The Poverty Problem in India

Meaning of Poverty

Poverty refers to the social condition in which a part of the society is unable to fulfill its basic requirements. When a big portion of the population is deprived of the minimum living standard and survives only on the survival level, then it is said that poverty is widely spread in the population.

The Problem of Poverty in India

India is recognized as a poor country even after around 70 years of independence. Especially in the Rural Sector of India, the condition is worse. Though during the planning periods the national income of-India and the per capita income has increased, social welfare has increased, literacy level has risen and people have been able to fulfill more and more of their requirements but poverty (and especially Rural Poverty) is still present in its alarming form.

Causes in India

  1. Lower Growth Rate

    The growth rate of the Indian economy is very low. During the 55 years of the planning period, the average growth rate has been 3.5% which has deepened the roots of poverty.

  2. Unemployment

    Unemployment In India
    Unemployment In India

    The increasing rate of unemployment in the country has spread more problems. Due to increasing unemployment, poverty has taken a more serious form. For example, the number of unemployed in the country at the beginning of the first plan was 35 million, which is about 26 crores in 2010.

    Suggestions For Unemployment In India

  3. Political Causes

    The long bondage of the country has slowed the pace of the economy. The foreign invaders took no interest in the development of basic industries. The Zami-Dari system started in the country which exploited the farmers completely. Their agricultural policies gave birth to landless farmers and their exploitation. Poverty also increased their exploitation.

  4. Traditional Production Techniques

    In the fields of agriculture and manufacture, the production techniques are traditional which have lowered the production level due to which poverty has increased.

  5. Inflation

    In India inflation has taken an alarming shape. Due to this, people are unable to fulfill the basic requirements of their families. Today 50% of the population of our country is covered under the poor class.

  6. Dependency on Agriculture

    Most of the population in India depends on agriculture for their living. Each family has a small amount of land. Everyone lives together and live with difficulty on a small land and due to the dependency only on agriculture, the person remains poor.

  7. Alcoholism

    In India, poverty has also increased due to alcoholism. Each day, in India millions of people, are destroying their money and health due to the habits of alcoholism. Thus, alcoholism is one of the reasons for the increasing this problem in India.

  8. Belief in Fate

    Most of the population in India give importance to conservative attitude and analyze each aspect on the basis of fate. People become inactive on the thought that it is their fate that is making things happen and live lifelong in the lap of poverty.

  9. Adverse Environment and Climate

    On the peaks of the Himalayas, there is always a snowfall, Rajasthan is also under the same climate in another form. Due to the desert, farming, etc. is not possible there and poverty has increased. Thus, the adversity of the environment and the climate has a deep impact on the growth of the nation.

  10. Lack of Natural Resources

    In the places where the land is infertile, there is an absence of resources for the production. Coal or iron, minerals, etc. are also not available there, people of that place are poor. Due to geographical reasons, there are several places in India whose 100% of the population is poor. Like, the land of the hilly areas is not at all fit for agriculture. Moreover, due to the lack of resources for agriculture also people are poor.

  11. Harm by Insects

    The termites attack the south Indian drops even today and destroy the crops. Moreover, many kinds of insects and rats destroy the wheat, maize, paddy, etc., crops. The grains stored by the traders are also destroyed by these insects and rats. On an estimate, about 15 to, 20% of the crops are destroyed by them. Thus, this is also one of the reasons for Indian poverty.

  12. Social Evils

    There are several social evils in India, like dowry, child marriage, “Parda” system, etc. which have several bad effects and help in raising poverty.

  13. Lack of Industries

    Poverty In India
    Paper bag maker and seller, Varanasi India

    The industry could not develop properly in India. Due to the lack of industries, poverty can be seen on each side in India.

  14. Caste System

    Due to the caste system, people have to carry on their traditional work, even if, they are unprofitable. That is why, the rich people of olden times did not accept small or low-grade jobs and instead preferred to die without food, as a result, poverty increased in our country.

  15. Traditions

    Everything is related to religion in India. For the sake of their own customs and traditions, the illiterate people spend thousands of rupees, and take loans for their traditions, and stay strangulated in poverty.

  16. Unbalanced Growth of Industries

    The opportunity for industrial development came after independence but due to the policies of the British rule, the cottage industries could not get protection. This gave rise to unemployment and poverty.

  17. Natural Calamities

    Indian agriculture is dependent on rains, even today. Sometimes, due to less rainfall drought occurs, and sometimes due to heavy rainfall crones of rupees of crop is destroyed. These natural calamities have also been responsible for poverty in India.

7 thoughts on “The Poverty Problem in India”

  1. Very informative article …Society is the web of social relationship and every part of a society is connected with another part of the same society. I hardly believe that if the causes of these problems are eliminated, as you mentioned, then the problems are automatically solved in our Indian society.

  2. I don’t think this is the main problem the main problem in the country is black money and the rich. If people have helping nature then its the biggest remedy for poverty

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