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POVERTY AND INEQUALITY 2.1 Introduction

Poverty involves infinite variety of circumstantial misfortune experienced both at the household level and societal level. Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Extreme poverty strikes when household resources prove insufficient to secure the essentials of dignified living. Poverty makes them vulnerable to shocks. The very poor are those who can hardly afford more than one meal a day  and depend  exclusively one single source of income. That fragility is defined by a lack of education, the absence of work opportunities, the diminution of household back-up resources and exclusion from valuable social and decision-making networks. The trend of migration from poor farming regions has raises the incidence of urban poverty, especially in the slum zones of the world’s major cities. Nevertheless, poverty remains inextricably linked with the disappointing progress in agriculture in developing countries. Rural poverty rates are more than double those in cities, often embracing the majority of the rural population. The most persistent poverty is found amongst ethnic minorities, scheduled castes, tribal and indigenous people experiencing discrimination, and nomadic pastoralists and landless labourer  toiling on marginal land. Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action - for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in their communities.

2.2 Definition of Poverty

The definition and methods of measuring poverty differs from country to country. Poverty is the syndrome of  assetlessness, landlessness, joblessness, deprivation and   helplessness. It is not a pure economic phenomena. It has social, cultural, political, historical and geographical dimensions. It is lack of livelihood security and food security. It is hunger ,starvation and vulnerability. Poverty is lack of shelter and lack of education and lack of access to health care. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not being able to go to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. To know what helps to alleviate poverty, what works and what does not, what changes over time, poverty has to be defined, measured, and studied -- and even lived. As poverty has many dimensions, it has to be looked at through a variety of indicators -- levels of income and consumption, social indicators, and now increasingly indicators of vulnerability to risks and of socio/political access. It has many non-income and non-quantifiable dimensions. Attempts to define or measure poverty do not give justice to the reality of its experience. Extreme poverty of the developing countries crushes the human spirit. It draws out many of finest qualities of human being. Family loyalties survive the desperate search for livelihoods. They display stoicism in the face of exclusion and dignity amongst deprivation. Extreme poverty strikes when household resources prove insufficient to secure the essentials of dignified living. That fragility refers to lack of education, the absence of work opportunities and exclusion from valuable social networks.

Poverty and inequality are multidimensional – consumption and income, education, health, opportunities, voice, etc. – and have multiple determinants – geographic and agro-climatic factors, services, infrastructure, etc. it has to be looked at through a variety of indicators -- levels of income and consumption, social indicators, and indicators of vulnerability to risks and of socio/political access. In general, poverty can be defined as a situation when people are unable to satisfy the basic needs of life.

The picture of dire poverty is found in India where the incidence of  absolute poverty abounds. Absolute poverty is not related to income or consumption level of the household but to some minimum standard of living. . The concept of absolute poverty is relevant for less developed countries. In order to measure it, absolute norms for living are first laid down. It is expressed in terms of income or expenditure. A person falling below this norm (called poverty line) is classified as poor. In India the poverty norm is anchored in terms of daily intake of food. 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. If a person is unable to get that much minimum level of calories, then he/she is considered as being below poverty line. The consumption basket representing this calorie-intake is then converted into a monetary equivalent by using price indices separately for rural and urban areas.

2.3 Features Of Poverty

Poverty has many faces, many causes  and many effects. It has several monetary and non monetary dimensions. It has several manifestations. It is caused by several obstacles and constraints, which do reinforce each other. It is characterized by the following features.

1	Few Assets, landlessness and low Income 2	Low consumption, no savings and high Indebtedness 3	Jobless, employment insecurity and food insecurity 4	Illiteracy and lack of formal education and training 5	Poor health, housing or Ill health, poor sanitation 6	Marginalization and high dependency 7	Few contacts with Key Persons/Institutions 8	Little Involvement in Influential Fora 9	Competition for resources among the Poor 10	Economic vulnerability and Subordination 11	Low self-esteem, low social status and resignation 12	Subsistence living and no future plan