POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN INDIA

Overview

• Poverty is widespread in India.
  
• India has about 33% of the world’s poor
  
• 42% of India’s population falls below the poverty line (BPL) of $1.25 per day, having reduced from 60% in 1980
  
• Over the past decades the Government has initiated multiple poverty alleviation programmes that have helped substantially reduce poverty, prevent famines and increase literacy in the country
  
  
  

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)

• Launched 2006
• The NREGA aims at two objectives: employment and rural development
• Provides a legal guarantee for employment of 100 days every year to adult members of rural households, who are willing to do unskilled manual labour for public works
• Provides statutory minimum wage of Rs 60 per day
  
• Applies to all rural households, whether or not they are BPL
• The NREGA stipulates that works must be targeted towards a specific set of rural development activates like water conservation, afforestation, flood control, etc

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)

• Launched in 1978
• Aims to provide self employment in various activities in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. Supported activities include sericulture, animal husbandry, weaving, handicrafts, services, businesses etc
• Merged with the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana in 1999

Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana

• Introduced 1993
• Aims to provide self employment for educated unemployed youth by setting up microenterprises
  
• Under the scheme, every selected educated unemployed youth 18-35 years old and having family income below Rs 24,000 is given loan up to Rs 1 lakh for opening his own enterprises

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarjgar Yojana (SGSY)

• Launched 1991
• The SGSY is a self employment programme that focuses on poverty alleviation
  
• Promotes self help groups, development of micro enterprises by providing bank credit and government subsidy
• Includes 50% benefit to SC/ST, 40% for women and 3% for disabled

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

• Launched 2001
• Provides wage employment in rural areas, thereby ensuring food security, creation of durable community, social and economic infrastructure
  
• Implementation through Panchayati Raj system

Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

• Launched 1997
• Aims to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed poor through encouraging the setting up self employment ventures or provision of wage employment
  
• Contains two special schemes
  • The Urban Self Employment Programme
  • Urban Wage Employment Programme
• SJSRY is a merged programme consisting of erstwhile schemes like Urban Basic Services, Nehru Rozgar Yojana, and PM’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme
• Provides reservations for women (30%), disabled (3%) and SC/ST on the strength of local population 

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

• Launched 1996
• The IAY is a scheme that provides for construction of houses and money to be given to poor

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