Poverty in India

Percentage population living on less than $2 per day

 World map showing the percent of national populations living on less than $2.00 per day. UN Estimates 2000-2007

India technically challenges the world in all fields and stands top in the global business but the irony is that the country is the third poorest country in the world. Yes, in India ‘the Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer’, this may be hard to digest but this is the bitter reality. There are rich IT parks, star rated hotels, satellite launch center and all posh places on one side of the nation, where as on the other side there are hunger strikes, huts, despair, slums that stand as the signs of Poverty.

Reasons for Poverty in India:


The major reasons for poverty prevailing in India are listed out and discussed below.

Population:
The very well known fact is that India is the second most populated country in the world. Let us take for an example two families A and B, with equal/normal earnings, lets say family A has four members, where as there are 15 members in family B. Family A can live peacefully with the same income. However, poverty will prevail in family B. This is what happens throughout India, we are still a developing country but a highly populated one so poverty has become a giant frictional force preventing India from moving forward.
Unemployment:
This is another reason for poverty in India today. People have no jobs to do in India today. Even the graduates end up on the streets with degrees but no jobs to do. These unemployed people depend on the government for survival but since there are no food stamps (as in the United States) nor medical aid for these people, they end up living in slums with nothing at all to eat and with no medical aid. According to figures from the Indian government, poverty has been greatly reduced
which is very false. The government create their own figures to show the general public that they are doing something to improve living conditions for the people instead of showing the real figures so people will know. In fact, the situation is getting worse by the day. India is now the poorest country in the world according to UNDP human development index report which will be published in few days to come.
Unequal distribution of money:
The rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer in India today. Those in higher offices get higher pay while those on the streets get very little pay yet prices of commodities remain the same for all and tax rate in most cases remain the same for all. Business owners and other important people in the society continue to make huge profits while the poor farmer gets nothing from his or her farm products.
Corruption:
Bribery and corruption is another major reason while India remains poor. You need to bribe even the prison guard in India before he gives you a place to sleep in jail. You need to bribe a lawyer in India before he or she listens to your case and you can win a case no matter how, when or where by bribing the Judge. Those in higher positions especially government officials continue to share and misuse the country's wealth ignoring the poor citizens who have little or no say at all.
Economic Policies in India
The economic policies in India are so very poorly built that the average annual income of an Indian remains very low compared to other countries and there has been no significant improvement over the years.
Status of India:
Almost seventy percent of the Indian population fall
below poverty line. The government has planned so many strategies to eradicate poverty but none seems to work. India owes a very large amount of money to the World Bank in which statistics say that the country may not be able to pay even if given 20 years.
Eradication of Poverty in India:
Government has taken numerous steps to help flush out this social problem. Every FIVE-YEAR plan has some of the other plan for removing poverty yet none seems to work. Poverty can be diversified into urban and rural. The prior steps taken by the Indian Government to wipe off rural poverty include Small farmer’s development plan, Drought area development program, National rural employment program and many more. The bitter truth however is that, none of these programs seems to work .