CBSE Class 11 Economics Poverty Set 01

Meaning of poverty
Poverty refers to a state in which an individual in unable to fulfill the even the basic necessaries of life.
The minimum requirements include food, clothing, housing, education and health facilities.

CHAPTER -4: POVERTY

Very Short Answer Questions - 1 Mark Each

1. What does Antyodaya mean? [1 Mark]

Answer:
Antyodaya means upliftment of the poorest of the poor.

Teacher's Note:
a) It refers to welfare programs targeted at the most vulnerable sections of society.
b) The Antyodaya Anna Yojana is a prominent Indian scheme based on this concept.

2. Define poverty [1 Mark]

Answer:
Poverty is a socio-economic condition in which people are unable to fulfill the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, and shelter.

Teacher's Note:
a) It represents deprivation of basic human needs.
b) Make sure to include both food and shelter in your definition.

3. Name important measures of poverty index [1 Mark]

Answer:
Important measures include the Head Count Ratio and the Poverty Gap Index.

Teacher's Note:
a) Head Count Ratio is the most commonly used index.
b) Multi-dimensional Poverty Index is also widely used today.

4. How in Head Count Ratio calculated? [1 Mark]

Answer:
It is calculated by dividing the number of people living below the poverty line by the total population.

Teacher's Note:
a) The result is expressed as a percentage.
b) It measures the incidence of poverty.

5. Define poverty line [1 Mark]

Answer:
The poverty line is a cut-off point in terms of per capita expenditure or income that divides a population as poor and non-poor.

Teacher's Note:
a) It varies across rural and urban areas due to differences in consumption needs and prices.
b) It is periodically revised to account for inflation.

6. What are the various dimensions of poverty? [1 Mark]

Answer:
The various dimensions include lack of access to clean water, sanitation, health care, education, and secure employment.

Teacher's Note:
a) Modern economics views poverty as multidimensional rather than just lack of income.
b) Social exclusion is also a key dimension.

Short Answer Questions - 3 Marks Each

1. State the basic features of a poor household. [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. They face chronic hunger, starvation, and malnutrition.
2. They lack basic amenities like safe drinking water, electricity, and sanitation facilities.
3. They experience high vulnerability through unstable employment and low wages.

Teacher's Note:
a) Focus on multiple deprivations.
b) Avoid writing only about low income.
c) Mention health vulnerabilities for higher credit.

2. What are the major occupations of poor household in rural and urban sector? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. In rural areas, poor households primarily work as landless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers, or non-agricultural casual labourers.
2. In urban areas, they are typically engaged in informal sector jobs such as street vendors, construction workers, ragpickers, and domestic help.
3. Most of these occupations are characterized by low wages and job insecurity.

Teacher's Note:
a) Distinguish clearly between rural and urban sectors.
b) Emphasize dependence on the informal sector.
c) Mention lack of formal employment benefits.

3. Explain how Dadabhai Naoroji measured poverty line [1 Mark]

Answer:
1. Dadabhai Naoroji used the jail cost of living to estimate the poverty line in his book 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'.
2. He used a-men-of-certain-age diet of the jail and scaled it to adult population requirements.
3. He factored in the prevailing market prices for items like rice, flour, dal, and meat to arrive at the monetary value of the subsistence diet.

Teacher's Note:
a) This was the earliest pioneering attempt to estimate poverty in India.
b) He considered only adult male prisoners.
c) Note that the question paper lists this under 3 marks despite the section heading.

4. How is the poor categorised in India? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. The poor are generally categorised into chronically poor, transient poor, and the non-poor.
2. Chronically poor include the permanently poor and those who are usually poor.
3. Transient poor include churning poor (who move in and out of poverty) and occasional poor, alongside the never poor.

Teacher's Note:
a) Use standard classifications given in the textbook.
b) Differentiate between chronic and transient categories clearly.
c) This classification helps in targeting anti-poverty policies effectively.

5. How is poverty line estimated in India? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Poverty line in India is estimated based on the consumption expenditure approach.
2. A minimum calorie intake of 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas is initially anchored.
3. Based on this, the monetary value of food expenditure is calculated and adjusted for price levels through periodic sample surveys conducted by NSSO.

Teacher's Note:
a) Mention the calorie norms.
b) State that rural norms are higher due to greater physical labor.
c) Mention NSSO surveys.

6. What are the major problems involved in the mechanism of fixing poverty line? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. It groups all poor together and fails to distinguish between different degrees of poverty.
2. The mechanism relies heavily on calorie intake and ignores other essential non-food dimensions like health and education.
3. Determining appropriate price indices to adjust for inflation across states and over time remains methodologically challenging.

Teacher's Note:
a) Focus on limitations of the current expenditure-based method.
b) Highlight omission of non-food items in basic calorie approach.
c) Mention regional price variations.

7. What are the major causes that contribute to poverty? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Low level of economic development and sluggish growth rate during British and early post-independence periods.
2. High population growth leading to low per capita income and pressure on resources.
3. Unequal distribution of land and other economic assets in rural and urban areas.

Teacher's Note:
a) Keep points broad and structural.
b) Unemployment and underemployment are major sub-causes.
c) Social factors like caste discrimination also play a role.

8. In what way the British rule contributed to Indian poverty? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Systematic de-industrialization destroyed traditional handicrafts and forced artisans into agriculture.
2. Introduction of land revenue systems like Zamindari exploited peasants and led to extreme rural indebtedness.
3. Commercialization of agriculture forced farmers to grow cash crops instead of food crops, triggering frequent famines.

Teacher's Note:
a) Mention de-industrialization.
b) Highlight drain of wealth.
c) Connect agricultural stagnation to colonial policies.

Long Answer Questions - 6 Marks Each

1. Name three important programmes taken to improve food and nutritional status of the poor. [6 Marks]

Answer:
1. Public Distribution System (PDS) provides essential commodities like rice, wheat, and sugar at subsidized rates to poor families through fair price shops.
2. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) targets children below six years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers with supplementary nutrition and immunization.
3. Mid-Day Meal Scheme provides cooked lunches to school children to enhance enrollment, retention, and nutritional levels in primary education.
4. Each of these programs plays a complementary role in fighting chronic malnutrition and hunger across vulnerable demographics.

Teacher's Note:
a) Name and explain three major central government schemes.
b) Mention target groups for each scheme.
c) Highlight nutritional impact.
d) Discuss implementation channels.

2. Briefly explain the important policies taken by the government to alleviate the problem of poverty in India. [6 Marks]

Answer:
1. Growth-oriented approach based on the belief that economic growth will trickle down to all sections of society, creating more employment and income.
2. Employment generation programs such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to provide guaranteed wage employment.
3. Asset creation and self-employment programs like DAY-NRLM to help rural poor form self-help groups and access micro-credit.
4. Provision of basic minimum needs through social sector schemes in health, education, housing, and sanitation to improve human capital.

Teacher's Note:
a) Categorize government policies into growth-oriented, employment, and basic needs approaches.
b) Mention specific schemes like MGNREGA.
c) Explain the role of self-help groups.
d) Emphasize human capital development.

3. Give a critical evaluation of poverty alleviation program of Government of India. [6 Marks]

Answer:
1. While poverty alleviation programs have prevented starvation deaths and provided temporary relief, their overall success has been limited due to uneven implementation.
2. Major issues include widespread corruption, leakage of funds, and bureaucratic inefficiencies preventing benefits from reaching the actual poor.
3. Lack of proper identification of beneficiaries leads to exclusion errors where deserving households are left out.
4. Programs often focus excessively on asset distribution without ensuring forward linkages like training, power supply, and marketing support, reducing long-term effectiveness.

Teacher's Note:
a) Present a balanced view highlighting both achievements and failures.
b) Mention leakage and corruption.
c) Discuss identification problems.
d) Suggest need for better monitoring and community participation.

NCERT text book questions - 3 Marks each

1. What is meant by ‘Food for Work’ programme? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Food for Work programs provide food grains in exchange for manual labor on public works projects.
2. They aim to enhance food security and create durable community assets like roads, ponds, and soil conservation structures in rural areas.
3. These programs act as a safety net during lean agricultural seasons or drought periods.

Teacher's Note:
a) Explain the dual objective of employment generation and asset creation.
b) Mention role during famines or lean seasons.
c) Connect to MGNREGA which evolved from such programs.

2. How can creation of income earning assets address the problem of poverty? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Creation of income-earning assets provides poor households with sustainable, independent sources of livelihood rather than temporary wage work.
2. Assets like agricultural land, livestock, or micro-enterprise equipment generate continuous income, lifting households above the poverty line permanently.
3. It breaks the intergenerational cycle of poverty by enabling families to invest in better education and health for their children.

Teacher's Note:
a) Emphasize long-term sustainability over temporary relief.
b) Mention examples like livestock or micro-enterprises.
c) Connect asset ownership to breaking intergenerational poverty.

3. What programmes has the government adopted to help the elderly people and poor and destitute women? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme provides financial assistance to senior citizens living below the poverty line.
2. National Family Benefit Scheme provides lump sum financial support to households upon the death of the primary breadwinner.
3. Schemes like Mission Shakti and DAY-NRLM offer financial inclusion, skill training, and social security support specifically for women.

Teacher's Note:
a) Mention social security pensions.
b) Highlight support for destitute women.
c) Mention central sector assistance schemes.

4. Is there any relationship between unemployment and poverty? Explain. [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Yes, there is a direct and strong relationship between unemployment and poverty.
2. Lack of employment or underemployment deprives individuals of regular income, making it impossible to afford basic necessities.
3. Chronic unemployment forces people into low-productivity informal jobs, trapping them in poverty across generations.

Teacher's Note:
a) Establish the direct link between lack of income and poverty.
b) Mention underemployment as a major factor alongside outright unemployment.
c) Connect low wages in casual work to poverty persistence.

5. What is the difference between relative and absolute poverty? [3 Marks]

Answer:
1. Absolute poverty refers to a condition where people lack basic minimum requirements of food, clothing, and shelter, measured using a poverty line.
2. Relative poverty compares income levels of different segments of the population, reflecting inequality in the distribution of income.
3. Absolute poverty can be eradicated through economic growth and welfare schemes, whereas relative poverty exists in all societies as long as income inequality persists.

Teacher's Note:
a) Contrast absolute definitions with relative definitions.
b) Mention that absolute poverty measures deprivation while relative poverty measures inequality.
c) Give examples of how each is used in economic analysis.

Conclusion: - During 1973-2012, there has been a decline in the number of poor and their proportion but the nature of decline in the two parameters is not encouraging. The ratio is declining much slower than the absolute number of poor in the country.

Concept of poverty line
Poverty line is a cut-off point on the line of distribution, which usually decides the population of the country as poor and non-poor
▪ The concept of poverty line is used to measure the extent of poverty in a country.
– People having income below the poverty line are called “Poor”
– People with income above poverty line are called “Non-Poor”
▪ Poverty line tries to capture the socially acceptable minimum living standards, which the society tries to fulfill.

Categorizing Poverty
There are many ways to categories poverty (s
1. Chronic poor: In includes people who are always poor and those who are usually poor.
2. Transient Poor: Transient poor may be classified as churning poor (who regularly move in and out of poverty, like small farmers) and occasionally poor (who are rich most of the time and poor sometimes).
3. Non-Poor: They are never poor.

Government approach to remove poverty
• The Indian Constitution and five year plan have always stated ‘Social Justice’ as the primary objective of the development strategies of the government.
• Laid emphasis on the Upliftment of the poorest of the poor, mixing the poor into the mainstream and achieving a minimum standard of living for all

               Que briefly explain the three dimensional program on poverty adopted by the government.
 

The main criticisms of the poverty alleviation programmes

1. Faulty Implementation
• Because of corruption the benefits of many poverty alleviation programmes went to the non-poor
• Participation of local level institutions like Panchayati Raj institutions and of the poor people was also missing

2. Unequal Distribution of assets
• None of the poverty alleviation programmes find the root cause of poverty which is the unequal distribution of assets.
• Although land reform measures did allocate some land to the rural landless but there was no political will to implement land reforms and they proved to be a miserable failure.

3. Lack of Resources
• As compared to the extent of poverty, the amount of funds allocated for these programmes is not sufficient.
• There was lack of infrastructural facilities, such as schools, roads, power, telecom, IT services, training, etc

4. Lack of Active participation of Poor people:
• High growth rate alone is insufficient to reduce poverty.
• In fact, there is a need for active participation of the poor for effective implementation of poverty alleviation programmes.

Question. The people who never move above the poverty line are known as:
A. Churning poor
B. Occasionally poor
C. Chronic poor
D. Non-poor
Answer. C

Question. Poverty continues to persist in India, because of
A. Rising prices
B. Rising population
C. Lack of opportunities of employment
D. All of these
Answer. D

Question. Who was the person in India who discuss the concept of poverty line?
A. William Digby
B. Findlay Shirras
C. Dadabhai Naoroji
D. R.C. Desai
Answer. C

Question. Who introduced the concept of 'Jail Cost of Living' ?
A. William Digby
B. Findlay Shirras
C. Dadabhai Naoroji
D. Dr. VKRV Rao
Answer. C

Question. MPCE stands for
A. Minimum Per Capita Expenditure
B, Monthaly Per Capita Expenditure
C. Maximum Per Capita Expenditure
D. None of the above
Answer. B

Question. Which of the following factors make casual labourers the most vulnerable section in society.
A. They have no job security
B. They are not skilled
C. They don't generate enough surplus to sustain themselves
D. All of the above
Answer. D

Question. Amartya Sen, noted Nobel Laureate, has developed an index to estimate poverty which is known ------------ index.
Answer. Sen Index

Question.  ------------ programme intend to improve the food and nutritional staus of the poor.
A. Midday Meal Scheme
B. Public Distribution System
C. Integrated Child Development Scheme
D. All of these
Answer. A

Question. Math the following
A. Chronic poor          1. Compare the income of different people for identify poverty
B. Churning poor        2. People who are always poor
C. Absolute poverty    3. People who are regularly in and out of poverty
D. Relative poverty     4. Compare the income with minimum consumption requirements
Answer. A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1

Question. When was 'Expert Group' was constituted by planning commission?
A. 2002
B. 1989
C. 2005
D. B and C both
Answer. D