UPSC Economics Poverty as a Challenge / एक चुनौती के रूप में गरीबी Planning, Unemployment and Poverty in India

 

Planning, Unemployment and Poverty in India

 

Introduction

 

Economic planning is the making of major economic decisions what and how much is to be produced, how, when and where it is to be produced, and to whom it is to be allocated by the comprehensive survey of the economic system as whole. (H.D. Dickinson)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning in India

 

 

Planning in India starts in 1930s. Even before independence.

Subhash Chandra Bose as the President of Indian National Congress in 1938 set up a National Planning committee, Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed as its chairman. The colonial government had established a planning board that lasted from 1944 to 1946. Before independence private industrialists and economists published three development plans in 1944. India's leaders adopted the principle of formal economic planning soon after independence as an effective way to intervene in the economy of faster growth and social justice.

Four decades of planning show that India's economy, a mix of public and private enterprise, is too large and diverse to be wholly predictable or responsive to directions of the planning authorities.

Important Dates

·                     1934: M. Visvesvaryya, in his book 'Planned Economy of India', advocates the necessity of planning in the country much before Independence.

·                     1944: Bombay Plan, published in January 1944, prepared by eight leading industrialist of Bombay.

·                     Gandhian Plan put forward by S.N. Agrawal (1944).

·                     1944: Planning Development Council was set up under the chairmanship of A. Dalal.

·                     Peoples Plan drafted by M.N. Roy (1945).

·                     1946: Interim Government sets up the Planning Advisory Board.

·                     1947: Economic Programme Committee was set up under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru.

·                     1950: Planning Commission was set up.

·                     2015: Formation of NITI Aayog.

 

Planning Commission

 

 

The Planning Commission was established in 1950, as a result of an executive order. Planning Commission was an extra constitutional and non-statutory body. The Commission was independent of the Cabinet. A staff drafts plans under the guidance of the Commission; the draft plans are presented for approval to the National Development Council, which consisted of members of the Planning Commission, the Chief Ministers of the States and Administrators of UTs and All Union Ministers. The Council could make changes in the draft plan. After Council's approval, the draft was presented to the Cabinet and subsequently to Parliament, whose approval made the plan an operating document for Central and State governments.

 

 

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first chairman of the Planning Commission by virtue of his being the Prime Minister of India.

 

 

In his speech on the occasion of Independence Day on 15th August 2014 PM N. Modi announced that the Plannina Commission will be replaced by a new institution. On Is1 January 2015 a new institution called NITI Aayog was established, which replaced the Planning Commission.

 

NITI Aayog

 

·                     Established on 1st Jan 2015

·                     The government of India has replaced Planning

·                     Commission with a new institution named NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).

·                     The institution will serve as ?Think Tank? of the Government - a directional and policy dynamo.

·                     NITI Aayog will provide Governments at the Central and State Levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy, this includes matters of national and international importance on the economic front, dissemination of best practices from within the country as well as from other nations, the infusion of new policy ideas and specific issue- based support.

 

 

 

Composition: NITI Aayog will have Prime Minister as its chairman, one Vice-Chairman cum chief-executive officer, 5 fulltime members and 2 part time members, apart from 4 central government ministers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Year Plans

 

 

 

The development plans drawn up by the Planning Commission to shape India's economy in five-year phases are called Five-Year Plans. A five-year plan is an indicative plan of action reflecting largely the intent of the government for that period at the national, regional, and sectoral level.

 

 

First Plan (1951-56)

 

 

Major Objective: Agriculture, Price Stability, Power &

Transport.

The first Five-Year Plan focused on stimulating balanced economic development, thereby correcting imbalances caused by World War II and partition. Its various objectives were.

·                     It was based on Harrod Domar Model.

·                     Its highest priority on agriculture, irrigation and power   projects.

·                     Rate of investment was targetted at 7% of national income.

·                     National income grew by 18% and per capita income by 11%.

·                     Food production increased by 20%. Under the first five year plan provision was made to spend a total of Rs.2, 378 crore during the plan period. But the actual expenditure outcome to Rs.1960 crore only.

 

Second Plan (1956-61)

 

 

Major objective: Rapid Industralisation.

·                     It was based on Mahalnobis Model.

·                     It targetted a 25% increase in national income through rapid industrialisation. Actual achievement was only 20%.

·                     Goal of establishing the socialistic pattern of society.

·                     Rate of investment planned to be raised from seven per cent to 11% of national income.

·                     Per capita income rose by 8%.

·                     Rapid industrialization with particular emphasis on development of basic and heavy industries. Large industries including steel plants (Durgapur, Bhilai and Rourkela) were set up. The locomotive factory at Chittaranjan and Coach Factory at Perambur were other major projects of this period.

 

Third Plan (1961-66)

 

 

Major Objective: Balanced regional development, self -reliant and self-sustaining growth.

·                     Emphasis on basic industries continued but agriculture and allied sectors (irrigation and power) were allocated 35% of the outlay.

·                     Faster growth of basic industries for rapid industrialisation a series of crises - China war (1962), Nehru's death (1964), Pakistan war (1965) and Shastri's death (1966), major drought (1965-66) - marred the smooth implementation of the plan.

·                     Growth rate of only 2.84% achieved as against a target of 5.6% per annum.

·                     Growth of per capita income was almost negligible.

·                     High inflation (36%) ate much of whatever achievement was made.

·                     Balance of payment faced challenging situation.

·                     Rupee had to be devaluated by 57% from Rs.4.76 to Rs.7.50 a dollar.

 

Plan Holiday (1966-69)

 

 

After the disastrous experience of the Third Plan, a plan holiday was declared for three years. All available resources were mobilised for building a buffer stock and for stepping up food production learning from the experience of near-famine years (1965-66),

Favourable monsoons and technological break-through in wheat popularly known as 'green revolution' reduced the inflationary pressure. Nationalisation of banks was another major step during this period.

 

 

Fourth Plan (1969-74)

 

 

Major objective: Growth with stability and progress towards self-reliance.

·                     A substantial increase in the outlay for family planning (Rs.278 crores from Rs.25 crores in third plan).

·                     Goal of attaining self-sufficiency in agriculture and industrial production. (In agriculture, growth rate of 5% per annum and in industrial production growth rate of 8% to 10% per annum were targeted.)

·                     Poor achievement of targets - national income grew by 3.3% per annum; per capita income by 1.2% per annum; agricultural production by 2.8%; industrial production by 3.9%.

·                     Against an ambitious target of GDP growth rate of 5.5%, only 3.3% growth rate could be achieved.

·                     Oil crisis of 1973 skyrocketed the oil and fertilizer prices leading to a very high inflation.

 

 

Fifth Plan (1974-79)

 

 

Major objective: Poverty eradication and attainment of Self-reliance.

·                     A National Programme for Minimum needs including elementary education, safe drinking water, health care, and shelter for landless.

·                     Adequate collection and distribution system in order to provide the commodities of necessary consumption to the poor people on reasonable and stable prices.

·                     Stress on Export Promotion and Import Substitution.

·                     A growth rate of 5.2% (against a target of 4.4%) achieved.

·                     Agricultural production increased by 4.2% - the highest so far.

·                     Moderate inflation of 2.1% per annum during the

·                     Emergency years (1975-1977).

·                     The Janata Government terminated the Plan in 1978.

 

 

Sixth Plan (1980-85)

 

 

Major objective: Employment generation, reduce disparities in income and wealth.

·                     Janata Government had adopted a Sixth Plan (1978-83), which was conceived as a rolling plan. Mrs. Gandhi?s Government in 1980 abandoned this and a new sixth plan was drafted.

·                     Poverty alleviation gives the top priority.

·                     Qualitative improvement in the living standards of people by means of Minimum Need Programme (MNP).

·                     Schemes for transferring skills (TRYSEM) and assets (IRDP) and providing slack season employment (NREP).

·                     Actual growth of national income was higher at 5.3% (against a target of 5.2%).

·                     Increase of 16% per annum in real investment in fixed asset by private sector.

·                     Poverty declined from 48.3% in 1977-78 to 37.4% in 1983-84.

 

 

Seventh Plan (1985-90)

 

 

Major objective: Growth, modernisation. Self-reliance and Social justice.

·                     Strong emphasis on creation of productive employment on farm as well as rural subsidiary occupations.

·                     Stress on increasing the production of food grains, oilseeds, sugar, textiles, domestic fuel and housing.

·                     Outward-looking strategy with exports receiving high priority.

·                     Tempo of domestic and external liberalisation hastened.

·                     The Plan also had a 15-year perspective (1985-2000) for removal of poverty, providing for basic needs, achieving universal elementary education and total access to health facilities.

·                     Average annual growth rate during the plan period was 5.6% (target 5%).

·                     Agriculture grew at 4.1 % against a target of 4%.

·                     Manufacturing industries achieved a growth rate of 8.8% (target 8%).

·                     There was a severe shortfall in mining sector (5.6% against a target of 13%).

·                     Social sector performance fell far short of targets especially in housing for the landless, elementary education and general poverty alleviation.

 

 

Two Annual Plans

 

 

Due to economic crisis and political instability at the centre, the 8th Five Year Plan could not be started in 1990. Instead, two annual plans were formulated and implemented.

 

 

Eighth Plan (1992-97)

 

 

Major objective: Human development.

·                     The plan was launched in 1992 after the plan holiday during the economically and politically difficult days of 1990-91 and 91-92,

·                     It was Manmohan-Rao (F.M- P.M.) Era of economic liberalization.

·                     Modernisation of industries was focussed.

·                     India became member of WTO to pace with world economics.

   The economic paradigm had also considerably shifted with the acceptance of liberalisation and the scope for market forces to play a greater role.

·                     Employment generation to be speeded up to achieve full employment by 2000.

·                     Total literacy to be achieved in the 15-35 age group by covering an additional 110 million people.

·                     Restructuring the systems of economic management through public sector reforms, including selective disinvestment.

·                  The Eighth Plan was to walk on 'two legs' - one leg of alleviating poverty and removing unemployment; and the other 'leg' providing a 'safety net' for those who will be affected by the structural adjustment programme.

·                   The plan had thus built in the 'human face' element of adjustment.

·                  To strengthen the basic infrastructure (energy, transport, communication, irrigation) in order to support the development process on a sustainable basis.

·                   The plan was explicitly indicative with a long-term policy approach replacing the target approach.

·                  Per capita national output grew by 3.9% per annum.

·                  But, this growth masked considerable distortion in the distribution front. From data regarding inflation and price indices, there is evidence that the poor became poorer despite ?the safety net?.

·                     Actual employment growth was only two percent against a target of 2.6%.

·                     Annual growth rate achieved in the Plan period is 6.8% against the target of 5.6 %.

 

 

Ninth Plan (1997-2002)

 

 

Major objective: Growth with Equity and Distributive

Justice.

·                     This objective was sought to be achieved through a policy of concentrating on agriculture and rural development to provide more employment; ensuring food and nutritional security to all, especially the vulnerable; providing basic minimum needs in a time-bound manner; curbing population growth; environmental sustainability of development; empowerment of women; promotion of Panchayati Raj institutions and strengthening efforts to build self-reliance.

·                     The development strategy emphasised the role of markets and the need for government to intervene to promote a degree of competition through suitable legislation. Licence Raj was to be ended. The Plan emphasised co-operative federalism. It also stressed the importance of infrastructural development.

·                     The Plan was indicative in nature, focusing on policies. It also provided a 15-year perspective. It aimed to achieve a growth rate of 8% per annum in the medium term and a rate of 6.5% during the plan period (97-02).

·                     The plan envisaged the creation of 52 million jobs as against the demand for job opportunities for 60.5 million persons. The backlog of unemployment, which was 7.5 million at the close of the eighth Plan, was expected to be 6.6 million at the end of the Ninth Plan.

·                     The GDP grew only by 5.35% per annum during the plan period against the target of 6.5%. The shortfall was due to poor performance by agricultural and industrial sectors, as explained in the table below.

 

 

Performance of Agricultural and Industrial Sectors

 

 

Sector	8th Plan	9th Plan
Agriculture	4.69	2.06
Manufacturing	7.58	4.51
Services	7.54	7.78
Total	6.68	5.35

                             Source: Planning Commission

 

Tenth Plan (2002-07)

 

 

Major objective: Growth with emphasis on human development.

 

 

The Tenth Plan laid down an ambitious target of 8% annual growth rate for the economy, against the prevailing rate of 5.5%. Its long term vision was to double the per capita income in the next ten years, to reduce the decadal population growth from 21.3% (1991-2001) to 16.2% by 2010-11 and to ensure that the growth in gainful employment kept pace with the addition to the labour+ force.

·                     Against the ambitious target of 8%, the economy grew at the rate of 7.7% on an average during the 10th Plan period.

·                     However, an evaluation by the Planning Commission noticed that while the rate of growth was impressive, it was lop-sided and did not benefit all people alike. For too many people still lacked the basic requirements for a decent living in terms of nutritional standards, access to education and basic health, and also many other public services such as water supply and sewage. The benefits did not reach fully some disadvantages sections like the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and minorities. Regional imbalances - both across states and even within states - were also noticed.

 

 

Eleventh Plan (2007-12)

 

 

Major objective: Towards Faster and Inclusive Growth

·                     The Eleventh Plan targets to resolve the regional imbalance still prevailing in the country. The Plan document, sub-titled Inclusive Growth, outlines a strategy for making growth both faster and more inclusive.

Encouraged by the achievement of a rate of 7.7% on an average during the 10th Plan, itself a target of 9% growth during the Plan period, with acceleration during the period to reach 10% by the end of the Plan.

·                     The target of 9% growth requires the average rate of investment to rise from 32% (during 10th Plan) to 37% in the current plan, reaching 39% at the end of the plan period. Private investment which has contributed 78% of the investment during the 10th Plan is expected to maintain its share. Public investment is expected to be maintained at the same level of 22% as in the 10th Plan.

·                     Planning Commission has framed a plan for achieving faster growth with greater inclusiveness which involves the following interrelated components:

(i) a continuation of the policy of economic reform which has created a competitive private sector capable of benefiting from the opportunities provided by greater integration with the world;

(ii) More emphasis on agriculture,

(iii) Improved access to essential services in health and education (including skill development);

(iv) Special thrust on infrastructural development;

(v) Special attention to the needs of disadvantaged groups, and

(vi) Good governance at all level, central, state and local.

·                     The broad targets fixed by the 11th Plan include a 4% per cent growth in Agriculture sector, 10% growth in Industries and Minerals, and investment in infrastructure to grow from 5.43% of GDP in 06-07 to 9.43% by the end of the 11th Plan.

·                     The total public sector outlay in the Eleventh Plan (both Central and States and including the PSEs) is estimated at Rs.36, 44, 718 crore. Of this total, the share of the Centre (including the plans of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) will amount to Rs.21, 56, 571 crore, while that of the States and union territories (UTs) will be Rs.14, 88, 147 crore.

 

 

The 27 National Targets under 11th Plan

 

 

The Plan has adopted 27 targets at the national level to ensure inclusive growth. These are related to: (i) income and poverty, (ii) education, (iii) health, (iv) women and children (v) infrastructure and (vi) environment.

3.            Targeted growth of GDP at 9% per year.

4.            To raise industrial growth rate from 9.2% in 10th Plan to 10% in 11th Plan.

5.            To reduce unemployment among educated youth to less than 5%.

6.            To reduce Infant Moraling Rate (IMR) to 28 and Material Morality Rate (MMR) to 1 per 1000 on live births by the end of plan.

7.            To increase sex-ratio to 935 by 2011-12 and 950 by 2016-17.

8.            To ensure that all children enjoy a safe childhood, without any compulsion to work.

9.            To ensure electricity connection to all villages and BPL household by 2009 and 24-hour power supply by the end of this plan.

10.          To achieve standards of air quality in all cities.

11.          To treat all urban waste water by 2011 -12.

12.          To increase forest and tree cover by 5%.

 

 

Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017)

 

 

Major objective: Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive

Growth.

 

 

Monitorable Targets for the Plan Economic Growth

1.            Real GDP Growth Rate of 8%.

2.            Agriculture Growth Rate of 4.0%.

3.            Manufacturing Growth Rate of 10.0%,

4.            Every State must have and average growth rate in the Twelfth Plan preferably higher than that achieved in the Eleventh Plan.

 

 

Poverty and Employment

5.            Head-count ratio of consumption poverty to be reduced by 10 percentage points over the preceding estimates by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

6.            Generate 50 million new work opportunities in the non-farm sector and provide skill certification equivalent number during the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

 

 

Education

7.            Mean Year of Schooling to increase to seven years by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

8.            Enhance access to higher education by creating two million additional seats for each age cohort aligned to the skill needs of the economy.

9.            Eliminate gender and social gap in school enrolment (that is, between girls and boys, and between SCs, STs, Muslims and the rest of the population) by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

 

 

Health

10.          Reduce IMR to 25 and MMR to 1 per 1,000 live births, and improve Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) to 950 by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

11.          Reduce Total fertility Rate to 2.1 by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

12.          Reduce under-nutrition among children aged 0-3 year to half of the NFHS-3 levels by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

 

Infrastructure, Including Rural Infrastructure

 

13.          Increase investment in infrastructure as a percentage of GDP to 9 per cent by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

14.          Increase the Gross Irrigated Area from 90 million hectare to 103 million hectare by the end of Twelfth five Year Plan.

15.          Provide electricity to all village and reduce AT & C losses to 20 per cent by the end of Twelfth five Year Plan.

16.          Connect all villages with all-weather rods by the end of Twelfth five Year Plan.

17.          Upgrade national and state highways to the minimum two-lane standard by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

18.          Complete Eastern Western Dedicated Freight Corridors by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

19.          Increase rural tele-density to 70 per cent by the end of Twelfth five Year Plan.

20.          Ensure 50 per cent of rural population has access to 40 Ipcd (litres per capita per day) piped drinking water supply, and 50 per cent gram panchayats achieve Nirmal Gram Status by the end of Twelfth five Year Plan.

 

 

Environment and Sustainability

 

21.          Increase Green cover (as measured by satellite imagery) by 1 million hectare every year during the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

22.          Add 30,000 MW of renewable energy capacity in the Twelfth Plan.

23.          Reduce emission intensity of GDP in line with the target of 20 per cent to 25 per cent reduction over 2005 levels by 2020.

 

 

Service Delivery

 

24.          Provide access to banking services to 90 percent Indian Households by the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan.

25.          Major subsidies and welfare related beneficiary payments to be shifted to a direct cash transfer by the end of the Twelfth Plan, using the Aadhar platform with linked bank accounts.

 

 

Plan	Growth Rate	Agri- culture	Industry	Services	Actual Growth Rate
Frist Plan	2.1	2.71	5.54	4.17	3.6
Second Plan	4.5	3.15	5.59	4.94	4.21
Third Plan	5.6	-0.73	6.28	5.26	2.72
Plan Holiday		4.16	1.42	4.1	3.69
Fourth Plan	5.7	2.57	4.91	3.22	2.01
Fifth Plan	4.4	3.28	6.55	5.66	4.83
Sixth Plan	5.2	2.25	5.32	5.41	5.4
Seventh Plan	5	3.47	6.77	7,19	6
Eighth Plan	5.6	4.68	7.58	7.54	6.68
Ninth Plan	6.5	2.06	4.51	7.78	5.4
Tenth Plan	8	2.34	8.9	9.4	7.5
Eleventh Plan	9(8.1)	4	10.5	9.9	8
Twelfth Plan	8	04	10.9	10	-

Unemployment

 

 

Nature of Unemployment in India

 

 

Unemployment refers to a situation when a labour does not obtain employment opportunity despite his willingness to work on existing wage rate. India is a developing economy where the nature of unemployment is entirely different from that of developed nations. In India, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the Labour force. As per the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the unemployment rate for the year 2016 is 5%.

 

 

Different types of Unemployment m India

 

 

 

(1)        Structural Unemployment

In this type of unemployment demand for labour falls short to the supply of labour due to rapidly growing population and their immobility.

 

(2)        Disguised Unemployment

It refers to a state of unemployment in which more people are engeged in work than are really needed. In the late 1950 s, about one-third of workers in India were disguisedly unemployed.

 

(3)        Seasonal Unemployment

It refers to an unemployment that occurs at certain seasons of the years. The period of such unemployment varies from state to state, depending upon the methods of farming, the condition of soil, the type and numbers of crops grown, etc.

 

(4)        Open Unemployment

It refers to that economic phenomenon in which persons are able and willing to work at the prevailing wage rate, but fail to get work. It is called open unemployment because such unemployment can be seen and corrected in terms of the number of unemployed people.

 

(5)        Industrial Unemployment

It refers to the unemployment among the illiterates, who wish to work in industrial establishments. The slow pace of industralisation is unable to generate sufficient employment opportunities. As a result, there is a huge industrial unemployment in the country.

 

(6)        Frictional Unemployment

It refers to temporary unemployment which exists during the period, wherein workers leave one job and join some other.

 

(7)        Cyclical Unemployment

It is associated with the down-swing and depression phases of business cycle. It is the most common type of unemployment in the developed capitalist economies.

 

 

Magnitude of Unemployment

 

 

There is great diversity in the forms of unemployment. It has been found that no single measure can adequately capture the magnitude of unemployment in India. In addition to the decadal census figures, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducts more detailed sample surveys every five years on employment and unemployment. It uses three different tests for measuring:

·                     The Usual Status (US) concept which has a reference period of one year and classifies a person as unemployed if she was not working but was available for work for most or all of the period of one year.

·                     The Current Weekly Status (CWS) includes a person if she has not worked even for one hour during the week, though available for work.

·                     The Current Daily Status (CDS) measures the employment status during the seven days preceding the survey and adds up all the hours of work undertaken during this reference period to decide the un/underemployment status of the person.

Chronic unemployment can be measured by the US and CWS data. However, the policy formulation regarding supplementary employment all the three sets of data are used in conjunction.

The Planning Commission and NSSO have been using the CDS data recently as this gives a more realistic estimate.

 

 

Employment Guarantee Act 2005

 

 

Jobless Growth

 

 

The National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA

Government adopted in September 2004 had pledged the following regarding provision of employment:

?The UPA government will immediately enact a National

Employment Guarantee Act. This will provide a legal guarantee for at least 100 days of employment to begin with on asset- creating public works programmes every year at minimum wages to at least one able-bodied person in every rural and urban poor and lower middle class household.

The Government, on the advice of the National Advisory

Council, passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The main Features of the Act are:

1.            Every household in rural India will have a right to at least 100 days of guaranteed employment every year for at least one adult member. The employment will be in the form of casual manual labour at the statutory minimum wage, and the wages shall be paid within 7 days of the week during which work was done.

2.            Work should be provided within 15 days of demanding it, and the work should be located within 5 kilometer distance.

3.            If work is not provided to anybody within the given time, he/she will be paid a daily unemployment allowance, which will be at least one-third of the minimum wages.

4.            Workers employed on public works will be entitled to medical treatment and hospitalization in case of injury at work, along with a daily allowance of not less than half of the statutory minimum wage. In case of death or disability of worker, an ex gratia payment shall be made to his legal heirs as per provisions of the workmen Compensation Act.

5.            Five percent of wages may be deducted ad contribution to welfare schemes like health insurance, accident insurance, survivor benefits, maternity benefits and social security schemes.

6.            For transparency and accountability, all accounts and records of the programme will be made available for public scrutiny.

7.            The District collector/Chief Executive office will be responsible for the programme at the district level.

8.            The gram sabha will monitor the work of the gram

panchayat by way of social audit.

 

 

Poverty

 

 

Poverty refers to a state in which an individual is unable to fulfil even the basic necessities of life. The minimum basic requirement include food, clothing, housing, education and health facilities. According to the survey conducted in 2011- 12 (Planning Commission), the percentage of persons below the poverty line in India for the year 2011-12 has been figured out as 25.7% in rural areas, 13.7% is urban areas and 21.9% for the country as a whole.

Poverty; is defined in human development report as denial of opportunities 'to lead a long. Healthy, creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-respect and the respect of other'.

(i)            Absolute Poverty

Absolute Poverty is when a person cannot obtain certain absolute standards of minimum requirements, usually measured in terms of income. It refers to the total number of people living below Poverty line. As per this measure, around 30% of India's population is below poverty line.

(ii)          Relative Poverty

Relative Poverty is when a person falls behind others. It is thus a measure of inequality of income. It refers to poverty of people, in comparison to other people, regions or nations.

There are many approaches to measure poverty. Income is one approach. Another approach is the basic needs approach, according to which poverty should not be looked at merely in terms of private income but should include access to basic needs like health, education, employment and other essential services which the community usually provides to its citizens.

There are important limitations in measuring poverty in terms of either income or consumption levels. These approaches do not pay attention to the assets on which most poor people rely for their livelihood. These assets can include their access to natural and financial resources, their health and capacity to work.

Another drawback of the traditional approaches is that these do not focus on the social relations which lead to the process of impoverishment. For instance, the lack of political influence of the poor and their being subjected to discrimination are issues which are relevant while studying the nature and causes of their poverty.

The 'Sustainable livelihoods' is the new approach. This addresses issues such as the capabilities, assets and labour required for a means of living. A livelihood is stated to be sustainable if it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its assets both now and in the future.

 

 

Measurement of Poverty

 

 

The overall estimation of poverty is based on the data available from NSSO, all-India sample survey of household consumption expenditure, where poverty is defined with reference to a poverty line which is the level of monthly per capita consumption expenditure considered to be a minimum necessary for living.

 

Committees constituted for measurement of Poverty

·                     Dr. Y.K. Alagh (1977)

·                     D.T. Lakdawala (1989)

·                     Suresh D.Tendulkar (2005)

·                     N.C. Saxena (2008)

·                     S.R. Hashim (2010)

·                     Dr. C. Rangarajan (2012)

 

 

Number & Percentage of Poor*
Year	Poverty line (in Rs.)		Number or Poor (million)			Poverty Ratio (%)
	Rural	Urban	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
2004-05	446.8	578.80	326.3	80.8	407.1	41.8	25.7	37.2
2011-12	816.00	1000.00	216.5	52.8	269.3	25.7	13.7	21.9
Source : Economic Survey 2014-15,* Estimated by Tendulkar Method, .

 

According to the World Bank (2014), the National Poverty Line for 2011-12, after adjusting it to Indian Currency using PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) Conversions factor is $1.94 a day. India with 17.5 % of total world's population, had 20.6% share of world?s poorest in 2011 (World Bank, 2014).

 

 

 

Poverty: (Rural and Urban)

 

Main Reasons for Rural Poverty

1.            Rapid population growth.

2.            Lack of capital.

3.            Lack of alternate employment opportunities other than agriculture.

4.            Excessive employment pressure on agriculture.

5.            Illiteracy.

6.            Regional disparities.

7.            Orthodox society.

8.            Child marriage tradition.

9.            Indifferent attitude towards investment.

10.          Lack of proper implementation of public distribution system.

11.          Lack of vocational education/training.

 

Government Efforts for Eliminating Rural Poverty

1.            Antyodaya plan.

2.            Small Farmer Development Programme (SFDP).

3.            Drought Area Development Programme (DADP).

4.            Minimum Needs Programme (MNP).

5.            Food for work programme.

6.            National Rural Employment Programme (NREP).

7.            Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP).

8.            Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana (JGSY) (Formerly known as Jawahar Rojgar Yojana).

9.            Rural Labour Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP).

10.          TRYSEM scheme.

11.          Family planning/welfare programme for population control.

12.          Scheme for Rural artisans / craftsmen.

13.          Mahila Samriddhi Yojana.

14.          Rural Housing Programme.

15.          DWCRA programme.

16.          National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

17.          Employment Assurance Scheme.

18.          Group Life Insurance Scheme for Rural Areas.

19.          Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Yojana.

20.          Agriculture Income Insurance Scheme.

21.          Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

22.          Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY).

23.          Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar   Yojana.

24.          Sampurna Grainin Rojgar Yojana.

25.          Indira Awaas Yojana.

26.          Samagra Awaas Yojana.

27.          National Rural Livelihood Mission also known as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Mission.

28.          Startup village Entrepreneurship Programme.

29.          Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana.

30.          Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (Part of ?Skill India Mission').

 

 

Government Efforts for Eliminating Urban Poverty

1.            Emphasis on vocational education.

2.            Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY).

3.            Self-Employment Programme for the   Urban Poor (SEPUP).

4.            Financial assistance for constricting houses.

5.            Self-Employment to the Educated Urban Youth (SEEUY) programme.

6.            Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (PMRY).

7.            National social Assistance Programme.

8.            Urban Basic Services for the Poor programme (UBSP).

9.            Prime Ministers Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (PMIUPEP).

10.          Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana.

 

 

Important Programmes in Brief

 

1. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)

 

 

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana launched by the Union Ministry of Rural Development was a poverty alleviation programme, came into effect from April 1, 1999 which has replaced IRDP and its allied schemes, viz. Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA), Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY) and Million Wells Scheme (MWS).

 

 

The main objectives of SGSY are:

(i)             focussed approach to poverty;

(ii)            capitalising advantages of group lending; and

(iii)           overcoming the problems associated with multiplicity of programmes.

The SGSY is conceived as a holistic programme of micro enterprises covering all aspects of self-employment which includes organising rural poor into Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

It integrates various agencies - District Rural Development

Agencies, banks, departments, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Non-government organisations (NGO) and other semi-government organisations. It is only self-employment programme currently being implemented for the rural poor. The scheme aims of establishing a large number of micro enterprises in rural areas of the country. The objective of SGSY is to bring the assisted poor family above the poverty line in three years by providing them income generating assets through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy. The monthly income from the activity to be undertaken should not be less than Rs .2000, net of repayment to the Bank, at least in the third year.

Subsidy under SGSY is uniform at 30% of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 7500. In respect of Scheduled

Castes and Scheduled Tribes, it is 50% subject to a maximum of Rs.10, 000. For groups, the subsidy is 50% subject to a ceiling of Rs. 1.25 lakh. The scheme is being implemented on a cost- sharing basis between the centre and states of 75:25 for non- north eastern states and 90:10 for north-eastern states.

Below the poverty line families in rural areas constitute the target group of the SGSY. Within the target group social safeguards have been provided to vulnerable sections, by way of reserving 50% benefits for SC/ST, 40% for women and 3% for disabled persons.

The scheme of SGSY covers all aspects of self-employment such as organisation of the poor into self-help groups, training, credit, technology, infrastructure and marketing.

 

 

2. National Food for Work Programme

 

 

National food for work programme was launched on

 

 

November 14, 2004.

 

 

It is started in 150 most backward districts of the country identified by the Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development and State Government.

The objective of the programme was to provide additional

resources apart from the resources available under Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) to 150 most backward districts of the country so that the generation of supplementary employment and providing of food security through creation of need based economic, social and community assets in these districts is further intensified. The scheme was 100% central sponsored. The programme has been subsumed in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act initiated since February 2. 2006, which has now come in force in all districts of the country.

 

 

3. Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana (SGRY)

 

 

This Scheme has been subsumed under 'National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP)' which has been started since February 2, 2006.

 

 

The ongoing schemes - the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) and the Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) were merged into the Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana (SGRY) on September 25, 2001. The thrust area of the programme was to provide additional wage employment in rural areas and also to provide food security, alongside creation of durable community, social and economic assets and infrastructure development in these areas. Preference was given to BPL families for providing wage employment under SGRY, poor families above the poverty line were also offered employment under SGRY. The annual outlay was Rs. 10,000 crore which includes 50 lakh tonnes of food grains. The fund was shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25. Food grains are provided free of cost to the States/UTs. The payment of food grains was made directly to FCI at economic cost by the Centre. However, the cost of the transportation of food grains from the FCI god own to the work-site/ PDS and its distribution are the responsibility of the State Government. Minimum wages are paid to the workers through a mix of minimum five kg. of food grains and at least 25% of wages in cash.

The programme was implemented by all the three-tiers of

Panchayats. Each level of Panchayat was an independent unit for formulation of Action Plan and executing the scheme.

The resources were distributed among District Panchayat,

Intermediate Panchayats and the Gram Panchayats in the ratio of 20:30:50.

 

 

4. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

 

 

After the notification of ambitious step of UPA government of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act on September 7, 2005, a new scheme named 'National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)' (It was later changed with the name Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has been launched on February 2, 2006. The ongoing programmes of Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) and National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) were integrated within the NREGS in the 200 districts identified in the initial stage. Implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is a flagship programme of the government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth. NREGS has been launched with following guidelines:

·                     To enhance livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

·                     Until such time as a wage rate is fixed by the Central Government, the minimum wage for agricultural labourers shall be applicable for the scheme.

·                     An applicant not provided employment within fifteen days, to be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance as specified by the State Government.

·                     Central Employment Guarantee Council to be constituted to discharge various functions and duties assigned to the Council. Every State Government is to constitute a State Council for this purpose.

·                     Panchayat at the district level is to constitute a Standing Committee of its members to supervise, monitor and oversee the implementation of the Scheme within the district.

·                     For every Block, State Governments is to appoint a Programme Officer for implementing the Scheme.

·                     Gram Panchayat is to be responsible for identification of the projects as per the recommendations of the Gram Sabha and for executing and supervising such works.

·                     Central Government is to establish a National Employment Guarantee Fund. State Governments to establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for implementation to the Scheme.

·                     The Scheme is to be self-selecting in the sense that those among the poor who need work at the minimum wage would report for work under the scheme.

The Act was implemented in a phased manner. In phase one it was introduced in 200 of the most backward districts of the country. It was expanded to 330 districts during 2007-08. The Act has been notified throughout the country with effect from April 1, 2008. During the year 2010-11, 5.48 crore households were provided employment under the scheme. MGNREGA is the first ever law'- of the world, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment.

Its auxiliary objective is strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion and so encourage sustainable development. The process outcomes include strengthening grassroot processes of democracy and infusing transparency and account ability in governance.

 

 

Critical Analysis of MGNREGS.

 

 

For its progress and the weaknesses during its implementation, two kinds of reviews are available - (i) the implementation of NREGA has been reviewed by the Controller & Auditor General (2007) and (ii) Certain NGOs, especially the National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations (SCOs), have also undertaken several reviews.

1.            Lack of professional staff - Every State government was required to appoint in each block, a full time Programme officer, exclusively responsible for the implementation of NREGA. The State Government, however, directed Block Development Officer (BDOs) to take ?Additional Charge? to implement NREGA. CAG report finds that 19 state had not appointed these officers in 70 percent of the blocks surveyed.

As a consequence of shortage of staff, there were delays in execution of works and payment of wages on account of lack of measurements; delays in wages payment of two to three months where noticed. Consequently, labour households preferred to undertake other jobs, even if the payments were relatively low, but prompt.

2.            Lack of proper projects planning- NREGA specifically mention the creation of durable productive assets, in the form of reads, improving rural infrastructure, drought-proofing, watershed development, water conservation etc.

The survey found that the focus is on rural connectivity and wells. Other meaningful projects for rural transformation were conspicuous by their absence.

3.            Bureaucratic resistance to NREGA - On account of the detailed procedures and rules under NREGA, an impression has been created that it is much more difficult to make money under NREGA.

4.            Lack of transparency and absence of social audit

Although NREGA has provisions for transparency in the process of implementation, in actual practice, data on work done and payment made for various kinds of Jobs is kept as a closely graded secret. As a consequence, there is a monkey of social audit. Even some of the fake NGOs are prepared to verify social audit by charging a ridiculously low fee per panchayat. As a consequence, the most radical provisions of NREGA are violated with impunity.

5.            Inappropriate Rates of Payment -NREGA stipulates that projects shall not be implemented by employment of contractors, because contractors do not pay labour statuary minimum wage and get most of the work done by machines. Master rolls are faked, labour is underpaid, and bogus workers are shown as paid workers while actual work is done by machine.

At the same time, it also necessary to take the following measures to strengthen the supports structure of the NREGA.

1.            Appointing full-time professionals for implementing NREGA at all levels which is vitally necessary to implement the scheme.

2.            Provision of full-time employment guarantee assistants at the panchayat level to make rural people aware of the benefits of the scheme and induce then to take advantage of the scheme.

3.            Specific efforts should be made to reduce the lime gap between work done and payment received by rural laburers in NREGA.

4.            To use Management Information System (MIS) and improve the system of monitoring of the schemen and also to check leakages and misappropriation of funds.

5.            To undertake a massive programme of generation awareness about the scheme with the help of information technology.

6.            To revise the schedule of rate periodically so that changes in statutory minimum rate of wages are made consistent with their revision.

7.            To prepare a shelf of projects at the district levels with the help of programme officers and other technical staff as well as Panchayati Raj Institution leaders so that projects cleared at the district level can be implemented at grass roots level.

8.            To make a study of various states with a view to learning from their experience of implementing NREGA and thus develop a spirit of competition among the states to take advantage of the scheme.

9.            NREGA payments should be made through post office accounts. Andhra pradesh Government has made use of this method. The state had 6 lakh accounts jumped to 70 lakhs and authorities are being forced to strengthen the postal infrastructure so that it can handle the new responsibilities. This can also limit to a large extent fake master rolls and corruption in the scheme.

10.          NREGA is a comprehensive employment programme.

This implies that other employment generation programmes should be merged with it so that the alternative of shifting to another attractive programme from the point of view of misappropriating fund is closed.

This will also help rationalise various employment generation programmes.

 

 

 

Various Poverty and Unemployment Elimation programmes initiated by Govt. In Five - Year Plans.

 

 

Name of the Programme	Year of Starting	Main Objectives
Crash Scheme for Rural Employment	1971-72	Generation of new employment rural development.
Pilot Intensive Rural Employment	72-73	Construction work in Villages.
Drought Prone Areas Programme	73-74	To develop natural resources in drought prove rural areas.
Food for work Programme	77-78	To provide food for work in development process.
Antyodaya Yojana	77-78	To give economic assistance to families BPE.
National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)	80-81	Helping that segment of Population which largely depends on wage employment by providing gainful employment.
Rural landless Employment Gurantee Pro- gramme (RLEGP)	1983-84	To expand Employment.
Million Wells Scheme (MWS)	1988-89	To provide open irrigation wells, free of cost, to poor small and Marginal farmers belonging to SC/ST.
Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY)	1989-90	Generation of gainful employment to unemployed in rural areas.
Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)	1993-94	Providing assured employment of day?s unskilled manual work to rural.
Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana (PMRY)	1994-95	To provide self-employment to educated unemployed by setting up of sever lakh micro-enterprises.
Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY)	1999-2000	To create employment and durable assets in rural areas.
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SG SY)	1999-2000	To promote micro-enterprises and helping the rural poor into self- help group.
Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana	2000-01	Improving the quality of life of people in rural areas.
Jai Prakash Rojgar Guarantee Yojana (JPRGY)	2002-03	To provide employment guarantee to the unemployed in the most distressed districts of the country.
National food for work Programme (NFWP)	2004-05	To intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)	2006	To entitle the rural poor to guaranted employment for 100 days. W.e.f April 2008 expanded from 200 to all 614 rural districts of India.
Swavalamban Scheme	2010	New Pension Scheme for poorer section in which Govt. will con- tribute a sum of' 1000 along with the subscriber up to ?12000. This scheme will cover 10 lakh subscribers each in four years be- ginning 2010-11 bringing the total number to 40 lakh by March, 2014.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana	2014	Start by current PM Narendra Modi to eradicate poverty at grass root level.
Annapurna Yojana	March 1999	To provide 10 kg foodgrains to senior citizens (who did not get pension).
Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.	April 1999	For eliminating Rural poverty and unemployment and promoting self-employment.
Jan Shree Bima Yojana	Aug. 10, 2000	Providing Insurance Security to people living below poverty line
Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana	2000	To fulfil basic requirements in rural areas.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana	Dec. 25, 2000	To provide food security to poor.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)	Dec. 25, 2000	To provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages.
Vande Matram Scheme	Feb.9,2004	Major initiative in public-private partnership during pregnancy check-up.
National Food for Work Programme	Nov. 14, 2004	Programme to intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment.
Janani Suraksha Yojana	April 12, 2005	Providing care to expectant mothers.
Bharat Nirman Programme	Dec. 16,2005	Development of Rural Infrastructure including six components: Irrigation, Water Supply, Housing, Road, Telephone and Electricity.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)	2005	To assist cities and towns in taking up housing and infrastructural facilities for the urban poor in 65 cities in the country.
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)	2005	To provide effective healthcare to rural population and universal access to healthcare with emphasis on women.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA)	Feb.2,2006	To provide at least 100 days wage employment in rural areas.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana	2014	Generating awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana	2014	To link poors at grassroot level by providing bank accounts.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)	2015	To upgrade urban infrastructure across 500 towns and cities.
Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission	September 2015	To deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)	2001	Programme for achievement of universalization of elementary education in a time bound manner.
Make in India	August 2015	To revive manufacturing sector.
National Skill Mission	July 2015	To develop skill and entrepreneurship.
Atal Pension Yojana	March 2015	For Social Security.
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)	May 2015	To provide a renewable 1 year accidental death-cum-disability cover of 2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of 330 per annum per subscriber.

 

 

 

5.         Indira Awas Yojana (SAY)

 

 

The Indira Awas Yojana was launched in 1985-86 to provide dwellings. In 1989-90, after merging the RLEGP with Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, this plan also became a part of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY). Since January 1, 1996, it was again separated from JRY. At present, IAY is one of the six components of the Bharat Nirman Programme. The objective of IAY is to provide financial assistance for construction up gradation of houses to BPL rural households belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers, non -SC/ST rural households, widows and physically handicapped persons living in the rural areas. At present, it is the flagship programme for rural housing. The main points of this scheme are as follows:

1.            Since 1993-94, the benefit of Indira Awas Yojana is being provided even to those rural poor of non-schedule caste/schedule tribe who are living below the poverty line.

2.            A minimum of 60% of funds are to be utilized for construction of houses for the SC/ST people.

3.            From 1995-96, IAY benefits have been extended to widows or next to kin of defence personnel killed in action.

4.            Benefits have also been extended to ex-servicemen and retired members of para military forces as long as they fulfil the normal eligibility conditions of IAY.

5.            3% of funds are reserved for the disabled persons living below the poverty line in rural areas.

6.            Under the plan, the allocation of the house is done in the name of the female member of the benefited family or in the joint names of husband and wife.

7.            The ceiling on assistance for construction of new houses has been increased from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 35000 per unit for the plain areas and from Rs. 27,500 to Rs. 38,500 per unit for the hilly/difficult areas with effect from April 1, 2008.

8.            Under the scheme, financial resources are shared between the Centre and State on a 75:25 basis. In case of NE states, the funding pattern has recently been revised to 90:10.

 

6.            Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

 

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a 100% centrally sponsored scheme was launched on December 25, 2000. The prime objective of the PMGSY was, to provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations in the rural areas having population of more than 500 persons, by the end of Tenth Plan Period (2007). In respect of the Hill States (North- East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand), Desert Areas and Tribal (Schedule - V) Areas, the objective is to connect habitations with a population of 250 persons and above.

Under Bharat Nirman, goal has been set to provide connectivity to all the habitations with population of more than 1000 in the plain areas and habitations with a population of 500 or more in hilly and tribal areas in a time bound manner by 2009. The systematic up gradation of the existing rural road networks is also an integral component of the scheme. Accordingly, an Action Plan has been prepared for connecting 66,802 habitations with 1, 46,185 km of all-weather roads. This action plan also envisages up gradation/renewal of 1, 94,130 km of the existing rural road network. It is estimated that an investment of about Rs. 48,000 crore would be required for achieving the targets under Bharat Nirman.

During the first two years of 11th Five Year Plan, an expenditure of Rs. 25780.7 crore has been incurred on rural roads under PMGSY in which 93636 km long road work has been completed in rural areas.

 

 

7.         Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

 

 

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) became operational Since December 1, 1997. The Government has recently revamped the SJSRY with effect from April 1, 2009. Its objective is community impowerment through promoting community organisation like Neighborhood Groups (NHGs) Neighborhood Committees (NHCs) and Community Development Societies (CDSs). CDS will be the nodal agency for project identification and co-ordination. It is founded on a 75:25 proportion between the Centre and states. The scheme provides gainful employment to the urban unemployed and underemployed poor, by encouraging the setting up of self- employment ventures by the urban poor and also by providing wage employment and utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets. This is urban counterpart of SGSY. The SJSRY has five targets:

(a)        The Urban Self-Employment Programme (USEP) which targets individual urban poor for setting up of micro enterprises;

(b)        The Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP) which targets urban poor women self-help groups for setting up of group enterprises and providing them assistance through a fund for credit activities;

(c)         Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP) which targets the urban poor for imparting quality training so as to enhance their employability for self-employment or better salaried employment;

(d)        The Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) which seeks to assist the urban poor by utilizing their labour for the construction of socially and economically useful public assets, in towns having population less than 5 lakhs as per the 1991 census; and

(e)         The Urban Community Development Network (UCDN) which seeks to assist the urban poor in organizing themselves into self-managed community structures so as to gain collective strength to address the issues of poverty facing them and participate in effective implementation of urban poverty-alleviation programmes.

 

 

8.         Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

 

 

In order to make TPDS more focused and targeted towards the poorest section of population, the 'Antyodaya Anna Yojana' (AAY) was launched in December 2000 for one crore poor families. Initially AAY contemplated identification of one crore poorest of the poor families from amongst the BPE families covered under TPDS within the States and providing them food grains at a highly subsidised rate of Rs. 2 per kg for wheat and Rs.3 per kg for rice. The States/UTs are required to bear the distribution, cost, including margin to dealers and retailers as well as the transportation cost. Thus the entire food subsidy is being passed on to the consumers under the scheme.

 

 

9.         Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (National Women Fund)

 

 

The objective of this institution set-up on March 30, 1993 is to facilitate credit support to poor women for their socio economic upliftment. The support is extended through NGOs, Women Development Corporations. Suitable state government agencies like DRDAs, Dairy Federations, Municipal Councils, etc. RMK extends loan to the above organisations at 8% and the above. Organisation can lend to the women Self Help Groups/ ultimate women beneficiaries at an interest ranging from 8% to 18%. The financial assistance given by RMK- is totally security free and RMK does not insist for any sort of collateral from the organisations availing loan from it.

 

 

10.       National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

 

 

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched on 12th April, 2005, to provide accessible, affordable and accountable quality health services to rural areas. The difficult areas with unsatisfactory health indicators were classified as special focus States to ensure greatest attention where needed. The thrust of the Mission was on establishing a fully functional, community owned, decentralized health delivery system with inter-sectoral convergence at all levels, to ensure simultaneous action on a wide range of determinants of health like water, sanitation, education, nutrition, social and gender equality. Institutional integration within the fragmented health sector was expected to provide a focus on outcomes, measured against Indian Public Health Standards for all health facilities.

From narrowly defined schemes, the NRHM shifted focus to a functional health system at all levels, from the village to the district.

NRHM is being operationalized throughout the country with special focus on 18 states which includes 8 Empowered Action Group States (Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Rajasthan), 8 NE states, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir. Among major innovations of the NRHM are creation of a cadre of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and improved hospital care, decentralisation at district level to improve intra and inter-sectoral convergence and effective utilisation of resources through NGOs and community in general.

 

11.       Intensified Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (The Second Stream of JRY)

 

 

Second phase of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana is being implemented in 120 backward districts of 12 states of the country which are badly affected with unemployment and under-unemployment problems. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Since January 1, 1996 this plan was merged with Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS). The main points of this plan were as under

1.             Under this programme, those works are given priority which provide ample employment opportunities, like creating small irrigation facility on barren lands, foesty, etc.

2.            This plan also includes various activities which create rural   infrastructure   including   primary   education institutions.

 

12.       Innovative and Special Employment Scheme (The Third Stream of JRY)

 

 

The third phase of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana which is known as the Innovative and Special Employment Scheme is being implemented since the year 1993-94. In this scheme, special and modern projects are included whose objective is to stop the migration of labour, to encourage the female employment and to develop the productivity in the desert areas. Following are some of the main points of this Scheme-

1.            Under this plan, the schemes like Operation Black Board were also given place which fulfil the main objectives of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana. The construction of the school building and of class rooms has been given priority.

2.            Operation Black Board scheme was started in 1987.

All the projects coming under the third stream are given acceptance by a Screening Committee which is constituted under the chairmanship of the Secretaries of Rural Employment and Poverty Eradicating Departments of the Central Government.

 

13.       CAPART

 

 

To promote rural development the Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) was constituted on September 1, 1986. CAPART is a registered body under the Ministry of Rural Development. The head office of CAPART is at New Delhi. CAPART has nine Regional Committees/Centres at Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhubancswar. Patna, Chandigarh. Hyderabad, Guwahati and Dhanbad. The Regional Committees are empowered to sanction nrojects proposals to voluntary agencies up to an outlay of Rs. 25 lakhs in their respective regions. Its main objective is to encourage and assist the voluntary activities for implementing projects for rural prosperity. Some important features related to it are as under-

 

(i)            CAPART extends assistance to Jawahar Rojgar Yojana, Organisation of the Beneficiaries of Poverty Eradicating Programme, Integrated Rural Development Programme, Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas and other related organisations.

(ii)          The Rural Development Department of the Indian

Government provides the required funds to APART.

 

14.       Bharat Nil-man

 

 

This programme, launched in 2005-06, for building infrastructure and basic amenities in rural areas, has six components, namely rural housing, irrigation potential, drinking water, rural roads, electrification and rural telephony. A goal has been set to provide connectivity to all villages with a population of 1000 (500 in hilly or tribal areas) with all-weather roads. New connectivity is proposed to a total of 63940 habitations under Bharat Nirman. As per Economic Survey 2011-12, under the rural roads component of bharat Nilman, 42249 habitations have been provided all weather road connectivity up to December, 2011 and projects for connecting 16126 habitations are at different stages of implementation.

 

 

15.       Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY)

 

 

PMJDY was introduced on the 15th August, 2014 by Prime inistel Narendra Modi. It is a part of the drive of national inclusion. The scheme entails a 'no-frills account' with an overdraft facility of Rs.5000 and a Rupay Debit Card.

Oilier attractions of the scheme include accidental insurance cover of l lakh and a life insurance coverage of Rs.30000. An unprecedented number of 1.5 crore bank accounts were opened under the scheme on the first day of its launch.

 

 

16.       Rural Electrification in India

 

 

Rural electrification involves supply of energy for two types of programmes:

(a) production-oriented activities like minor irrigation, rural industries, etc. and,

(b) Electrification of villages. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC)

It was established in July 1969 to finance various projects of rural electrification. REC is a Public Financial Institution under section 4A of the Companies Act 1956. REC is also registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) under section 451 A of RBI Act, 1934. At present REC is a 'Navratna' Company. The current mission of REC is to facilitate availability of electricity for accelerated growth and for enrichment of quality of life of rural and semi-urban population and to act as a competitive.  Client friendly and development oriented organisation for financing and promoting projects covering power generation, power conservation, power transmission and power distribution network in the country. To give impetus to rural electrification, the Government has given special attention for creation and augmentation of Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone and Village Electricity Infrastructure so as to cover all unelectrified villages and rural households within a span of five years.

Rural Electricity Supply Technological Mission (REST) has been set up to oversee the implementation of schemes under Accelerated Rural Electrification Programme.

 

 

Rural Electrification Policy

 

 

On August 23, 2006, Government notified Rural Electrification Policy under section 4 & 5 of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The policy aims at provision of access to electricity to all households by year 2009, quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates and minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unitper household per day as a merit by year 2012.

 

 

 

 

Major Policies/Scheme of a Glance

Programme/Plan/Institution	Year of beginning	Objective/Description
Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP)	August 15, 1983	For providing employment to landless farmers and labourers.
Self-Employment to the Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY)	1983-84	To provide financial and technical assistance for self- employment.
Self-Employment Programme for the Urban Poor (SEPUP)	September 1986	To provide self-employment to urban poor through provision of subsidy and bank credit.
Community Development Programme (CDP)	1952	Overall development of rural areas with people's participation.
Intensive Agriculture Development Programme (IADP)	1960-61	To provide loan, seeds, fertilizer tools to the farmers.
Nationalisation of 14 Banks	July 1969	To provide loans for agriculture, rural development and other priority sectors.
Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE)	1972-73	For rural employment.
Food for Work Programme	1977-78	Providing food grains to labour for the works of development.
Jawahar Rozgar Yojana	April 1989	For providing employment to rural unemployed.
Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief Scheme (ARDRS)	1990	To exempt bank loans up to Rs.10, 000 of rural artisans and weavers.
Scheme of Urban Micro Enterprises (SUME)	1990	To assist the urban poor people for small enterprise.
Scheme of Urban Wage Employment (SUWE)	1990	To provide wage employment after arranging the basic facilities for poor people in the urban areas where population is less than one lakh.
National Renewal Fund (NRF)	February 1992	To protect the interest of the employees of Public Sector.
Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)	October 2, 1993	To provide employment of at least 100 days in a year in villages.
Scheme of Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns	Sixth Five Year Plan	To provide resource and create employment in small and medium towns for prohibiting the migration of population from rural areas to big cities.
Child Labour Eradication Scheme	August 15, 1994	To shift child labour from hazardous industries to schools.
Prime Minister?s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (PMIUPEP)	November 18, 1995	To attack urban poverty in an integrated manner in 345 town having population between 50,000 to 1 lakh.
National Social Assistance Programme	1995	To assist people living below the poverty line.
Sampurna Gramin Rojgar Yojana	September 25, 2001	Providing employment and food security.
Social Security Pilot Scheme	January 23, 2004	Scheme for labourers of unorganised sector for providing family pension, insurance and medical.
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)	2003-04	To increase the self-reliance and autonomy of women by enhancing their productivity and enabling them to take up income generating activities.
National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW)	2010	To achieve empowerment of women socially, economically and educationally by securing convergence of schemes.
Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)- ?Sabla?	November 19th, 2010	It aims at empowering adolescent girls of 11 to 18 years by improving their nutritional and health status, up gradation of home skills, life skills and vocational skills.

Programme / Plan / Institution	Year of beginning	Objective / Description
Policies
New Pension System	January, 2004	·                 To provide retirement income to all the citizens. ·                 Structured in 2 tiers - ·                 Tier-1 account is a basic retirement pension account available to all citizens and does not permit withdrawal of funds before retirement. ·                 Tier-2 account is a prospective payment system account that permits some withdrawal of pension prior to retirement under exceptional circumstances.
National Food Security Mission	2007	·                 To increase production and productivity of wheat, rice and pulses. ·                 To bridge the yield gap through spreading of improved technologies and farm management practices.
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana	9 May, 2015	·                 Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) was launched by the Union finance minister Arun Jaitley with the aim to extend life insurance cover to people both in the cases of natural deaths or accidents.
Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign	January 22nd, 2015	·                 Union Government launched one of its most ambitious projects Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao (BBBP) on 22nd January 2015 whose prime objective is to create awareness about the diminishing child sex ratio in the country.
Sukanya Samridhi Yojana	January 22nd, 2015	·                 Sukanya Samridhi Yojna was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd January 2015 as a girl child prosperity scheme to ensure the bright future of the girl child in India. ·                 Under the scheme, parents need to deposit Rs.1, 000 at the time of her birth and thereafter deposit multiples of Rs. 100 with the maximum depositor Rs. 1,50,000. ·                 The yojana permits the girl child to access her account after she is 10 years old and a withdrawal of 50% from the account is permitted at the age of 18 years for higher education purpose.
Nai Manzil scheme	August 8th, 2015	·                 The scheme seeks to deal with educational and livelihood needs of minority communities in general and Muslims in particular as it lags behind other minority communities in terms of educational attainments. ·                 The focus of the scheme is to provide educational intervention by offering bridge courses to the trainees, getting them certificates for class XII and X through distance educational system and facilitate them with trade basis skill training in 4 courses namely manufacturing, engineering, services and soft skills.
Than Pension, Thare Pass	August, 2015	·                 Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched the Thari Pension Thare Pass in Chandigarh, seeking to directly transfer pension into the bank accounts of beneficiaries. ·                 Over 10 lakh beneficiaries from 1,744 villages and 81 towns in the state would get pensions through banks and post offices under the first phase of the scheme.
Aapki Beti Hamari Beti? Scheme	January 22nd, 2015	·                 Haryana government launched the 'Aapki Beti Hamari Beti' scheme aiming to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio and promote girls' education. ·                 The scheme is to be implemented in both rural and urban areas of the state covering first-born girl child of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)	January 21, 2015	·                 Bringing together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation to preserve the heritage character of each Heritage City.
Udaan Scheme	November, 2014	·                 Encouraging girls for higher technical education and aims to provide them with better learning opportunities.

Programme / Plan / Institution	Year of beginning	Objective / Description
SAHAJ Scheme	2015	·              Under the SAHAJ scheme, people are required to fill up forms online for a new LPG connection and avoid visiting the LPG distributors. It involves filing the KYC form by uploading bank account details and photographs.
USTADD Scheme	2015	·              The USTAAD scheme was launched in order to improve the degrading conditions of the world renowned Banaras Saree weavers belonging to various minority communities. ·              The Scheme seeks to upgrade the Skills and Training of the minority communities by preservation of their customary ancestral Arts and Crafts. ·              It also focuses on improving upon me skills of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already engaged in the traditional ancestral work.

Budget 2017-18

 

·                     Focus on vulnerable sections through :

(a) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

(b) New health insurance scheme to protect

against   hospitalisation expenditure.

(c) Facility of cooking gas connection for BPL

families.

·                     A new Digital Literacy Mission Scheme for rural India.

·                     National Dialysis Services Programme to be started under National Health Mission through PPP.

·                     Higher Education Financing Agency to be setup with initial capital base of Rs. 1000 crore.

·                     National Board for Skill Development Certification to be setup in partnership with the industry and academia.

·                     Promoting Affordable housing.

·                     Tax rate for lowest income tax slab (Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh) slashed to 5 % from 10%.

·                     Surcharge of 10% imposed on incomes over Rs. 50 lakh.

·                     As a result of the new section 87 A rebate and reduction in lowest tax slab rate to 5% the tax burden for those with income upto 3 lakh would be zero.

 

 

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

 

 

MDGs were eventuated at the UNs Millennium Summit, 2000, where the world leaders agreed on a set of quantifiable and monitorable goals for development and poverty eradication to be achieved by 2015. These MDGs were based on the assumption that, ?progress that world has made over the past 30 years shows that these goals are attainable?.

 

MDGs

The main MDGs, as per UN are -

·                     Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty.

·                     Achieve universal primary education.

·                     Promote gender equality and empower women.

·                     Reduce child mortality.

·                     Improve maternal health.

·                     Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

·                     Ensure environmental sustain ability.

·                     Develop a global partnership for development.

 

 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

 

 

At the United Nations sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030

Agenda for sustainable Development, which includes a set of 17 sustainable development Goals to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change by 2030. On January 2016, the 17 SDGs officially came into force.

 

17 SDGs are-

1.            End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

2.            End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

3.            Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

4.            Ensure inclusive and equitable Quality Education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

5.            Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

6.            Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

7.            Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

8.            Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

9.            Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and Sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

10.          Reduce inequality within and among countries.

11.          Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

12.          Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

13.          Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

14.          Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

15.          Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,   sustainable   manage   forests,   combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

16.          Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

17.          Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for Sustainable development.