CBSE Book Class 9 Economics Poverty as a Challenge

Overview

This chapter deals with one of the most

difficult challenges faced by independent

India—poverty. After discussing this

multi-dimensional problem through

examples, the chapter discusses the way

poverty is seen in social sciences. Poverty

trends in India and the world are

illustrated through the concept of the

poverty line. Causes of poverty as well as

anti-poverty measures taken by the

government are also discussed. The

chapter ends with broadening the official

concept of poverty into human poverty.

Introduction

In our daily life, we come across many

people who we think are poor. They could

be landless labourers in villages or people

living in overcrowded jhuggis in cities. They

could be daily wage workers at

construction sites or child workers in

Chapter Poverty as a Challenge

dhabas. They could also be beggars with

children in tatters. We see poverty all

around us. In fact, every fourth person in

India is poor. This means, roughly 300

million (or 30 crore) people in India live

in poverty. This also means that India has

the largest single concentration of the poor

in the world. This illustrates the

seriousness of the challenge.

Two Typical Cases of Poverty

Urban Case

Thirty-three year old Ram Saran works

as a daily-wage labourer in a wheat

flour mill near Ranchi in Jharkhand.

He manages to earn around Rs 1,500

a month when he finds employment,

which is not often. The money is not

enough to sustain his family of six—

that includes his wife and four children

aged between 12 years to six months.

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