Poverty as a Challenge Important Questions Class 9 Social Science Economics
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What do we mean by the term ‘vulnerability to poverty?
Answer
‘Vulnerability to poverty’ means the chances of some communities or persons to become poor or remain poor in the future.
Question 2. Which major anti-poverty programme was launched in the year 2000?
Answer
The Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) programme was launched in 2000.
Question 3. What is poverty?
Answer
Poverty means a situation in which a person is unable to get minimum basic necessities of life i:e. food, clothing and shelter for his or her sustenance.
Question 4. What is poverty line?
Answer
Poverty line is referred to as minimum requirement for basic necessities.
Question 5. Which method is used to estimate the poverty line in India?
Answer
The daily income and consumption method are used in India to estimate the poverty line.
Question 6. What is the full form of MGNREGA?
Answer
MGNREGA is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
Question 6. How is poverty line estimated periodically?
Answer
The poverty line is estimated periodically (normally every 5 year) by conducting sample surveys. These surveys are carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
Question 7. Which indicators out of illiteracy level, lack of access to healthcare, inadequate safe drinking water and ample job opportunities are not social indicators of poverty?
Answer
Lack of access to healthcare is the only indicator which is not considered as a social indicator of poverty. All other indicators mentioned are social indicators.
Question 8. By what method has the state of West Bengal reduced rural poverty?
Answer
Proper implementation of land reforms have helped to reduce rural poverty in West Bengal.
Question 9. Who estimates poverty line in India?
Answer
National-sample survey organisation.
Question 10. What is Rural Employment Generation Programme?
Answer
Launched in 1995, the aim of the programme is to create self employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.
Question 11. How is social exclusion practiced in India?
Answer
A typical example is the prevailing caste system in India, whereby which people belonging to certain castes are excluded from equal opportunities.
Question 12. When a person is considered poor?
Answer
A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given ‘minimum level’ necessary to fulfill basic needs.
Question 13. Which are the two planks on which anti-poverty strategy of the government is based?
Answer
(i) Promotion of economic growth.
(ii) Targeted anti-poverty programmes.
Question 14. What is the poverty line for a person according to the 2000 census?
Answer
According to the year 2000, the poverty line of a person is Rs. 328 per month, for the rural areas and Rs. 454 for urban areas.
Question 15. When was the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) passed?
Answer
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was passed in September 2005.
Question 16. What is the poverty line as defined by the World Bank?
Answer
Poverty line as defined by the world bank is the people living on less than $1 per day.
Question 17. What is the average number of calories required per person per day in rural areas of India?
Answer
The average number of calories required per person per day in rural areas of India is 2400.
Question 18. How are women, children and old people the poorest of the poor?
Answer
Women, elderly people and female infants are systematically denied equal access to resources available to the family. Therefore, they are the poorest of the poor.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What are the social indicators of poverty as seen by social scientists?
Answer
Prevalent factors like illiteracy levels, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, etc., are the social indicators of poverty as seen by social scientists.
Question 2. How did unemployment lead to poverty?
Answer
Unable to find proper jobs in cities, many people started working as rickshaw pullers, vendors, construction workers, domestic servants, etc. With irregular small incomes, these people could not afford proper housing and started living in slums leading to poverty.
Question 3. Describe the poverty trends in India since 1973.
Answer
The trends in poverty since 1973 are:
- There is a substantial decline in the poverty ratio from 55% in 1973 to 36% in 1993 and 26% in 2000.
- Rural poverty has declined sharply from 56% in 1973 to 27% in 2000 and the numbers from 261 million to 193 million.
- The latest estimates indicate a significant reduction in the total urban and rural number of poor to about 260 million, down from 321 million in 1973.
Question 4. How do social scientists look at poverty?
Answer
Social scientists look at poverty through a variety of indicators. Usually, the indicators used relate to the levels of income and consumption. But now poverty is looked at through other social indicators like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water etc.
Question 5. What are the socio-cultural and economic factors responsible for poverty?
Answer
In order to fulfil social obligations and observe religious ceremonies, people spend a lot of money. Since poor people hardly have any savings, they borrow. Unable to repay because of poverty they become victims of indebtedness, an important cause of poverty.
Question 6. Explain any four causes of poverty.
Answer
Four causes of poverty are:
- Unemployment: When With the increase in population, employment opportunities do not grow at the same rate, it results in poverty.
- Social factors: Social factors like illiteracy, ignorance; fatalism and joint family system have stopped from adopting modem ideas and techniques so that they could not increase their income.
- Underutilised natural resources: The resources have not been, fully utilised. The bulk of our resources are still lying unused.
- Backward agriculture: There is lack of basic facilities like water, fertiliser, pesticides etc. The productivity is low and Indian farmer remains poor.
Question 7. What are the conditions of MGNREGA?
Answer
Conditions of MGNREGA:
- The Act provides 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household in 200 districts.
- Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days, he/she will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
Question 8. What are the methods to measure the poverty line?
Answer
Methods to measure poverty line-
- Expenditure method: Firstly, for each person the minimum nutritional food requirement for survival is measured. Then it is converted into equivalent money value i.e. rupees. Apart from food, the money required for other items is also added to it. This total equal amount is considered as the poverty line. Those families which spend less than the poverty line, are considered as below poverty line families.
- Income method: In this method, all those families whose total income in a month is less than the poverty line as fixed by the government are considered to be below the poverty line families.
Question 9. What were the targets of SGSY?
Answer
The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana was launched in 1999. It aims to bring up assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into self-help groups through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.
Question 10. What is the trend of poverty estimates since 1973? Or Describe poverty trends in India since 1973.
Answer
- There was a substantial decline in poverty ratios in India from about 55 per cent in 1973 to 36 per cent in 1993.
- The proportion of people below the poverty line further came down to less than 20 per cent in the next few years.
- Although the percentage of people living in poverty declined, the poor remained stable at around 320 million for a long time. The latest estimates indicate a significant reduction in the number of poor to about 260 million.
Question 11. Explain social exclusion concept of poverty.
Answer
According to this concept, poverty must be seen in terms of the poor having to -live only in a poor surroundings with other poor people, excluded from enjoying the social equality of better-off people in better surroundings. Social exclusion can be both a cause and a consequence of poverty in the usual sense. Broadly, it is a process through which individuals or groups are excluded from facilities, benefits and opportunities that others enjoy.
Question 12. How does a country measure its poverty?
Answer
Each country uses an imaginary line that is considered appropriate for its existing level of development and its accepted minimum social norms. For example, a person not having a car in the United States may be considered poor. In India, owning a car is still considered a luxury.
Question 13. What are the dimensions of poverty?
Answer
Dimensions of Poverty:
- Poverty means hunger and lack of shelter.
- It is a situation in which parents are not able to send their children to school or a situation where sick people cannot afford treatment.
- Poverty also means a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.
- It also means a lack of a regular job at a minimum decent level.
Question 14. How is regular growth of the population one of the major causes of poverty?
Answer
A high population growth rate increases the rate of depletion of resources. Due to this, pressure on resources increases. More people will be able to avail of a smaller share of resources, thus bringing more people below the poverty line.
Question 15. Explain the concept of vulnerability.
Answer
Vulnerability to poverty is a measure which describes the greater probability of certain communities or individuals becoming or remaining poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is determined by finding an alternative living in terms of assets, education, health and job opportunities. Further, it is analysed on the basis of greater risks these groups face at the time of natural disasters. Additional analysis is made of their social and economic ability to handle these risks.
Question 16. How is poverty viewed by social scientists?
Answer
Since poverty has many facts, social scientists look at it through a variety of indicators. These social indicators are:
- Illiteracy level.
- Lack of general resistance due to malnutrition.
- Lack of access to health care.
- Lack of job opportunities.
- Lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, etc.
Question 17. Why is the calorie requirement of people higher in rural areas compared to urban areas?
Answer
The calorie requirement of people in rural areas is higher because rural people are engaged in more physical labour than people in urban areas. Physical labour is more energy-consuming than mental work.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. How can poverty be reduced in future in India? Suggest any four points.
Answer
Following indicators are used by social scientists to look at poverty
- Illiteracy level It is a situation where parents are unable to send their children to school.
- Lack of access to healthcare It is a situation in which sick people cannot afford treatment.
- Lack of access to drinking water It means lack of safe and clean drinking water facilities.
- Lack of job opportunity It means no availability of regular job opportunity.
- Lack of general resistance It means lack of general resistance due to malnutrition.
- Lack of sanitation It means cleaning of our surrounding.
Question 2. What are the main causes of poverty? Or Describe the major reasons for poverty in India.
Answer
The main causes of widespread poverty are:
- The low level of economic development under the British colonial administration was one of the main causes of poverty. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles.
- High growth rate of population also contributed towards rise in poverty levels. It made the growth rate of per capita income very low.
- With the growth in irrigation and the Green Revolution, many job opportunities were created in the agricultural sector. But the effects were limited to some parts of India.
- Unable to find proper jobs in cities, many people started working as rickshaw pullers, vendors, construction workers, domestic servants, etc., with irregular and small income. These people lived in slums on the outskirts of the cities.
Question 3. Explain any two measures undertaken by government to alleviate poverty in rural India.
Answer
Programmes started by government to alleviate poverty in rural/ areas are as follows-
Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana-The objective of the programme is to help the existing poor families to come above the poverty line. It is actually a sponsored scheme and is in operation in all – the development blocks of the country since 1980. Under it families below poverty line are provided financial assistance.
The objectives of the programme is, to give employment, to those, men and women who do not get sufficient days of employment in rural areas. This programme aims at creation of community assets such as Social forestry/ soil conservation, minor irrigation projects, and renovation of village wells, rural roads, schools etc.
Question 4. Describe global poverty trends.
Answer
The four anti-poverty programmes are:
- National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005, which provides 100 days assured employment per year to rural households in 200 districts initially.
- National Food for Work Programme (NFWP) 2004 was launched in 150 most backward districts of the country. It is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment.
- Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) 1993 and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) 1995 were started to create self-employment opportunities for educated youth in rural areas and small towns.
- Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) 1999 aims at bringing the poor families above poverty line by organizing them into self help groups through bank credit and government subsidy.
Question 5. What is the methodology of calculating poverty line?
Answer
- On the basis of calorie intake for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at ₹328 per month for the rural areas and 454 for the urban areas.
- Despite less calorie requirement, the higher amount for urban areas has been fixed because of high prices of many essential products in urban centres.
- In this way in the year 2000, a family of five members living in rural areas and earning less than about 1,640 per month was below the poverty line.
- A similar family in the urban areas needed a minimum of ₹2,270 per month to meet their basic requirements.
- The poverty line is estimated periodically by conducting sample surveys. Many international organisations like the World Bank use a uniform standard for the poverty line.
Question 6. Examine the causes of poverty and explain any three measures adopted to remove poverty in India.
Answer
Causes of poverty:
- Britishers adopted the policy to discourage traditional industries. This has left millions of weavers poor.
- Excessive dependency on agriculture has resulted in low level of income for the rural masses.
- Majority of the rural poor do not have enough land and machinery. They are mostly landless labourers and people without work.
- Social factors like illiteracy, large size of family, law of inheritance and caste system are also responsible for the prevalence of poverty-ridden people.
Poverty alleviation programmes-
- Swarnajayanti Grain Swarojgar Yojana: It is a centrally sponsored scheme which is in operation since 1980. It provides financial assistance to rural poor.
- Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana: Its objective is to generate employment for those men and women who do not get sufficient days of employment in rural areas.
- Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana and Swarnajayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana: These schemes are aimed at the welfare of the educated unemployed in urban areas. It aims to provide self-employment to the educated unemployed in the age group of 18 to 35, particularly, in the urban areas. Employment Assurance Scheme and Pradhanmantri Gramodaya Yojana were launched in 1999 and 2000-01.
Question 7. Why do different countries use different poverty lines?
Answer
Different countries use different poverty lines because
- The calorie requirement of different human races is different depending on their physical condition and dietary habits. Those races which have greater height and build require higher calories.
- The per capita income in different countries is also different i.e., per capita income is higher in developed countries as compared to developing countries.
- The standard of living of Western countries is higher than that of developing countries.
- The cost of essential items used in calculating poverty line is higher in the developed countries.
Question 8. How is the poverty line determined? Or Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India.
Answer
- In India, a minimum level of food requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and light, educational and medical requirement, etc., are determined for subsistence.
- These things are multiplied by their prices in rupees.
- The desired calorie requirements are seen depending on age, sex and the type of work that a person does.
- The accepted average calorie requirement in India is 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2,100 calories per person per year in urban areas.
- Since people living in rural areas are considered to be higher than urban areas.
- The monetary expenditure per capita needed for buying these calorie requirements is revised time to time, keeping in mind the rise in prices.
- On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2000, the poverty line for a person was fixed at ₹328 per month for the rural areas and ₹454 for the urban areas.