GSEB Class 12 Economics Important Questions Chapter 5 Poverty

Gujarat Board GSEB Class 12 Commerce Economics Important Questions Chapter 5 Poverty Important Questions and Answers.

GSEB Class 12 Economics Important Questions Chapter 5 Poverty

Short Answer Type Question

Question 1.
What does the society face due to economic inequality?
Answer:
Society faces dissatisfaction restlessness, hatred and class conflict.

Question 2.
When can economic development be said ‘development’ in true sense?
Answer:
When there is reduction in income inequality and poverty, then economic development can be said ‘development’ in true sense.

Question 3.
Who is said to be poor?
Answer:
A person is said to be poor when he faces a situation where he cannot satisfy his minimum requirements like food, water and shelter.

Question 4.
State the two types of poverty.
Answer:
Income poverty and non-income poverty.

Question 5.
What is poverty line referred to in India?
Answer:
In India, poverty line is referred as minimum consumption expenditure required to get minimum calories.

Question 6.
Explain income concept of poverty.
Answer:
Income concept of poverty is a traditional concept which states that it is only on the basis of a person’s income to decide whether the person is poor or not.

Question 7.
Explain the modern approach of poverty.
Answer:
Modern approach of poverty reflects various aspects of human development to decide whether a person is poor or not. This concept includes not only income and food but also other aspects like housing, clothes, drinking water, health, sanitation, etc. to give an overall picture of poverty.

Question 8.
What are the important parameters of human development index and human poverty index?
Answer:
Knowledge, health and standard of living

Question 9.
What are the factors on the basis of which knowledge parameter is calculated in Human development index and human poverty index?
Answer:
Literacy rate and enrollment ratio are the two factors that falls under the parameter of knowledge

Question 10.
What is the base to calculate health and standard of living parameters of human development index and human poverty index?
Answer:
The base for health is life expectancy and base for standard of living is per capita income.

Question 11.
Define absolute poverty.
Answer:
The minimum amount of income and expenditure that is needed to satisfy the basic needs of human beings is known as poverty line. People who do not earn this amount are said to be living below poverty line and hence are absolute poor. Their poverty is called absolute poverty.

Question 12.
Explain the limitation of poverty line.
Answer:
The limitation of poverty line is that it only takes into account the calorie consumption. It does not consider other factors like housing, standard of living, etc.

Question 13.
What is the measure of absolute poverty in India?
Answer:
Absolute poverty is measured by the minimum expenditure to be made by a person to purchase the minimum physical amount of cereal, pulses, milk, butter, etc.

Question 14.
What is the method given by Indian Council of Medical Research for calculating absolute poverty?
Answer:
To consider a person as not being absolute poor, the Council calculated that a person belonging to a rural area must consume 2400 calories per day whereas that of urban, 2100.

Question 15.
Which committee made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India?
Answer:
Dandekar and Rath Committee.

Question 16.
What was the minimum value of poverty decided by the Dandekar and Rath committee?
Answer:
Dandekar and Rath Committee decided minimum value of poverty for rural areas ? 15 and for urban area ? 22.50 taking 1960-61 as base price.

Question 17.
What was the value of poverty line set by Lakadwala committee
Answer:
The new poverty line set by lakadwala ₹ committee was ₹ 57 per day for urban areas and ₹ 49 for rural areas.

Question 18.
What has to be done to make the concept of poverty line more progressive in nature?
Answer:
To make the poverty line concept more progressive, the factors like nutritive food, -education, housing, drinking water, sanitation, etc. that a person receives should also be considered.

Question 19.
Which committee presented report under the chairmanship of Mr. Suresh Tendulkar and in which year?
Answer:
Tendulkar committee in the year 2009.

Question 20.
What was the minimum per capita daily expenditure set as per the suggestions given by Tendulkar committee report?
Answer:
The minimum per capita daily expenditure needed for rural area was set to be ₹ 27 (Rs. 816 per month) and that for urban was set to ? 33 (Rs. 1000 per month).

Question 21.
Define international poverty line.
Answer:
International poverty line is an international monetary threshold under which an individual is considered to be living in poverty as per global standards.

Question 22.
What is the poverty line based on at international level?
Answer:
Poverty line is based on purchasing power parity at international level.

Question 23.
Define purchasing power parity.
Answer:
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a theory which states that exchange rates between currencies are in equilibrium when their purchasing power is the same in each of the two countries

Question 24.
At what value is the international poverty line set in the year 2015?
Answer:
The international poverty line was set at $ 1.90 a day for the year 2015.

Question 25.
Which states in India has 10% or less population below the poverty line?
Answer:
Goa, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh

Question 26.
How much percentage of population of West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh lie below the poverty line?
Answer:
20% to 30% of the population of these states lies below the poverty line.

Question 27.
Which states in India has 10 to 20 % of its population below the poverty line?
Answer:
Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

Question 28.
‘Madhya Pradesh has its 30 to 40% of population below the poverty line’ Which are the other such states in the same range of population below poverty line?
Answer:
Assam, Odhisa, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

Question 29.
What is Lorenz curve?
Answer:
The Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of the distribution of income and property. In 1905, Max. O. Lorenz explained the inequality of property through Lorenz curve

Question 30.
What is Gini Co-efficient?
Answer:
Gini co-efficient is numerical measurement of distribution of income and property based on Lorenz curve. It lies between 0 and 1. If the value of Gini co-efficient is 0 then it shows equal distribution of income. If value of Gini co-efficient is 1 then it shows that whole property belong to one person. More the value of Gini co-efficient more unequal is the distribution of property.

Question 31.
State any four indicators of poverty.
Answer:
Low per capita household consumption expenditure, level of malnutrition, life expectancy and infant mortality rate and medical facilities.

Question 32.
What is per capita household consumption expenditure?
Answer:
It is the amount of income households spend for the consumption of various goods and services. It is calculated on the basis of market price of durable goods like cars, television, refrigerator, washing machine, etc

Question 33.
How is the average per capita household consumption expenditure calculated?
Answer:
Average per capita household consumption expenditure = (Country’s total household expenditure on various goods and services divided by total population of the country)

Question 34.
Define malnutntion.
Answer:
The condition in which the food taken by individuals lack proper nutrition i.e. the food lacks sufficient calories, protein, carbohydrate, vitamin and minerals is called malnutrition.

Question 35.
Why does malnourishment exist among the population in India?
Answer:
India’s per capita income is low and there exists a wide spread income disparity. Hence, in spite of rise in agricultural production people with low income are unable to get nutritive food i.e. they suffer from malnutrition.

Question 36.
Define life expectancy and infant mortality rate.
Answer:
The average expected life span of a new born baby is called the life expectancy. The number of deaths per thousand new born before reaching the age of one year is called the infant mortality rate.

Question 37.
What is the current life expectancy and current infant mortality rate of India?
Answer:
Current life expectancy is 66.21 years and current infant mortality rate is 40 per 1000 live births.

Question 38.
What is the rank of India in the measurement of malnourishment according to FAO report?
Answer:
[2nd rank]

Question 39.
What is FAO?
Answer:
Food and Agricultural organization (FAO) is a special agency which tries to reduce starvation at international level.

Question 40.
What is average life expectancy of people based on?
Answer:
The average life expectancy of people in a country is based on nutritive food, cleanliness, pure drinking water and health services.

Question 41.
What is infant mortality based on?
Answer:
The rate of infant mortality depends on availability of health services, mother’s education, vaccination among children and nutrition of food.

Question 42.
What is the estimate of doctor’s availability in developing and developed countries?
Answer:
As per an estimate there is 1 doctor per 350 people in developed countries whereas there is 1 doctor per 6000 people in developing countries.

Question 43.
What is the count of people suffering from AIDS in the world?
Answer:
2.3 crore people are suffering from AIDS in the world. Out of this 90% belong to developing economies.

Question 44.
What kind of drinking water do people get in India?
Answer:
In India, around 63% of the population gets drinking water from treated sources i.e. the water is given treatment of purification, around 9% population gets drinking water from untreated sources and around 26% population gets drinking water from other sources like ponds, tube well, hand pump, etc.

Question 45.
How much population of India lives in villages as per census report 2011?
Answer:
70% of the population lives in villages.

Question 46.
What was the literacy rate of Brazil, India, Nepal and Pakistan in the year 2011?
Answer:
In 2011, Brazil had 91% literacy rate where as in India it was 74.04%, in Nepal 60% and 55% in Pakistan.

Question 47.
Explain per capita consumption expenditure.
Answer:
Total market value of all the goods and services bought by families during a year divided by the total population of the same year is called per capita consumption expenditure.

Question 48.
What is per labour productivity?
Answer:
During a pc. Licuicr period of time, the amount of goods and services produced by one labour is per labour productivity.

Question 49.
What do you mean by literacy rate? What is the current literacy rate of India?
Answer:
The percentage of total population who are above seven years and able to read and write is called the literacy rate of the population. The current literacy rate of India is 74.04%.

Question 50.
Why did agriculture sector suffer in India under the British- rule?
Answer:
During the British rule, the British did not show any interest in investing money in irrigation project in India. On the other hand repeated drought, zamindari system, high tenancy santh system destroyed economic condition of the farmers. Hence

Question 51.
List down the economic causes of rural poverty.
Answer:

1. Low agricultural productivity per labour,
2. Unequal distribution of land and property,
3. Minimal development of small and cottage industry,
4. Rapid increases in prices and
5. High rate of unemployment.

Question 52.
State the social reasons for rural poverty.
Answer:

1. Low level of education and
2. Gender inequality.

Question 53.
Explain low agricultural productivity per labour as an economic cause of poverty in rural India.
Answer:
In rural India, there exist many problems like poor irrigation facilities, insufficient technology, lack of education and training, low rate of investment, heavy load of population, etc. All these factors result in low agricultural productivity. So income of farmers remains low and poverty increases.

Question 54.
Which industries can help in reducing poverty in rural India?
Answer:
Cottage and small scale industries.

Question 55.
State some of the agriculture allied activities.
Answer:
Animal Husbandry, dairy and fisheries are some of the agricultural allied activities.

Question 56.
State the measures to reduce poverty.
Answer:

1. Increase agricultural productivity,
2. Develop small scale industries,
3. Develop unorganized sector,
4. Use of appropriate tax policy,
5. Increase human capital investment,
6. Sale of goods and services at reasonable rate and
7. Employment programmes.

Question 57.
What does the government do to reduce inequality ui income and poverty?
Answer:
Government frames tax policy in a manner that more tax is imposed to rich class which can afford that tax and less tax is imposed to poor class and is also given tax concession. This helps to reduce inequality of income and poverty.

Question 58.
Give the list of employment programmes for poverty eradication
Answer:

1. IRDP (Integrated rural development programme),
2. Wage Employment Scheme,
3. Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna and
4. NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005)

Question 59.
What was the main objective of IRDP?
Answer:
To encourage poor families for self-employment so that they can get more income than poverty line.

Question 60.
Mention any four programmes merged with the IRDP self-employment scheme
Answer:

1. Ganga welfare scheme,
2. MWS (Million Well scheme),
3. DWCRA (Development of women and child in rural areas) and
4. SITRA (Supplying Improved Tool Kit to Rural artisans)

Question 61.
What was the name of the scheme given to IRDP and the programmes merged with it on 1st April, 1999?
Answer:
Suvarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna.

Question 62.
Mention the various activities held under Suvarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna.
Answer:
Development of small scale industries, self-help groups were provided infrastructural facilities, technology loan, and facility of market to final goods to rural poor.

Question 63.
Which are the two schemes included in Wage employment scheme?
Answer:
Jawahar Rojgar Yojna and Employment Assistance Scheme.

Question 64.
What is the objective of wage employment schemes?
Answer:
To provide self-employment to poor in non- agricultural season and during flood, drought, scarcity and other natural calamities.

Question 65.
Name the scheme whose objective is to enable educated unemployed people to start their own ventures and hence become employed.
Answer:
Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna.

Question 66.
What is the objective of NREGA?
Answer:
To provide employment to one person per family for minimum 100 days a year to rural and urban poor as well as lower middle class families

Question 67.
In which year was NREGA reformed to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act?
Answer:
In the year 2009.

Question 68.
List down three housing schemes launched in India.
Answer:

1. Indira Awas Yojna,
2. Rajiv Gandhi Yojna and
3. Prime Minister Awas Yojna.

Question 69.
When did Prime Minister Awas Yojna start and with what objective?
Answer:
It started on 25th June, 2015 with an objective to solve the problem of fast increasing problem of dwelling in urban areas.

Question 70.
What was the objective of Rajiv Gandhi Yojna?
Answer:
Rajiv Gandhi Yojna, 2013-14 was implemented to improve the housing of those who reside in huts.

Question 71.
List down various social security schemes.
Answer:

1. Atal Pension Scheme,
2. Jeevan Jyoti Scheme,
3. Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojna and
4. Prime Minister Security Scheme.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What problems an economy/country faces if there is income inequality?
Answer:

• If in a country inequality exists then poor people cannot afford to fulfill even their basic requirements like food, shelter and education.
• Inequality also leads to social clashes because the rich enjoy every means for a good life as they can afford many things while poor people cannot. This inequality gives rise to social restlessness, class conflict, and hatred.

Question 2.
What is the traditional meaning of poverty?
OR
What is Income poverty? What are its limitations?
Answer:
The traditional meaning of poverty (income poverty):

• When a certain minimum level of per capita consumption and expenditure is required to decide the minimum basic needs of people it is known as poverty line. All the people who are earning and spending below this poverty line are known as poor.
• Thus, the traditional definition of poverty defines poverty on the basis of a person’s income.
  Limitation:
• The limitation of income based poverty is that it only reflects one aspect i.e. income.
• Income alone cannot be a sole measure of poverty. There are other aspects like education, clothes, housing, drinking water, sanitation, etc. which reflect an overall picture of poverty.

Question 3.
Differentiate between income poverty and non-income poverty?
Answer:

Points of Difference	Income Poverty	Non Income Poverty
Meaning	Here, a certain minimum level of per capita consumption and expenditure is required to decide minimum basic needs	Here, over and above the consumption and expenditure behind food other aspects like clothes, shelter, education, health and drinking water facilities are also included
Scope	It is narrow in scope because it is decided on the basis of income only	It is broader in scope because it also includes other aspects like clothes shelter, education, drinking water, etc.
Type of concept	It is traditional concept	It is modern concept
Utility	It is useful for deciding poverty line	It is useful for preparing Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI)
Limitation	It reflects only one aspect that is i.e. income. Thus it does not give overall picture of poverty	It reflects on various aspects apart from income like shelter, education, clothes and drinking water, etc. and thus gives an overall picture of poverty

Question 4.
Why according to modern economists’ income should not be the sole measuring rod for explaining poverty?
OR
Income poverty is not the correct way of measuring poverty. Explain.
Answer:

• According to modern economists income is an important element for measuring the poverty. But, poverty calculated solely on the basis of income i.e. income poverty should not be the only element for poverty measurement.
• As per economists income is just one of the many aspects of poverty. It does not reflect the overall picture of poverty.
• In order to get a complete picture of poverty other elements like education, housing, drinking water, sanitation, etc. should be included while deciding a measure of poverty.

Question 5.
The Indian method of defining poverty on the basis of consumption of minimum calories is deficient. Explain.
Answer:

• In India, poverty line is defined in reference to the minimum required calories that a person consumes.
  The major limitation of this method is that it only focuses on the non-availability of food or say starvation. Poverty is not only a situation of starvation. A person is poor even when several other basic necessities such as proper clothing, housing, pure drinking water, education etc. are hot available to him.
• Hence, the Indian method of defining poverty on the basis of consumption of minimum calories is deficient.

Question 6.
Which are the important parameters of Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI)?
Answer:

• As per the UNDP report, the three important parameters for Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI) are:
  1. Knowledge,
  2. Health and
  3. Standard of living.
• Knowledge covers the aspects of literacy rate and enrollment ratio, Health covers life expectancy and Standard of living considers per capita income.

Question 7.
What is the meaning of absolute poverty? How poverty line has been decided in India over the period of time?
Answer:
Absolute poverty:
The minimum amount of income and expenditure that is needed to satisfy the basic needs of human beings is known as poverty line. People who are below this poverty line are known as absolutely poor and their poverty is called absolute poverty.

Method of deciding the poverty line:
To understand the level of absolute poverty or deciding the poverty line, the minimum expenditure to be made by a person to purchase the minimum physical amount of cereal, pulses, milk, butter etc. is studied.
(A) Method of Indian Council of Medical Research:

• To ascertain minimum expenditure on all these items, the Indian Council of Medical Research during the initial years of planning calculated a minimum limit of calorie that a person needs to consume daily. Based on the calorie requirement the expenditure for items was then calculated.
• The Council calculated that a person belonging to a rural area must consume 2400 calories per day whereas that of urban, 2100.
• Later, even the Planning Commission accepted this method of ascertaining expenditure. By taking prices of year 1960-61 as base year, the Commission decided that ₹ 20 per day be set as minimum value for measurement of poverty or say poverty line. Thus, a person who earned less than ? 20 per day should be considered living below the poverty line or say should be called absolutely poor. Later, various people and committees revised the minimum value of poverty line.

(B) Dandekar and Rath Committee:

• Dandekar and Rath made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India.
• Dandekar and Rath Committee decided minimum value of poverty for rural areas ₹ 15 and for urban area ₹ 22.50 taking 1960-61 as the base price.

(C) Lakadwala Committee:
After that the planning commission appointed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Prof. D.T. Lakadawala. This committee decided a new minimum limit of poverty line for the year 1993 taking 1973-74 as base year. They set a poverty line. The new poverty line was set as ? 57 per day for urban areas and ? 49 for rural areas. People earning below this be considered living below the poverty line.

Limitation of all these methods:

• Calculating poverty and deciding poverty line with the methuu based on calorie consumption only, does not give a true picture of poverty. The reason for this is that poverty is an economic situation and its scope is broader than consumption expenditure behind food items.
• Hunger is a physical situation whereas poverty is an economic. In this sense, the poverty line defined by these people just becomes a ‘starvation line’.
• So, to calculate poverty line, aspects such as nutritive food, education, housing, drinking water, sanitation, etc. that a person receives should also be considered.

(D) Tendulkar Committee Report-2009:

• To overcome drawbacks of all the previous methods of calculating poverty line a committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Suresh Tendulkar was formed.
• It presented its report in 2009 and gave a new measure of poverty line. The method suggested by this committee incorporated expenses done after health and education were also covered to get a more realistic picture of poverty.
• According to the new method, in the year 2011-12, the minimum value of poverty line was modified, for urban and rural area.
• As per the new method, the minimum per capita daily expenditure needed for rural area was set to be ₹ 27 (Rs. 816 per month) and that for urban was set to ₹ 33 (Rs. 1000 per month).

Question 8.
Explain the method adopted by the Indian Council of Medical Research for calculating the poverty line.
Answer:
Method of Indian Council of Medical Research:

• To ascertain minimum expenditure on all these items, the Indian Council of Medical Research during the initial years of planning calculated a minimum limit of calorie that a person needs to consume daily. Based on the calorie requirement the expenditure for items was then calculated.
• The Council calculated that a person belonging to a rural area must consume 2400 calories per day whereas that of urban, 2100.
• Later, even the Planning Commission accepted this method of ascertaining expenditure. By taking prices of year 1960-61 as base year, the Commission decided that ₹ 20 per day be set as minimum value for measurement of poverty or say poverty line. Thus, a person who earned less than ₹ 20 per day should be considered living below the poverty line or say should be called absolutely poor. Later, various people and committees revised the minimum value of poverty line.

Question 9.
Who made the first systematic attempt of assessing poverty? State the poverty Jine it gave.
Answer:
Dandekar and Rath Committee:

• Dandekar and Rath made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India.
• Dandekar and Rath Committee decided minimum value of poverty for rural areas ₹ 15 and for urban area ₹ 22.50 taking 1960-61 as base price.

Question 10.
Give an idea about the poverty line given by the Lakadwala Committee.
Answer:
Lakadwala Committee:

• After that the planning commission appointed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Prof. D.T. Lakadawala. This committee decided a new minimum limit of poverty line for the year 1993 taking 1973-74 as base year. They set a poverty line. The new poverty line was set as ₹ 57 per day for urban areas and ₹ 49 for rural areas. People earning below this be considered living below the poverty line.
  Limitation of all these methods:
• Calculating poverty and deciding poverty line with the methuu based on calorie consumption only, does not give a true picture of poverty. The reason for this is that poverty is an economic situation and its scope is broader than consumption expenditure behind food items.
• Hunger is a physical situation whereas poverty is an economic. In this sense, the poverty line defined by these people just becomes a ‘starvation line’.
• So, to calculate poverty line, aspects such as nutritive food, education, housing, drinking water, sanitation, etc. that a person receives should also be considered.

Question 11.
Write a brief note on Tendulkar Committee report.
Answer:
Tendulkar Committee Report-2009:

• To overcome drawbacks of all the previous methods of calculating poverty line a committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Suresh Tendulkar was formed.
• It presented its report in 2009 and gave a new measure of poverty line. The method suggested by this committee incorporated expenses done after health and education were also covered to get a more realistic picture of poverty.
• According to the new method, in the year 2011-12, the minimum value of poverty line was modified, for urban and rural area.
• As per the new method, the minimum per capita daily expenditure needed for rural area was set to be ₹ 27 (Rs. 816 per month) and that for urban was set to ₹ 33 (Rs. 1000 per month).

Question 12.
Why Prof. Tendulkar’s measure of poverty is considered more realistic?
Answer:

• To overcome drawbacks of all the previous methods of calculating poverty line a committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Suresh Tendulkar was formed.
• It presented its report in 2009 and gave a new measure of poverty line. The method suggested by this committee incorporated expenses done after health and education were also covered to get a more realistic picture of poverty. Hence, Tendulkar’s measure of poverty is considered more realistic.

Question 13.
What is international poverty line?
OR
How is poverty calculated at international level?
Answer:

• International poverty line is an international monetary threshold under which an individual is considered to be living in poverty as per global standards. International poverty line is calculated by taking the poverty line from each country i.e. the value of the goods needed to sustain one adult and then converting it to dollars.
• On the basis of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), the international poverty line was originally set to roughly $1 a day for the year 1990. It was then set to $1.25 a day for the year 2005 and $1.90 a day for the year 2015.
• The international poverty line helps to determine which populations of the world are considered to be in absolute poverty.

Question 14.
Give a state-wise measurement of poverty in India.
Answer:
State-wise Measure of Poverty in the year 2011-12 as given by the Planning Commission

Percentage of population below poverty line	States
Below 10%	Goa, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh
10 to 20%	Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya
20 to 30%	West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh
30 to 40%	Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh.

Source: Economic Survey, 2015-16

According to the Annual Report of 2013, Goa reported the lowest poverty of 5.09% whereas Chhattisgarh reported highest poverty of 39.93%.

Question 15.
Explain the concept of relative poverty in detail.
Answer:
Relative poverty:

• The condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live is called relative poverty.
• Note that the concept of absolute poverty focuses on the minimum consumption expenditure required for satisfying minimum needs whereas the concept of relative poverty focuses on income inequality existing in different groups of people living in society.
• Income disparity exists in all economies. Those who earn less are considered relatively poor than those who earn more.
• To assess relative poverty, the society is divided in different income groups to study unequal distribution of income. Thus, relative poverty exhibits the level of income inequality among different class of people i.e. different groups. The concept of Relative poverty can be studied with the help of hypothetical example. For example, suppose our country’s population is 125 crores and we divide this population into five groups based on their income as shown in the table.

Division of population in five groups

Group	Income group (In ₹)
Group 1	0-30,000
Group 2	30,000-1 lakh
Group 3	1 lakh-3 Iakh
Group 4	3 lakh-10 Iakh
Group 5	10 lakh and above

Analysis:
We can see in the above table that the class in group 2, has more income then the class income of people in group 1. Hence, it can be said that people in group 1 are relatively poor than group 2.

The people of group 2 have lower income than income of people in group 3, 4 and 5. Hence people of group 2 are relatively poor than 3, 4 and 5. Lorenz curve and Gini co-efficient are used to measure relative poverty or income inequality.

Relative poverty is different from absolute poverty because in absolute poverty we only take the consumption expenses behind minimum basic needs as criteria to decide poverty line but in relative poverty we compare one group of society with another group based on their incomes.

Question 16.
Differentiate between absolute poverty and relative poverty.
Answer:

Absolute poverty	Relative poverty
1. The condition in which people are unable to earn the minimum amount of income to do expenditure that is needed to satisfy the basic needs of human beings is known as absolute poverty.	1. The condition in which people are unable to earn the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live is called relative poverty.
2. The concept of absolute poverty focuses on the minimum consumption expenditure required for satisfying minimum needs.	2. The concept of relative poverty focuses on income inequality existing in different groups of people living in society.
3. Unlike relative poverty, the population need not be divided in different groups to study absolute poverty.	3. To assess relative poverty, the society is divided in different income groups to study the unequal distribution of income.

Question 17.
Write a short note on low per capita household consumption expenditure as an indicator of poverty.
Answer:
1. Per capita household consumption expenditure is the amount of income households spend for the consumption of various goods and services. It is calculated on the basis of market price of durable goods like cars, television, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.
Average per capita household consumption expenditure is calculated with the help of below mentioned formula.

Average per capita household consumption expenditure
= \(\frac{\text { Country’s total household expenditure on various goods and services }}{\text { Total population of the country }}\)

2. Since, the per capita income of developing countries is lesser than the developed countries, the developing countries’ per capita household consumption expenditure is less than developed countries. This works as an indicator which indicatesthat developing countries are poorer.

the following table shows the per capita consumption expenditure of few countries:
Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (Per year)

Countries	Year 2014 (Based on fixed price of 2005 in US $)
US	31,469
UK	25,828
Japan	22,149
Pakistan	603
China	1,420
India	725

Source: World Bank

Analysis:
As can be seen in the table, on an average an Indian spends very less as compared to developed countries like US, UK and Japan.

Question 18.
Write a short note on level of malnutrition as an indicator of poverty.
Answer:
Level of malnutrition:

• The condition in which the food taken by individuals lack proper nutrition i.e. the food lacks sufficient calories, protein, carbohydrate, vitamin and minerals is called malnutrition.
• India’s per capita income is low and there exists a wide spread income disparity. Hence, in spite of rise in agricultural production people with low income are unable to get nutritive food i.e. they suffer from malnutrition.

The table below shows percentage of malnutrition among Indian population:
Measurement of Malnourished People (in percentage)

Year	Total malnourished people (in percentage)
1990-92	23.7
2000-02	17.5
2005-07	20.5
2010-12	15.6
2014-16	15.2

Source: Economic Survey, 2015-16

• According to above table in the time span of 1990-92 India had total 23.7% of malnourished people. Over years this has reduced to 15.2% but still this is a very large number.
• According to the report of 2015 of FAO on world food safety, India ranks 2nd in terms of malnourishment at world level.
• Thus, malnutrition is a strong indicator of poverty.

Question 19.
How do you compare India with other countries in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality?
Answer:
Life expectancy and infant mortality:
(A) Life expectancy:

• The average expected life span of a new born baby is called the life expectancy.
• The average life expectancy of people in a country is based on nutritive food, cleanliness, pure drinking water and health services. Poor people are deprived of such facilities and so they have low life expectancy.

(B) Infant mortality:

• The number of deaths per thousand new born before reaching the age of one year is called the infant mortality.
• The rate of infant mortality depends on availability of health services, mother’s education, vaccination among children and nutrition of food.
• Life expectancy and infant mortality is also an indicator of poverty with respect to poor health services

Life expectancy and infant mortality of various countries of the world are shown as below:

Life Expectancy and Infant mortality

Countries	Life expectancy (in years) (Year 2014)	Infant Mortality (Year 2014)
Norway	81.6	02
USA	79.1	06
Sri Lanka	74.9	09
China	75.8	10
India	68.0	39

Source: HDR-2015, Economic Survey 2015-16, www.dataworldbank.org

Analysis:

• We can see that life expectancy of developed countries is quite high as compared to India whose life expectancy is just 68 years. This is even lesser than China and Sri Lanka.
• Similarly, in India 39 infants die before they turn one year old. This is very high as compared to developed countries.
• Thus, life expectancy and infant mortality are strong indicators of poverty.

Question 20.
Discuss the provision of toilets in India.
Answer:
Provision for toilets in India:

• India is a land of villages because around 70% population lives in villages. Most of the villages still use untreated sources of water like tube well, hand pump, canal, ponds, etc. Hence, villagers are more prone to water-related diseases. Cleanliness is another important aspect and it is directly related to sanitation facilities.
• In India, as per census 2011 report, 34% of the households are without toilet facility in the home and this thing leads to several diseases.

Classification of slum families with toilet facilities

Total families	Toilet facility within house	Houses without toilet facility
100%	66%	34%

Analysis:

• In India, 66% houses have toilet facility within house whereas remaining 34% families use common toilets.
• The filth of common toilets or those who excrete in open areas cause several diseases. This in turn decreases individual productivity.

Question 21.
Discuss unequal distribution of income and property as an indicator of poverty.
Answer:
Unequal distribution of income and property:

• After the economic reforms of 1991, economic growth and per capita income have increased sharply in India. But, due to unequal distribution of income, poverty could not be reduced at a large scale.
• In India, on one hand we see rich class of people with high standard of living . and enjoying good facilities and on the other hand we find low income people living in slums and deprived of basic necessities like food, education and health.

The table below shows the actual income of the top 1% rich class in USA, UK and India:
Share of actual national income to top 1% rich class

Country	Year 1998	Year 2012
USA	15.2	18.9
UK	12.5	12.7
India	9.0	12.6

Source: Economic survey, 2015-16

Analysis;

• From the table we can see that the real income of top 1% has increased in year 2012 as compared to the year 1998.
• India’s rich class held 12.6% national income in 2012 as compared to 9% in 1998. This figure is quite high.
• For India it can be said that the advantage from economic reforms were more in favour of rich class.
• Thus income inequality on a large scale serves as an indicator of poverty.

Question 22.
Lack of sufficient medical infrastructure is draining Indian economy (or economies of developing countries). Explain.
Answer:

• Medical facilities include number of hospitals, doctors, nurses, compounders, etc. available to provide health care to the citizens of country.
• As per an estimate there is 1 doctor per 6000 people in developing countries like India.
• Indian poor do not have access to sufficient medical facilities. Therefore life expectancy rate is low and infant mortality is high.
• In developing countries, every year 1.7 crore people die from diarrhoea, Malaria and T.B.
• Out of the 2.3 crore people suffering from AIDS world over, 90% belong to developing countries.
• All these facts and figures reveal that improper medical facilities are taking a major toll on people belonging to developing countries like India.
• The human resource which is the most important asset of a country is getting destroyed due to several diseases and hence the economies are draining.

Question 23.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the road to higher productivity. Explain.
Answer:

• India is a land of villages because around 70% population lives in villages.
• As per census 2011 report of India, 34% of the households are without toilet facility in the home and this thing leads to several diseases.
• Till date in India, 66% houses have toilet facility within house whereas remaining 34% families use common toilets.
• The filth of common toilets or those who excrete in open areas cause several diseases. People, especially children fall sick frequently and their overall health remains poor.
• As a result, productivity of people remains low.
• Providing proper sanitation facilities and creating toilets will improve health of people and their productivity. This will then increase overall productivity of the nation.

Question 24.
How poverty has gripped India historically?
Answer:
Historical reasons for poverty:

• History says that in 17th century India was comparatively a more urbanized and most commercialized nation. India had a strong hold in export of items like cotton textile, silk, spices, paddy, etc.
• India was ruined, completely after the entry of foreign rulers namely, British, French and Dutch and their colonization,
• Both, industries and agriculture got a major set-back during the British rule.

(A) Problems in agriculture:

• During the British rule, Indian economy was totally dependent on agriculture. The British did not show any interest in investing money in irrigation project in India. On the other hand repeated droughts, zamindari system, high . tenancy santh system, etc. destroyed economic condition of the farmers.
• Farmers used to be in constant pressure to repay debts and interest of debts of the zamindars, sahukars and big businessmen. Those who could not pay had to sell off their lands to repay.
• Owing to these reasons, farmers and cultivators started losing land and they became both, landless and jobless. This increased poverty.

(B) Problems in trade and industries:

• The British used to frame and follow such trade, tax and industrial policies in -India which would mostly benefit the British.
• Indian exports were prohibited in Europe whereas goods produced in England were given lot of tax concession and freedom” to sale in Indian market. Moreover, to supply these goods to each corner of India, Indians railway was extensively used.
• All such unfair policies made British extremely rich and India extremely poor.
• The British then invested the money earned from India in Britain to speed up industrialisation. This gave faster industrialisation in Britain.
• They sold the goods produced in Britain industries to India at very high prices.
• Indian trade and business started losing their competitive power and production capabilities. This also ruined small cottage industries of India. As a result unemployment and poverty grew more.
• Thus, if we look at the history, the glorious India became a poor victim of the British and since then we are still struggling to handle our economy.

Question 25.
Discuss the problems of farmers during the historical times.
Answer:
Problems in agriculture:

• During the British rule, Indian economy was totally dependent on agriculture. The British did not show any interest in investing money in irrigation project in India. On the other hand repeated droughts, zamindari system, high . tenancy santh system, etc. destroyed economic condition of the farmers.
• Farmers used to be in constant pressure to repay debts and interest of debts of the zamindars, sahukars and big businessmen. Those who could not pay had to sell off their lands to repay.
• Owing to these reasons, farmers and cultivators started losing land and they became both, landless and jobless. This increased poverty.

Question 26.
Discuss the unfair practices of the British that ruined Indian industries.
Answer:
Problems in trade and industries:

• The British used to frame and follow such trade, tax and industrial policies in -India which would mostly benefit the British.
• Indian exports were prohibited in Europe whereas goods produced in England were given lot of tax concession and freedom” to sale in Indian market. Moreover, to supply these goods to each corner of India, Indians railway was extensively used.
• All such unfair policies made British extremely rich and India extremely poor. -» The British then invested the money earned from India in Britain to speed up industrialisation. This gave faster industrialisation in Britain.
• They sold the goods produced in Britain industries to India at very high prices. -> Indian trade and business started losing their competitive power and production capabilities. This also ruined small cottage industries of India. As a result unemployment and poverty grew more.
• Thus, if we look at the history, the glorious India became a poor victim of the British and since then we are still struggling to handle our economy.

Question 27.
Roots of Indian poverty date back to the British era. Explain.
Answer:

• History says that in 17th century India was comparatively a more urbanized and most commercialized nation. India had a stronghold in export of items like cotton textile, silk, spices, paddy, etc.
• India was ruined after the entry of foreign rulers namely, British, French and Dutch and their colonization.
• The British did not show any interest in investing money in irrigation project in India. On the other hand repeated drought, zamindari system, high tenancy santh system destroyed economic condition of the farmers.
• The British used to frame and follow such trade, tax and industrial policies in India which could benefit mostly the British.
• Thus, both industries and agriculture got ruined during the British rule.

Question 28.
Discuss causes for rural poverty.
Answer:
Causes for rural poverty:
The causes for rural poverty can be divided into two parts.
They are:
1. Natural causes:.

• India has been an agricultural country from beginning. Even today majority of the population lives in villages and is dependent on agriculture.
• In India, agriculture is mainly dependent on natural factors like rain, weather conditions, etc. Frequent droughts, uncertainty of monsoon and floods result -in low production and less and uncertain income for people involved in agriculture. Hence, nature has become a cause for poverty.

2. Demographic factors:
After independence and during the planning period India’s economy grew rapidly. With this India also made rapid increase in the health services.

• Owing to all these factors, India’s death -rate declined but birth-rate did not reduce. This led to population explosion.
• Due to high population the per capita income did not increase much. Low per capita income and big size of families resulted in poor quality of life.
• There were insufficient employment opportunities for the fast growing population. As a result, people were forced to work in low wages and this made them poorer.

Question 29.
Discuss the demographic causes of poverty.
Answer:
Demographic factors:
After independence and during the planning period India’s economy grew rapidly. With this India also made rapid increase in the health services.

• Owing to all these factors, India’s death -rate declined but birth-rate did not reduce. This led to population explosion.
• Due to high population the per capita income did not increase much. Low per capita income and big size of families resulted in poor quality of life.
• There were insufficient employment opportunities for the fast growing population. As a result, people were forced to work in low wages and this made them poorer.

Question 30.
Why agriculture productivity is low per labour?
Answer:
1. Low agricultural productivity per labour:
One of important reasons of high poverty in rural India is low agricultural productivity per labourer. Problems like poor irrigation facilities, insufficient technology, lack of education and training, low rate of investment, heavy load of population, etc. result in low agricultural productivity. So income of farmers remains low and poverty increases.

Question 31.
How unequal distribution of land and poverty became the reason for poverty?
Answer:
Unequal distribution of land and property:
Before and during the British in India, systems like Zamindari and land ownership were wide spread. As a result, land lied with handful of people like zamindars.

• Zamindars were neither directly associated with land cultivation nor had any interest to invest in agricultural sector. So the real cultivators i.e. farmers became landless and zamindars became land owners.
• The landless farmers had to then work in their own land as tenants and so they had no motivation of work.
• All such factors resulted in poverty among farmers.

Question 32.
How minimal development of small and cottage industries led India towards poverty after independence?
Answer:
Minimal development of small and cottage industry:

• India started giving importance to heavy and basic industries as a strategy for economic development after its second five year plan.
• India neglected small and cottage industries of rural regions which have great contribution in employment, production and income.
• Over and above agricultural and allied activities such as animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, were growing slowly. This added to seasonal unemployment. As a result, poverty remains high.

Question 33.
Price rise fuels poverty. Explain.
Answer:
Rapid increase in price:

• Events and situations of war, drought, low national production, rapid increase in demand, increase in production cost, price of goods and services as well as edible goods, etc. rise the price at a much faster rate.
• Price rise reduces purchasing power of low income group.
• It reduces standard of living and increases poverty. On the other side, increasing price benefits businessman, traders and big farmers.
• The society again falls in the trap of unequal distribution of income.

Question 34.
High rate of unemployment – A concerning factor for poverty. Explain.
Answer:
High rate of unemployment:

• Majority of rural India is dependent on agriculture and agriculture is dependent on monsoon. Hence, most people can grow only one crop in a year. This results in seasonal unemployment. .
• To make things worse, population in India is quite high and they live jointly. During times of seasonal unemployment it becomes very difficult to bear the expense of the entire family. Majority all the members work in agriculture even when some of them are excess for the work. This results in disguised unemployment.
• Moreover, lack of alternate business opportunities in rural regions increase the unemployment and poverty further.

Question 35.
Discuss low level of education as a social pause for poverty.
Answer:
Low level of education:

• One of the major reasons of poverty in India is lack of education, training and skills.
• Low level of education, especially in rural areas prevent the villagers from taking advantage of the use of new technologies in agriculture, new agriculture system, research and benefit of market to sell their products.
• As a result both, per hectare productivity and per labour productivity in agriculture remain low. This is the chief reason for low income of farmers.
• Since the rural youths remain uneducated they cannot get good job opportunities in other fields except agriculture. This also contributes to their poverty.

Question 36.
How gender inequality results in poverty? Discuss
Answer:
Gender inequality:

• There has always been gender inequality in the Indian society. Males are preferred over females from day one.
• Society cares less about health of. females. As a result, women face more problems of malnourishment, low weight and weakness. This causes high infant and mortality during childbirth and health problems among new born child.
• Our set-up is such that there is a belief that women need to remain at home and do household works. So, they remain less or even uneducated and they do not get any economic opportunities to work.
• Apart from this at work places, women are paid less compared to males.
• All these reasons bring down the family income and increase poverty.

Question 37.
Explain social reasons for poverty in detail.
Answer:
Low level of education:

• One of the major reasons of poverty in India is lack of education, training and skills.
• Low level of education, especially in rural areas prevent the villagers from taking advantage of the use of new technologies in agriculture, new agriculture system, research and benefit of market to sell their products.
• As a result both, per hectare productivity and per labour productivity in agriculture remain low. This is the chief reason for low income of farmers.
• Since the rural youths remain uneducated they cannot get good job opportunities in other fields except agriculture. This also contributes to their poverty.

Gender inequality:

• There has always been gender inequality in the Indian society. Males are preferred over females from day one.
• Society cares less about health of. females. As a result, women face more problems of malnourishment, low weight and weakness. This causes high infant and mortality during childbirth and health problems among new born child.
• Our set-up is such that there is a belief that women need to remain at home and do household works. So, they remain less or even uneducated and they do not get any economic opportunities to work.
• Apart from this at work places, women are paid less compared to males.
• All these reasons bring down the family income and increase poverty.

Question 38.
How does war affects pbverty?
Answer:
Effect of war on poverty:

• After independence India fought two wars with neighbouring countries, Pakistan and China.
• War involves huge expenses on troops, arms and ammunitions. During wars, the country spends only a limited amount of resources on production and developmental activities. This reduces production of basic goods and services.
• Also, and during wars people stock extra food grains, clothes, fuel, etc. to avoid scarcity of these goods in future. As a result, prices increase rapidly.
• Economic development becomes slow. New projects get delayed, market becomes slow and labourers become jobless. Hence, poverty increases.

Question 39.
How spending too much on defence results in poverty?
Answer:
Increase in defence expenditure:

• Wars create havoc in the government and people. They fear their security.
• To make the security system of the nation stronger the country spends huge amount on modern missiles, fighter planes, tanks and submarine.
• A lot of expense is already incurred on developing special facilities to fight torrorism.
• All such money is non-developmental. A country has to forgo its several developmental projects so that it can use its limited budget in enhancing its security systems. As a result, new employment restricts, gets halted employment comes in danger and all this leads to poverty.

Question 40.
How have defective policies led to poverty?
Answer:
Poverty caused due to defective policies:

• India started giving importance to heavy and basic industries ?« a strategy for economic development after its second five year plan.
• By adopting policies of industrialization India hoped to achieve rapid industrialization and high economic growth which would then remove poverty and unemployment.
• The biggest drawback of this policy was that it neglected the majority of the population dependent on agriculture.
• India also neglected small and cottage industries of rural regions which have great contribution in employment, production and income.
• As a result, agriculture and small and cottage industries which gives employment and income to majority of population, developed slowly. So, people occupied in these fields remained poor.
• Apart from this various schemes were introduced during planning period to reduce poverty and unemployment. But, due to change in rolling government many a time the policies were either stopped or were not taken proper care. So, the targeted poverty reduction could not be achieved through these schemes.

Question 41.
How can developing small scale industries help in alleviating poverty?
Answer:

• In India, small and cottage industries immensely contribute in gross national income and employment. So, if small and cottage industries can be developed and encouraged then poverty can be reduced on a larger scale.
• Favourable environment, reducing controls, making available raw material, providing loans and technology and market to sell final goods are few developmental activities that the government should undertake.
• Recently on 8th April, 2015 Indian government has established MUDRA (Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency Ltd.) to provide loans to micro and small units.
• The government has also started ‘Start-up India’ scheme from 16th January, 2016.The objective of this scheme is to encourage entrepreneurship, provide loans to new ventures and increase employment opportunities.

Question 42.
Write a short note on Jan Dhan Yojna.
Answer:

• To hit the roots of poverty through financial inclusion an ambitious scheme called Pradhanmantari Jan Dhan Yojna was stated on 28th August, 2014. The objective of this scheme was to bring those people under banking who do not have bank accounts and hence reduce regional inequalities.
• This Yojna was started and the main purpose was that the subsidy given to poor families by-government should directly go to their bank account.
• On the very first day of this scheme 1.5 crore accounts were opened. By 8th January, the number increased to 12.58 crore which increased investment to ₹ 10,590 crore.
  Features and Importance of Jan Dhan Yojna:
• The main feature of this scheme is that the person can open the account
  even by maintaining a zero balance in the account.
• Once the account is maintained for five months, the bank will provide overdraft facility of ₹ 5000.
• Under this scheme those who opened account before 26 January, also got the benefit of life insurance.
• Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna is prominently a scheme for overall financial inclusion. On the other hand it hits directly on poverty by providing micro finance and banking facilities.

Question 43.
Explain how increasing agricultural productivity help in reducing poverty.
Answer:
Steps to increase agricuitural productivity:

• One of the most important reasons for poverty in India is low productivity in agriculture. By increasing the productivity, the agricultural income can be increased which then can reduce the poverty among field labourers.
• In order to achieve this objective, the government conducts various programmes for farmers. Farmers are made aware about latest technology, available resources at reasonable rates, improved infrastructural facilities, maximum price they can procure for their products and regulated market for their produce.
• Development of small scale agriculture will not only increase productivity per labourer but also employment opportunities. This will also help in bringing down the prices.

Question 44.
What efforts has government made to develop unorganized sector for reducing poverty?
Answer:
Development of unorganized sector:

• The unorganized sector and its labourers have a strong contribution in production and employment.
• National commission has recommended to provide proper working conditions, life Insurance, health facilities, old age pension angl other social security measures to these labourers for improving their condition.
• For small and marginal farmers it is recommended to provide irrigation facilities and loan facility.

Question 45.
Which type of tax policy government adopts to reduce poverty?
Answer:
Use of appropriate tax policy:

• Government frames tax policy so that it can reduce inequality of income and poverty and redistribute income.
• To fulfill this objective government makes such policies wherein more tax is imposed to rich class which can afford that tax and less tax is imposed to poor class and given tax concession.
• This way government collects fund by imposing tax on rich people and makes expense on welfare oriented programmes for poor people. As a result socio-economic conditions of poor improve and reduction is income inequality and poverty is seen.

Question 46.
How does government help the poor in procuring goods and services at reasonable rate?
Answer:
Goods and services at reasonable rate:

• Poor people mostly cannot satisfy their basic needs like food, clothing and housing.
• Most of their earnings are used in buying edible goods for daily needs. So, effort should be made to provide them nutritive food at reasonable rates.
• This problem is largely addressed through public distribution system in India. Under this system the government has set-up ration shops where rural and urban poor are sold basic utility goods at reasonable price.
• Even during situations like drought and scarcity the public distribution system takes care that it is able to satisfy basic needs of poor. This system largely helps the poor and checks poverty.

Question 47.
Public distribution system protects poor from inflating India. Explain.
Answer:

• Mostly poor people cannot satisfy their basic needs like food, clothing and housing.
• Most of their earnings are used in buying edible goods for daily needs.
• This problem is largely addressed through public distribution system in India. Under this system, the government has set-up ration shops where rural and urban poor are sold basic utility goods at reasonable price.
• Even during situations like drought and scarcity the public distribution system takes care that it is able to satisfy basic needs of poor.
• Hence, one can rightly say that public distribution system protects poor from inflating India.

Question 48.
Enlist various employment programmes of the government along with their objective.
Answer:

No. Employment Program (Yojna)	Objective
1. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) / Suvarana Jayanti Gram Svarojgar Yojna (SGSY)	To encourage poor families for self employment so that they can get more income than the poverty line
2. Wage Employment Schemes	To provide self employment to poor in non agricultural season and during flood, drought, scarcity and other natural calamities.
3. Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna (PMRY)	To enable educated unemployed people to start their own ventures and hence become employed
4. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA)	To provide employment to one person per family for minimum 100 days a year to rural and urban poor as well as lower middle class families
5. Housing Schemes	To provide houses to urban poor at very reasonable prices
6. Social Security Schemes	To provide accidental and life insurance, pension, etc.
7. Jan Dhan Yojna	To encourage poor to open bank account and to deposit subsidy directly into their account

Question 49.
Write short note on IRDP.
Answer:

• Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) / Suvarana Jayanti Gram Svarojgar Yojna (SGSY):
• During 6th five year plan, various agencies were running different programmes for rural poor. On 2nd October, 1980 all these programmes were merged under one programme called Integrated Rural Development Programme (iRDP).
• Following programmes were integrated with IRDP:
  1. IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme)
  2. TRYSEM (Training Rural Youth and Self-Employment Programme)
  3. DWCRA (Development of Women and Child in Rural Areas)
  4. MWS (Million Well Scheme)
  5. SITRA (Supplying Improved Toolkit to Rural Artisans)
  6. GWS (Ganga Welfare Scheme)
• The main objective of IRDP is to encourage poor families for self-employment so that they can come above poverty line.
• This programme focused on few special groups which include small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans.
• Later, on 1st April, 1990 IRDP and other programmes integrated with it were merged and named as Suvarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna.
• These schemes encouraged development of small trade. They also aimed at providing self-help groups the necessary infrastructural facilities, technology loan, facility of market to final goods, etc. to rural poor

Question 50.
Discuss the various wage employment schemes of the government.
Answer:
Wage employment schemes:

• Wage employment schemes focused on such poor who do have any other source of income other than income from physical labour.
• Wage employment scheme included
  1. Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY) and
  2. Employment Assistance Scheme (EAS).
• These schemes not only provide employment in off-agricultural season but also provide employment during flood, drought, scarcity and other natural calamities.
• Under these schemes various infrastructural facilities are developed in rural areas. The rural youth are employed in construction and maintenance of these facilities.
• The government also takes care that the labourers get proper wages.

Question 51.
Explain briefly Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna (PMRY).
Answer:
Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna (PMRY):

• In the decade of 90’s, employment generation in organized sector became stagnant. Negative growth was observed in public sector. Also, unemployment rate was rising fast.
• Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna was started to overcome this situation. This Yojna aimed at providing for self-employment i.e. encouraging people to start their own ventures and to provide employment to educated unemployed.

Question 52.
Write a short note on National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA)
Answer:
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA):

• National Employment Guarantee Act got approved in February 2006.
• The objective of this program was to create assets through public construction activities and to provide employment to one person per family for minimum 100 days a year to rural and urban poor as well as lower middle class families.
• As per this act, the person who demands job would be provided job within 7 days within the range of 5 km. If the person gets employed at more than this distance then he gets 10% extra wages. In case if the job is not available then the person will be paid unemployment allowance.
• Government tries to solve two problems at once. On one hand it provides employment to rural people in off-agriculture season and on the other hand by employing these people in infrastructural development activities it develops the infrastructure of the nation.
• On 2nd October, 2009, NREGA was renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Question 53.
State differences between self-employment programmes and wage- employment programmes.
Answer:

Self-employment	Wage employment
1. Self-employment encourages people to start their own ventures.	1. Under wage employment people get employment with wages.
2. Government provides several training to learn a skill and then venture into self-employment.	2. No training is provided.
3. It is an indirect way of solving the problem of unemployment.	3. It is a direct way of solving the problem of unemployment.
4. Prime Minister Rojgar Yojna is one. such self employment programme.	4. Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY) and Employment Assistance Scheme (EAS) are examples of wage employment programmes.

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
Which of the following factor is not a minimum basic requirement to enjoy a healthy life?
(A) High income
(B) Nutritive food
(C) Clothes
(D) Proper housing
Answer:
(A) High income

Question 2.
According to HDR 2000, economic development is
(A) A goal
(B) A resource
(C) A basic necessity
(D) A strategy
Answer:
(B) A resource

Question 3.
Economic development should result into
(A) Reduction in poverty
(B) Income equality
(C) Both (A) and (B).
(D) High standard of living
Answer:
(C) Both (A) and (B).

Question 4.
A certain normative minimum level of per capita consumption expenditure required to ascertain minimum basic needs and services called
(A) Minimum poor requirement
(B) Poverty line
(C) Non income poverty
(D) Minimum resource
Answer:
(B) Poverty line

Question 5.
Poverty is a state of
(A) Unhealthy life
(B) Income inequality
(C) Non-abundance
(D) Scarcity
Answer:
(D) Scarcity

Question 6.
What does poverty line refer to in India?
(A) Income inequality
(B) Non-availability of food
(C) Non-availability of education
(D) All of these
Answer:
(B) Non-availability of food

Question 7.
Which of the following factor does non-income poverty include?
(A) Education
(B) Cleanliness
(C) Pure drinking water
(D) All of these
Answer:
(D) All of these

Question 8.
Which of the following is an important parameter that is included in HDI (Human Development index) and HPI (Human Poverty Index) reports?
(A) Standard of living
(B) Cleanliness
(C) Food
(D) Income
Answer:
(A) Standard of living

Question 9.
Which of the following is considered for ‘standard of living’ parameter of development report?
(A) Literacy rate
(B) Enrollment ratio
(C) Life expectancy
(D) Per capita total house production
Answer:
(D) Per capita total house production

Question 10.
The population having income or expenditure below the poverty line is said to be
(A) Absolute poor
(B) Relative poor
(C) Moderately poor
(D) Extreme poor
Answer:
(A) Absolute poor

Question 11.
As per Indian Council of Medical Research, how much calories is required by a person in urban area?
(A) 2400
(B) 2100
(C) 2200
(D) 2000
Answer:
(B) 2100

Question 12.
Taking base year 1961-62, what was the amount per day decided by the planning commission that had to be earned by a person to remain above the poverty line?
(A) ₹ 30
(B) ₹ 20
(C) ₹ 10
(D) ₹ 50
Answer:
(B) ₹ 20

Question 13.
Which committee made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India?
(A) Lakadwala committee
(B) Dandekar and Rath committee
(C) Planning committee
(D) Tendulkar committee
Answer:
(B) Dandekar and Rath committee

Question 14.
In which year did the Lakadwala Committee set the new poverty line?
(A) 1992
(B) 1993
(C) 1974
(D) 1995
Answer:
(B) 1993

Question 15.
People earning below _______ in urban area are considered to be living below poverty line as per Lakadwala Committee.
(A) ₹ 57
(B) ₹ 49
(C) ₹ 22
(D) ₹ 20
Answer:
(A) ₹ 57

Question 16.
What is the limitation of Dandekar and Rath Committee and Lakadwala Committee?
(A) Their method is based on calorie consumption
(B) Proper research has not been done by both
(C) Poverty is calculated on the basis of availability of pure drinking water and food
(D) Parameter of education is not considered
Answer:
(A) Their method is based on calorie consumption

Question 17.
Who was the chairman of Tendulkar committee report?
(A) Sachin Tendulkar
(B) Suresh Tendulkar
(C) Lokcsh Tendulkar
(D) D.T. Tendulkar
Answer:
(B) Suresh Tendulkar

Question 18.
In which year was the Tendulkar committee report presented?
(A) 2005
(B) 2010
(C) 2008
(D) 2009
Answer:
(D) 2009

Question 19.
How much was the international poverty line in the year 2015 set to on the basis of Purchasing Power Parity?
(A) $1.25
(B) $ 1
(C) $ 1.9
(D) $ 1.5
Answer:
(C) $ 1.9

Question 20.
What was the measurement of absolute poverty for the year 2011-12 as per the estimates of Tendulkar committee?
(A) 37.2%
(B) 21.9%
(C) 25.7%
(D) 41.8%
Answer:
(B) 21.9%

Question 21.
Which of the following states has 10-20 % of population below poverty line as per planning commission 2011-12?
(A) Goa
(B) Gujarat
(C) Bihar
(D) Uttar Pradesh
Answer:
(B) Gujarat

Question 22.
_______ had 30-40 % of population below poverty line in the year 2011-12.
(A) West Bengal
(B) Punjab
(C) Assam
(D) Haryana
Answer:
(C) Assam

Question 23.
As per the report of planning commission in year 2011-12 percentage of population of Maharashtra lied below poverty line.
(A) Below 10%
(B) 10% – 20%
(C) 20% – 30%
(D) 30% – 40%
Answer:
(B) 10% – 20%

Question 24.
_______ of Goans were poor as per the annual report of 2013?
(A) 5.09%
(B) 9%
(C) 3.6%
(D) 11.3%
Answer:
(A) 5.09%

Question 25.
About of people were poor in Chhattisgarh according to annual report 2013.
(A) 38%
(B) 42%
(C) 50%
(D) 40%
Answer:
(D) 40%

Question 26.
What is the core concept of relative poverty?
(A) Consumption of minimum calories
(B) Income inequality of different groups of people in society
(C) Availability of education, food, and pure drinking water
(D) Both B and C
Answer:
(B) Income inequality of different groups of people in society

Question 27.
Which of the following is used to measure relative poverty?
(A) Gini coefficient
(B) Multidimensional poverty index
(C) Todaro’s coefficient
(D) Watts’ Index
Answer:
(A) Gini coefficient

Question 28.
Which of the following is not an indicator of poverty?
(A) Level of malnutrition
(B) Life expectancy
(C) Drinking water
(D) Gender inequality
Answer:
(D) Gender inequality

Question 29.
Per capita household consumption expenditure = _______ /total population.
(A) Market price of non-durable goods
(B) Market price of durable goods
(C) Market price of durable and non-durable goods
(D) Market price of goods and services
Answer:
(B) Market price of durable goods

Question 30.
What was the per capita consumption expenditure of India in the year 2014?
(A) $ 603
(B) $ 750
(C) $ 800
(D) $ 725
Answer:
(D) $ 725

Question 31.
What was the per capita consumption expenditure of US in the year 2014?
(A) $ 22,149
(B) $ 31,469
(C) $ 22,828
(D) $ 32,786
Answer:
(B) $ 31,469

Question 32.
Why are-the people of India unable to get nutritive food?
(A) Because of Due to lack of nutritive food available in the market
(B) Decrease in agricultural production
(C) Due to low per capita income
(D) All good quality nutritive food is exported
Answer:
(C) Due to low per capita income

Question 33.
What is India’s rank in world measurement of malnourishment?
(A) First
(B) Second
(C) Third
(D) Fourth
Answer:
(B) Second

Question 34.
How much percentage of total population was malnourished in India in the year 2010-12?
(A) 15.2%
(B) 15.6%
(C) 20.5%
(D) 23.7%
Answer:
(B) 15.6%

Question 35.
How much was the life expectancy of India in the year 2014?
(A) 75 years
(B) 82 years
(C) 68 years
(D) 74 years
Answer:
(C) 68 years

Question 36.
What was the infant mortality rate of India in the year 2014?
(A) 10
(B) 6
(C) 43
(D) 39
Answer:
(D) 39

Question 37.
What was the infant mortality rate of Norway in the year 2014?
(A) 2
(B) 6
(C) 8
(D) 9
Answer:
(A) 2

Question 38.
In 2014, the life expectancy of China was
(A) 68 years
(B) 75.8 years
(C) 74 years
(D) 81.6 years
Answer:
(B) 75.8 years

Question 39.
How many people die from diarrhea, malaria and T.B. in developing countries every year?
(A) 1 crore
(B) 1.2 crores
(C) 1.7 crores
(D) 2 crores
Answer:
(C) 1.7 crores

Question 40.
How much percentage of families get untreated tap water in India according to 2011 census?
(A) 26%
(B) 8.67%
(C) 5.43%
(D) 15.89%
Answer:
(B) 8.67%

Question 41.
According to census 2011, how many slum families do not have toilets in their houses?
(A) 66%
(B) 60%
(C) 40%
(D) 34%
Answer:
(D) 34%

Question 42.
What was the literacy rate of Brazil in the year 2011?
(A) 60%
(B) 55%
(C) 91%
(D) 74.04%
Answer:
(C) 91%

Question 43.
What was the literacy rate of India in the year 2011?
(A) 60%
(B) 55%
(C) 91%
(D) 74.04%
Answer:
(D) 74.04%

Question 44.
What was the share of top 1%rich class people in the actual national income in the year 2012?
(A) 15.2%
(B) 12.6%
(C) 12.7%
(D) 9%
Answer:
(B) 12.6%

Question 45.
In India people were unemployed in the year 2011.
(A) 9%
(B) 4.9%
(C) 5.5%
(D) 4.7%
Answer:
(A) 9%

Question 46.
Which of the following factors is an economic cause for poverty?
(A) Low level of education
(B) Demographic factors
(C) Rapid increase in prices
(D) Defective policies
Answer:
(C) Rapid increase in prices

Question 47.
How much extra wages do labourers get if they are employed beyond a distance of 5 km under MGNREGA?
(A) 5%
(B) 8%
(C) 10%
(D) 15%
Answer:
(C) 10%

Question 48.
MGNREGA got its name on _______
(A) 15th August, 1995
(B) 2nd October, 2009
(C) 26th January, 2001
(D) 1st May, 2003
Answer:
(A) 15th August, 1995

Question 49.
How much percentage of labourers were given employment in the unorganized sector in 2005?
(A) 43%
(B) 86%
(C) 68%
(D) 34%
Answer:
(B) 86%

Question 50.
Which of the following programmes had its main objective to encourage poor families for self-employment?
(A) MWS
(B) IRDP
(C) Ganga welfare scheme
(D) SITRA
Answer:
(B) IRDP

Question 51.
In which year did all the poverty eradication programmes merge in IRDP?
(A) 1985
(B) 1988
(C) 1989
(D) 1980
Answer:
(D) 1980

Question 52.
What was IRDP known as after 1st April, 1-999?
(A) Million Well Scheme
(B) Training Youth and Self-employment Programme
(C) Suvarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna
(D) Jawahar Rojgar Yojna
Answer:
(C) Suvarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna

Question 53.
Which of the following schemes is a part of wage employment scheme?
(A) Jawahar Rojgar Yojna
(B) Employment assistance scheme
(C) Both (A) and (B)
(D) MW& (Million well scheme)
Answer:
(C) Both (A) and (B)

Question 54.
In which year did Indira Awas Yojna start?
(A) 1987
(B) 1985
(C) 1982
(D) 1980
Answer:
(B) 1985

Question 55.
Which scheme was implemented in the year 2013-14 to improve the housing of those who reside in huts?
(A) Indira Awas Yojna
(B) Prime Minister Awas Yojna
(C) Rajiv Gandhi Yojna
(D) NREGA
Answer:
(C) Rajiv Gandhi Yojna

Question 56.
What was the objective of Prime Minister Awas Yojna?
(A) To solve increasing problem of dwelling in urban areas
(B) To solve problem of dwelling in rural areas
(C) To improve housing facility
(D) To provide low interest housing loans
Answer:
(A) To solve increasing problem of dwelling in urban areas

Question 57.
When did Pradhanmantrl Jan Dhan Yojna start?
(A) l5 August, 2014
(B) 28th August, 2014
(C) 13th February, 2014
(D) 19th February, 2015
Answer:
(B) 28th August, 2014

Question 58.
How many accounts were opened on the very first day of Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Vaina?
(A) 1 crore
(B) 1.5 crores
(C) 1.75 crores
(D) 2 crores
Answer:
(B) 1.5 crores

Question 59.
PrIme Minister Jan Dhan Yojna is prominently a scheme of _______
(A) Financial exclusion
(B) Financial inclusion
(C) Financial Schemes
(D) Income savings
Answer:
(B) Financial inclusion