Description
Absolute poverty	Unable to meet basic survival needs
Relative poverty	Below median income; social exclusion
Chronic poverty	Intergenerational — families poor across generations
Transient poverty	Temporary due to shocks (illness, drought, job loss)
Rural poverty	Dominates India — dependence on agriculture, seasonal income
Urban poverty	Informal workers, slum dwellers, migrants

Causes of persistence: Caste-based discrimination limits access to education/employment for Dalits and Adivasis; feminisation of poverty — women more likely to be poor due to gender wage gap and care burden; agrarian distress — small/marginal farmers; lack of social security in informal economy; health shocks — a single illness can push a family below poverty line (catastrophic expenditure).

5.4 Poverty Alleviation Programmes

Programme	Launch	Target
MGNREGS	2006	100 days guaranteed employment; ~5.5 crore households benefited FY 2022-23
PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)	2020 (COVID, extended to 2028)	Free foodgrain to 80 crore beneficiaries
PM Awas Yojana (Gramin + Urban)	2016	Pucca houses — 2.94 crore rural houses built by 2023
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana	2014	Skill development and livelihood for urban/rural poor
PM Suraksha Bima + Jeevan Jyoti	2015	Affordable insurance for poor
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana	2014	Financial inclusion — 50 crore accounts opened by 2024

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