Poverty - A state of mind
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
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According to the United Nations,
poverty is fundamentally a denial of choice and opportunities, a violation of
human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in
society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a
school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a
job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity,
powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It
means susceptibility to violence and it often implies living in marginal or
fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.
The Planning Commission’s claims
that poverty incidence has declined from 37.2% of the population in 2004-05 to
21.9% in 2011-12 do not seem to be an outcome of a routine evaluation of the
extent of poverty but an outcome of political influence. That there has been an
unprecedented decline of 2.2 percentage points in the poverty rate is a cruel
joke on India’s poor. Even after fixing the poverty lines at appallingly low
levels of Rs. 1,000 per month (Rs. 33.3 per day) in urban areas and Rs. 816 per
month (Rs. 27.2 per day) in rural areas, a considerable proportion of India’s
population has failed to achieve this mark, contrary to what the government
claims.
To add salt in the wounds of the
aggrieved, several obnoxious remarks have been echoing from various echelons of
the Indian polity. From purchasing a healthy diet for a meagre Rs. 12 in Mumbai
to affording a meal for an even scantier Rs. 5 in Delhi, Indian political class
has not only embarrassed the poor but also exposed its regressive mind-set.
What is even more unfortunate is the fact that a psychological dimension has
been added to the menace of poverty and the stigma attached to it has been
reduced to merely a state of mind. Therefore, it requires courage and not
resources, spirits and not opportunities to wriggle out of the vicious circle
of poverty!
What good would an optimistic
state of mind do to a poor landless peasant who works on daily wages and is
still unable to make his both ends meet? What succour would a positive state of
mind give to poor helpless children who long to go to school for education but
end up working in industries to earn a living? What fortune would befall an
ailing poor who succumb to his illness due to inability to meet his medical
expenditure?
Poverty is not merely a state of
mind. It is a chronic deprivation of material needs faced by the poor. A
significant portion of India’s GDP is allocated for poverty alleviation
programmes (PAPs), several populist schemes like direct cash transfer, farm
loan waiver have been introduced, but the poverty graph has been spiralling! It
seems we have failed to take cognizance of the problems faced by the poor at the
grassroots level. We have failed to ensure that the benefits of government
schemes reach the targeted beneficiaries. We have failed to bridge the divide
between the haves and the have-nots. We have failed to ensure equitable
distribution if national income. Instead of empowering and strengthening the
lower strata of the society, we have provided them reservations in nearly all
fields of life along caste lines. Instead of organising them and making them
self-reliant, we have made them dependent on the resources that remain after
being sieved. Instead of inculcating a spirit of entrepreneurship and
competition among the poor, we have turned them into vote banks and supressed
them with largesse whenever they revolted.
The need of the hour is to bring
about a change in the outlook of the haves so that they embrace the have-nots
with dignity. Calling poverty a state of mind is tantamount to blaming the
victim for his misery. We need to revamp our policies and plug the leaks in the
system in order to push the poor into ascending the social ladder. The link
between the poor and the government needs to be strengthened to check the
exploitation of the former at the hands of the demon of poverty. We need to implement
schemes like direct cash transfer more effectively. Unless a spirit of
competition is developed among the poor, they will continue to remain trapped
in their morbid lives. This requires providing them equal opportunities in all
the spheres of life through intense social mobilisation.
Let us shun all inhibitions and
make a contribution at our end to rid India of its abject poverty.
Categories:
common man,
corruption,
development,
emotions,
freedom,
illiteracy,
India,
money,
opportunities,
poverty,
progress,
struggle
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