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Open Forum
New
Delhi, 17 April 2010
Poverty
Syndrome
RURAL
REJUVENATION CRUCIAL
By
Dhurjati Mukherjee
The government has regularly been providing figures
to what extent poverty exists in the country. However, experts believe these
could be double instead i.e. anything around 40 per cent of the population.
Recently, the Suresh Tendulkar report estimated 37 per cent of the total
population was under the poverty line while the proportion of the poor was
almost 42 per cent in rural areas.
Indeed, this is a sharp hike from the official
poverty estimates of 27.5 per cent for the country and 28.3 per cent for rural
areas. Over half of the rural population in States such as Orissa, Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are still living under abject
poverty and are unable to meet their basic necessities of food, health and
education.
Earlier, the World Bank estimated that India had 456
million people (42 per cent of the population) living below the new
international poverty line of $ 1.25 a day. Also the country had 826 million
people (75.6 per cent of the population) living below $2 a day which was more
than that of Sub-Saharan Africa, considered the world’s poorest region.
Even the Saxena Committee, constituted by the
Rural Development Ministry, came out with an alarming figure of over 49 per
cent of the population existing below the poverty line. The number of poor is
estimated to be over 400-450 million (or even more) of which ¾ live in the
countryside There is another major section of 150-250 million who have to
struggle for existence with meagre earnings equivalent to $1.5/2 a day. The number of rural landless families
increased from 35 per cent in 1987 to 45 per cent in early 2000 and to 55 per
cent in 2005, which may be anything around 60 per cent presently.
The lowest poverty ratio was 5.4 per cent for
Jammu & Kashmir and highest for Orissa (46.4 per cent). Nine States namely,
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa accounted
for nearly 76.2 per cent of the total rural poor in 2004-05 as compared to 62.3
per cent in 1973-74. The concentration of the poor has increased in these States
except Maharashtra and West Bengal.
An estimated 23 per cent of the poor do not have
a ration card, let alone the BPL card. Though there have been demands for a
national survey to identify the poor, whatever welfare measures that are in
vogue do not reach even 40 per cent of the beneficiaries. The delivery
mechanism is poor. The panchayats either do not have the capacity to deliver
the goods or political squabbling as also corruption and favouritism come in
the way of delivery and intended services for the impoverished.
As the level of consumption came in for
criticism, the Planning Commission has reviewed the issue. The exercise is also
significant as the government is interested to reach food to all those who are
hungry. But with high inflation and rising cost of essential commodities, the BPL
families have been struggling to ensure two square meals a day.
Meanwhile, it has been found that the Rs 5000
crore National Food Security Mission (NFSM), launched to ensure food security
for all by 2012, may be inadequate to meet the demand for foodgrains. While the
total production has been estimated to touch 230 million tonnes by 2012, this
is expected to fall short of the demand by 4.15 million tonnes.
The Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
estimated that one-fifth of the Indian population is undernourished because of
poverty. With general consumption being on the rise and a changing pattern
discernible there would be an increasing pressure on foodgrains. It is thus
prudent for the Centre to set up the Central Food Security Fund to monetarily
compensate the BPL beneficiaries of the targeted PDS who fail to get the
mandatory 25 kg of wheat or rice per family per month at a subsidized rate of
Rs 3 per kg. The four years of the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS) has had some impact on the rural areas as the poor use over 70-80
per cent of their income on food, and the demand projections may
increase.
Besides, the 11th Plan emphasized on
certain measures for taking agriculture to a higher trajectory of four per cent
annual growth for tackling poverty. Apart from making low-cost technology
available to the small farmers at the grass-root level, some of the specific
measures outlined in the Plan include: improving water management, rainwater
harvesting and watershed development; reclaiming degraded land for cultivation
and focusing on soil quality; bridging the gap through effective extension at
the grass root level; diversifying into high-value outputs, fruits, flowers,
medicinal plants, bio-diesel etc.; providing easy access to credit at
affordable rates; and improving the incentive structure and functioning
of markets.
Let us now refer to the strategies envisaged in
terms of generation of income through Scenario-I and Scenario-II (Mission Mode)
approach to poverty eradication by 2015-16. As per projections by the Ministry
of Rural Development, the NREGA envisaged providing wage employment of 100 days
to the entire BPL household thereby ensuring an income of Rs 8000 per
household. Under SGSY (Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana), 2.8 crore
household are expected to enter into the economic activity zone through
Scenario-II approach of which 1.4 crore households would be able to get
incremental income of around Rs 14,000 by 2015-16. Also through Skills
Development & Placement Programme 1.7 crore BPL youth would be able to earn
at least Rs 24,000 per annum. The Social Security Programme would cover 3 crore
beneficiaries and thereby supplement family income by Rs 4800 per annum by
2012-13.
New strategies in the realm of agriculture,
agro-industries, wage employment, self employment, non urban-based knowledge
parks and revitalization of small and cottage industries have to be conceived. Thus
the basic element of the poverty eradication strategy has now to focus on the
development needs of the rural areas so as to rehabilitate the poor and the half-starved
farmer and his family. More resources have to be allocated for such development.
In view of the growing demand for food, there
has to be strong emphasis on modernizing agriculture and increasing and
diversifying foodgrains production. This would entail ensuring three crops per
year, encouraging horticulture and floriculture production and keeping an eye
on productivity increase. Since land holdings have become smaller over the
years, cooperatives should be encouraged to cultivate a few holdings together
and then share the produce equitably. The output would have to increase
considerably and benefit the poor farmer. But for this, the panchayats need to
come forward and ensure that the land yields optimum and value-based products
while all sorts of inputs have to be made available free of cost to these
cooperatives. Moreover the government has to ensure that agricultural land
should under no circumstances be used for industrial/township development.
Obviously, requisite agricultural reforms have
to be brought forth for efficient use of resources and conservation of soil,
water and ecology on a substantive basis along with introduction of newer
technologies, encouraging production and use of bio-fertilizers and application
of bio-genetics for improved plant and horticultural products. One may conclude
with an estimate by the eminent economist, Dr. C. Rangarajan, in 1982, that a
mere one per cent increase in agricultural output led to a 0.7 increase in
national income and that most part of this enhanced income reached the grass-root
levels of rural India and benefited the farming community. --INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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