SBI PO: Essay on "The poverty line - how should it be defined?"
Hello Readers,
In view of the upcoming SBI PO Exam 2014, here we are presenting to
you an essay on "The poverty line - how should it be defined?" Hope
you like the post!
India since independence has achieved a lot in the term of GDP growth,
per capita income, and in other economic index but it still has a very
big portion of population living under poverty line. Generally the
populations below the poverty line are considered as the people who
can't afford their basic daily requirement.
Modern economists define the poverty line in various ways. Planning
commission of India has periodically defined the poverty line. A
committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. Suresh. D
Tendulkar, to review the methodology for estimation of poverty line
for the period 2004-2005 and 2009 - 2010.
Tendulkar used implicit prices derived from quantity and data
collected in household consumer expenditure surveys to compute and
define the poverty line. Tendulkar's report says a person was
considered above poverty line if he/she earns Rs 22.44 per day in
rural area and Rs 28.65 per day in urban areas. According to
Tendulkar's committee 21.9% Indians were considered below poverty line
in the year 2011 - 2012.
This figure of poverty line defined by Prof Tendulkar is contested by
many people. It is being said; in the age of high inflation fixing
this poverty line is ludicrous. These days one needs at least Rs 30
for a single meal and a person's calorie requirement can't be met by a
single meal. Beside food, there are other requirements like cloths,
shelter etc. So the amount suggested by Prof. Tendulkar to define
poverty line is untenable.
The definition given by Tendulkar received a lot of criticism. So the
Planning Commission constituted an expert group headed by noted
economist C. Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee. The
committee that was constituted to find the correct measure to define
the poverty line has still to submit its report.
Meanwhile, a report on Indian states by current RBI governor Raghuram
Rajan is being considered to define the poverty line. Rajan has
categorized the states on composite index on the basis of 10 equally
weighted indicators for monthly per capita consumption expenditure,
education, health, household amenities, poverty rate, female literacy,
percentage of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe population,
urbanization rate, financial inclusion and physical connectivity.
There is however no consensus on this definition. In its absence we
need to give a new definition to poverty. Every individual should be
considered poor or below poverty line who can't fulfill all his/her
basic requirement of life. A person must have enough earning so that
he/she can afford two times meal to remain healthy and have cloths to
wear. Besides, fulfill other bare minimal needs for survival.
In the term of individual's poverty calculation, it can be considered
as monthly consumption expenditure capability, expenditure on
education, health, household amenities, etc. Imbalance in any of these
should be considered as a point of poverty for the individual.
Poverty should never be measured on the basis of family income. As
every individual have specific requirement. In the patriarchal Indian
society, it is high time to consider every woman individually and she
should never be considered dependent on other family members.
Poverty line should not merely consider as income level but also the
availability of resources for daily requirements. If an individual
falls short in them he/ she should be bracketed under the poverty
line.
--
Thanks and best Regards
Yours'
Ram
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