Economic Development and Poverty

Contents: Preface. 1. Urban poverty in India. 2. Poverty and inequality. 3. Forced migration of labour. 4. Poverty by price indices. 5. Food and poverty. 6. Politics, power and poverty in South Asia. 7. The method to identify the poor. 8. Facts about poverty in India. 9. Micro finance and poverty. Bibliography.

“Poverty in India is still rampant despite an impressive economic growth. An estimated 250 million people are below the poverty line and approximately 75 per cent of them are in the rural areas.

In general, poverty can be defined as a situation when people are unable to satisfy the basic needs of life. The definition and methods of measuring poverty differs from country to country. According to the definition by Planning Commission of India, poverty line is drawn with an intake of 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. It a person is unable to get that much minimum level of calories, then he/she is considered as being below poverty line.

Writing about poverty, economics of poverty, eradication and alleviation of poverty in India and the third world and socio-economic impacts of poverty have drew attention of many economists and there is a continuously updating their data and views on the subjects. Recently, sociologists too are making contribution in this field. Governments, bureaucracy and political elite too try to under5stand and work on the poverty of the masses and they bring out poverty alleviation plans and programmes. This book tries to make a humble contribution on the subject of poverty.” (jacket)