CBSE Class 11 Economics Poverty (2)

Question. A situation that shows inability to fulfilling the meagre necessities like – house, food, clothing, health facilities and health etc. is called as___________. ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Poverty

Question. ‘The urban poor are largely the overflow of the rural poor‘. The above statement indicates the problem of ____________. ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Migration.

Question. Those who regularly move in and out of poverty like small farmers are known as,
a) Chronic poor
b) Churning poor
c) Occasionally poor
d) Always poor
Answer: Churning poor

Question. Who is known as Chronic poor?
Answer: People who are usually poor and always poor are primarily known as Chronic poor.

Question. In pre-independent India, ___________was the first to discuss the concept of a Poverty Line. (Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Dadabhai Naoroji

Question. Identify the correct sequence of alternatives given in Column II by matching them with respective terms in Column I
COLUMN I                                                                COLUMN II
A. Study Group formed by Planning Commission          i) 2005
for Poverty      
B. ‗Task Force on Projections of the Minimum             ii) 1962
Needs and Effective Consumption Demand‘  
C. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment          iii) 2014
Guarantee Act    
D. Jan DhanYojana                                                       iv)1979
Choose the correct alternative:
a) ii , iii , iv , i
b) iii , ii , i, iv
c) i , ii , iii , iv
d) ii , iv , i, iii
Answer: D

Question. Who are transient poor?
Answer: The people who move in and out of poverty line and those who some times come in the situation of poverty are transient poor. In other words they are Churning poor and Occasionally poor.

Question. In 2011-12, the poverty line was defined for rural areas as consumption worth ________per person a month and for urban areas it was __________. ( Fill in the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Rs 816, Rs 1,000.

Question. Due to various limitations in the official estimation of poverty, scholars have attempted to find alternative methods. Which of the following tool is not used for measuring poverty?
a) Sen Index
b) Poverty Gap Index
c) Antyodaya Gap index
d) Squared Poverty gap
Answer: C

Question. Amartya Sen, noted Nobel Laureate, has developed an index known as_______. ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Sen Index

Question. Whether the following statement is true or false? When the number of poor is estimated as the proportion of people below the poverty line, it is known as Head Count Ratio‘.
Answer: True

Question. Who estimates poverty related data in the country?
Answer: National Sample Survey Organisation ( NSSO)

Question. Which of the following is not among the government‘s approach to reduce poverty in India?
a) Growth approach
b) Poverty alleviation programmes
c) Awareness campaign
d) Provide minimum basic amenities
Answer: C

Question. ___________________ Yojna has now been restructured as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

Question. Whether the following statement is true or false? ―Under Jan Dhan Yojna each bank account holder is also entitled to Rs. 1 lakh accident insurance and Rs. 30,000 life insurance cover‖.
Answer: True

Question. Why was Ramdas Korwa of Rachketha village not overjoyed by constructing road worth Rs l7.44 lakh?
a) There was already a pacca road
b) He required water in his well and some land development
c) He required a house and a swimming pool
d) He was from a rich family
Answer: B

Question. By which year the government was aiming to meet the Millennium Development Goals including the rate of global poverty?
a) 2017
b) 2013
c) 2015
d) 2009
Answer: C

Question. When we compare people on the basis of different regions, time period or people, the concept is called as _____________poverty. ( Absolute /Relative) (Fill up the blank with correct option)
Answer: Relative poverty

Question. ______________ is a programme under which elderly people who do not have anyone to take care of them are given pension to sustain themselves. ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: National Social Assistance Programme

Question. ________ is a cut-off point on the line of distribution which divides the population into the poor and non-poor.
a) Poverty cut-off
b) Poverty
c) Poverty line
d) Poverty distribution
Answer: Poverty line

Question. The planning commission has defined the poverty line on the basis of the recommended nutritional necessity of ______ calories per person per day for urban areas.
a) 3000
b) 2500
c) 3100
d) 2100
Answer: 2100

Question. Which of the following states has less poverty?
a) Bihar
b) Odisha
c) Uttar Pradesh
d) Kerala
Answer: Kerala

Question. ________________is the sum of individual poverty. ( Fill up the blank with correct answer)
Answer: Aggregate poverty

Question. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana was launched in the year,
a) 2001
b) 1999
c) 2005
d) 2011
Answer: 2001

Question. Identify the correct sequence of alternatives given in column II by matching them with respective terms in column I
Column I                            Column II
a) Jail cost of living       i) Chronic Poor
b) Poverty line              ii) Dadabhai Naoroji
c ) churning poor          iii) Transient poor
d) Usually poor             iv) Planning Commission
Choose the correct option:
a) i, iii, ii, iv
b) ii, iv, iii, i
c) ii, iv, i, iii
d) iv, ii, iii, iv
Answer: B

Question. Why calorie -based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?
Answer: i) Ignores other aspects except food: Calorie-based norm for identifying poor focuses on a single aspect, i.e. consumption of food. While it can be an ideal tool to identify all the poor as a group, it cannot reveal other aspects of poverty.
ii) Difficult to calculate: It is not very easy to estimate the calorie intake of the people. Exact calculation of calorie in the food items is not possible.
iii) Problem of identifying poor: It cannot help in identifying those poor who really need assistance. The people who are calorie conscious, they take less calorie, it doesn‘t mean that they are poor.

Question. What is meant by ‗Food for Work‘ programme?
Answer: Food for work programme was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country. The objective of the programme was to provide additional resources available under Sampoorna Grameen RojgarYojna. This was 100% centrally funded programme. Now this programme has been subsumed in the MGNREGA from Feb....... 2, 2006. ‗Food for Work‘ programme involves those programmes which provide predefined minimum wages to the poor in lieu of some work. MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is an example of ‗Food for Work‘ programme.

Question. Why are employment generation programmes important in poverty alleviation in India?
Answer: Employment generation programmes assist the poor people in becoming self-employed. It is assumed that once a person becomes employed, he can develop a regular source of income and may not need assistance in the long run. While financial help can have short term benefits, employment generation programmes can have long term benefits for poverty alleviation.

Question. How can creation of income earning assets address the problem of poverty?
Answer: Once a person is able to create income earning assets, he would get a regular source of income. A regular source of income; no matter how small; can help a person in at least fulfilling the basic needs. Thus, creation of income earning assets addresses the problem of poverty to some extent. Like; Cow or buffalo are helpful in earning money.

Question. The three dimensional attack on poverty adopted by the government has not succeeded in poverty alleviation in India. Comment.
Answer: All the poverty alleviation programmes have definitely succeeded in addressing the issue. This is verified by the low level of poor people in villages as compared to the national average. But there are many factors which hamper in all out success of such programmes.
i) Corruption: Corruption among the government and bank officials are main reasons for the relatively less success of these programmes. The money granted does not reach the desired section of population. Corrupt officials use their authority in providing benefits to their relatives, it hinders the success of programmes.
ii) Improper use of resources: Growth rate of the country is not as per expectation. Potential production capacity is not used up to the maximum. Resource allocation is unable to cope with the scale of poverty in India.
iii) Lack of political willingness: Experts believe that low motivation, lack of training and non- involvement of local institutions is another major factor. Last but not the least, the

Question. What programmes has the government adopted to help the elderly people and poor and destitute women?
Answer: Government has initiated National Social Assistance Programme to help special groups of poor. Under this programme, elderly people who do not have anybody to take care are given financial assistance in the form of monthly pension. Destitute women and widows are also given similar assistance.

Question. Is there any relationship between unemployment and poverty? Explain.
Answer: Unemployment is a major reason of poverty. If a person is unemployed or suffers from seasonal of hidden unemployment, he may not earn enough meet even the basic needs. An unemployed person often falls in the vicious cycle of penury and debt trap and may not be able to come out of it.

Question. Suppose you are from a poor family and you wish to get help from the government to set up a petty shop. Under which scheme will you apply for assistance and why?
Answer: I will apply under the PMRY (Pradhan Mantri RojgarYojna) because this programme provides bank loans for starting a business.

Question. Illustrate the difference between rural and urban poverty. Is it correct to say that poverty has shifted from rural to urban areas? Use the trends in poverty ratio to support your answer.
Answer: There are differences between rural and urban poverty. If we consider the calorie-based criteria then calorie requirement for rural person has been kept at a higher level than that for urban person.
- In 1973-74, more than 80% of poor in India lived in villages. This means that more than three-fourth
of the poor in India still reside in villages.
- At present, percentage of poor in rural areas is less than that in urban areas. However in the 1990s,
the absolute number of poor in rural areas had declined whereas the number of their urban counterparts increased marginally. The poverty ratio declined continuously for both urban and rural areas.
- The ratio is declining much slower than the absolute number of poor in the country. You will also notice that the gap between the absolute number of poor in rural and urban areas got reduced whereas in the case of ratio the gap has remained the same until 1999-2000 and has widened in 2011-12
- Large scale migration from villages to cities; in search of alternate employment is cited as the main reason for this trend. Hence, this can said that poverty has shifted from rural to urban areas.

Question. Suppose you are a resident of a village, suggest a few measures to tackle the problem of poverty.
Answer: The best way to tackle the problem of poverty in a village is to generate employment avenues. People should be trained in vocational skills so that they can start some manufacturing units. For this, the banks should provide financial assistance. Those engaged in manufacturing should also be taught the importance of quality. These steps can help in reducing poverty in rural areas.

Question. Explain the causes of poverty.
Answer: Poverty is explained as an inability to fulfilling the meagre necessities like – house, food, clothing, health facilities and health etc., Extreme poverty refers to the complete lack of the means of needs to be met, basic food, shelter and clothing. However, there are many causes of poverty like –
- Increasing population
- Lack of economic growth
- Inequality
- Lack of education & awareness
- Shortage of capital
- Ineffective implementation of poverty alleviation programme
- Lack of skills and entrepreneurial development

Question. Explain Self-employment.
Answer: Being self-employed is a circumstance in which an individual works for himself instead of working for or under an employer that pays as a wage or a salary. The chief cause of underemployment and unemployment prevailing in the developing nations namely, India. There are several types of selfemployment business like – the partnership, limited ability, companies, sole proprietorship etc.,

POVERTY Very Short Answer Questions – 1 Mark Each

1. Why do we need to invest in human capital?

2. What are the indicators of educational achievements in a country?

3. How is ‘On the job training’ a source of Human capital formation?

4. What do the differences in male and female literacy rates indicate?

Short Answer Questions – 3 Marks Each

1. Literacy rates in India have increased but so has the absolute number of illiterates. Why?

2. Is expenditure on migration a source of human capital formation? Give reasons to support your answers.

3. Distinguish between ‘Human Capital’ and ‘Human Development’.

4. Explain the role of Education in the Economic development of a nation.

Long Answer Questions – 6 Marks Each

1. How is government expenditure on education expressed? Which in your opinion is a better measure?

2. How does investment in human capital contribute to growth?

3. Identify how Human Development Index is calculated.

4. Is India going to be a knowledge based economy in the near future? Discuss

NCERT text book questions – 3 Marks each

1. Why do we observe regional differences in educational attainment in India?

2. Mention two government organisations each that regulate the health and education sectors.

3. ‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise in the average education levels’. Comment.

4. Argue in favour of the need for different forms of government intervention in education and health sectors.

5. In your view, is it essential for the government to regulate the fee structure in education and health care institutions? If so, why?

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