NCERT-Class-9-Economics

CONTENTS ✐✐✐ FOREWORD 1 CHATPER 1 16 The Story of Village Palampur 29 42 CHAPTER 2 People as Resource CHAPTER 3 Poverty as a Challenge CHAPTER 4 Food Security in India

1 The Story of Village Palampur Chapter Overview Picture 1.1 ❙✝✞✟✞ ✠✡ ☛ ☞✌✍✍☛✎✞ The purpose of the story is to introduce electric connections. Electricity powers some basic concepts relating to production all the tubewells in the fields and is used and this we do through a story of a in various types of small business. hypothetical village called Palampur. Palampur has two primary schools and one high school. There is a primary health Farming is the main activity in centre run by the government and one Palampur, whereas several other private dispensary where the sick are activities such as small scale treated. manufacturing, dairy, transport, etc. are carried out on a limited scale. These • The description above shows that production activities need various types Palampur has fairly well-developed of resources — natural resources, man- system of roads, transport, electricity, made items, human effort, money, etc. As irrigation, schools and health centre. we read through the story of Palampur, Compare these facilities with those in we will learn how various resources your nearby village. combine to produce the desired goods and services in the village. The story of Palampur, an imaginary village, will take us through the different Palampur is well-connected with types of production activities in the neighbouring villages and towns. Raiganj, village. In villages across India, farming a big village, is 3 kms from Palampur. An is the main production activity. The other all weather road connects the village to production activities, referred to as non- Raiganj and further on to the nearest farm activities include small small town of Shahpur. Many kinds of manufacturing, transport, shop-keeping, transport are visible on this road starting etc. We shall take a look at both these from bullock carts, t ✁✂✄☎, bogeys (wooden types of activities, after learning a few cart drawn by buffalos) loaded with jaggery general things about production. (✂❣✆) and other commodities to motor vehicles like motorcycles, jeeps, tractors and trucks. This village has about 450 families belonging to several different castes. The 80 upper caste families own the majority of land in the village. Their houses, some of them quite large, are made of brick with cement plastering. The SCs (dalits) comprise one third of the population and live in one corner of the village and in much smaller houses some of which are of mud and straw. Most of the houses have The Story of Village Palampur 1

Organisation of Production capital. We shall learn more about human capital in the next chapter. The aim of production is to produce the • In the picture, identify the land, labour goods and services that we want. There are four requirements for production of and fixed capital used in production. goods and services. Picture 1.2 ❆ ✔✕✖✗✘✙✚✛ ✜✢✗✣ ✤✥✦✥✙✕✧ ✧✕★✘✩✙✥✙✤ The first requirement is land, and ✕❛✪ ✣✥✕✦✚ ✫✕✖✣✢❛✥✤ other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals. Every production is organised by combining land, labour, physical capital The second requirement is labour, i.e. and human capital, which are known as people who will do the work. Some factors of production. As we read through production activities require highly the story of Palampur, we will learn more educated workers to perform the about the first three factors of production. necessary tasks. Other activities require For convenience, we will refer to the workers who can do manual work. Each physical capital as the capital in this worker is providing the labour necessary chapter. for production. Farming in Palampur The third requirement is physical 1. Land is fixed capital, i.e. the variety of inputs required at every stage during production. What Farming is the main production activity are the items that come under physical in Palampur. 75 per cent of the people capital? who are working are dependent on farming for their livelihood. They could (a) ❚  ✁✂✄ ☎✆✝✞✟✠✡✂✄ ☛☞✟✁✌✟✠✍✂✎ Tools and be farmers or farm labourers. The well- machines range from very simple tools being of these people is closely related to such as a farmer’s plough to production on the farms. sophisticated machines such as generators, turbines, computers, etc. But remember that there is a basic Tools, machines, buildings can be used constraint in raising farm production. in production over many years, and Land area under cultivation is practically are called fixed capital. fixed. Since 1960 in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under (b) ❘✆✏ ☎✆✑✡✒✟✆✁✂ ✆✠✌ ☎ ✠✡✓ ✟✠ ✞✆✠✌✎ Production requires a variety of raw materials such as the yarn used by the weaver and the clay used by the potter. Also, some money is always required during production to make payments and buy other necessary items. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital. Unlike tools, machines and buildings, these are used up in production. There is a fourth requirement too. You will need knowledge and enterprise to be able to put together land, labour and physical capital and produce an output either to use yourself or to sell in the market. This these days is called human 2 Economics

cultivation. By then, some of the larger areas of land more effectively. The wastelands in the village had been first few tubewells were installed by the converted to cultivable land. There exists gover nment. Soon, however, far mers no further scope to increase farm started setting up private tubewells. As a production by bringing new land under result, by mid-1970s the entire cultivated cultivation. area of 200 hectares (ha.) was irrigated. The standard unit of measuring land Not all villages in India have such is hectare, though in the villages you high levels of irrigation. Apart from may find land area being discussed the riverine plains, coastal regions in in local units such as ❜ ✁✂✄☎ ✁✆ ✝✞✂✄ our country are well-irrigated. In etc. One hectare equals the area of a contrast, plateau regions such as the square with one side measuring 100 Deccan plateau have low levels of metres. Can you compare the area of irrigation. Of the total cultivated area a 1 hectare field with the area of your in the country a little less than 40 school ground? per cent is irrigated even today. In the remaining areas, farming is 2. Is there a way one can grow more largely dependent on rainfall. from the same land? To grow more than one crop on a piece of In the kind of crops grown and facilities land during the year is known as multiple available, Palampur would resemble a cropping. It is the most common way of village of the western part of the state of increasing production on a given piece of Uttar Pradesh. All land is cultivated in land. All farmers in Palampur grow Palampur. No land is left idle. During the atleast two main crops; many are growing rainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowar potato as the third crop in the past fifteen and bajra. These plants are used as cattle to twenty years. feed. It is followed by cultivation of potato between October and December. In the Picture 1.3 ❉✟✠✠✡☛✡☞✌ ✍☛✎✏✑ winter season (rabi), fields are sown with wheat. From the wheat produced, farmers Let’sDiscuss keep enough wheat for the family’s consumption and sell the surplus wheat • The following Table1.1 shows the land at the market at Raiganj. A part of the under cultivation in India in units of land area is also devoted to sugarcane million hectares. Plot this on the graph which is harvested once every year. provided. What does the graph show? Sugarcane, in its raw form, or as jaggery, Discuss in class. is sold to traders in Shahpur. The main reason why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is due to the well-developed system of irrigation. Electricity came early to Palampur. Its major impact was to transform the system of irrigation. Persian wheels were, till then, used by farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields. People saw that the electric-run tubewells could irrigate much The Story of Village Palampur 3

Table 1.1: Cultivated area over the years were traditional ones with relatively low yields. Traditional seeds needed less Cultivated Area irrigation. Farmers used cow-dung and other natural manure as fertilizers. All 1950 120 these were readily available with the 1960 130 farmers who did not have to buy them. 1970 140 1980 140 The Green Revolution in the late 1960s 1990 140 introduced the Indian farmer to 2000 140 cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds. ✶✹✂ Compared to the traditional seeds, the ✶✷✂ HYV seeds promised to produce much ✶✂✂ greater amounts of grain on a single plant. As a result, the same piece of land would ✆✂ now produce far larger quantities of ✄✂ foodgrains than was possible earlier. HYV ✹✂ seeds, however, needed plenty of water ✷✂ and also chemical fertilizers and ✂ ✶ ✁✂ ✶ ✄✂ ✶ ☎✂ ✶ ✆✂ ✶  ✂ ✷✂✂✂ • Is it important to increase the area Picture 1.4 ✥✝✞✟✠✡ ☛☞✠✌✍✡✎ ✥✟✏✑✝✞✒✓ ✔✕✖ under irrigation? Why? ✒✟✟✞✒✗ ✘✑✟✌✍✘☞✙ ✚✟✠✏✍✙✍✛✟✠ ✟✏✘✜ • You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region. You have seen that one way of increasing production from the same land is by multiple cropping. The other way is to use modern farming methods for higher yield. Yield is measured as crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season. Till the mid- 1960s, the seeds used in cultivation Name of crop Month sown Month Harvested Source of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.) 4 Economics

pesticides to produce best results. Higher • Modern farming methods require the yields were possible only from a farmer to start with more cash than combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, before. Why? chemical fertilisers, pesticides etc. Suggested Activity Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to • During your field visit talk to some try out the modern farming method in farmers of your region. Find out: India. The farmers in these regions set up tubewells for irrigation, and made use 1. What kind of farming methods— of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and modern or traditional or mixed— do pesticides in farming. Some of them the farmers use? Write a note. bought farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and 2. What are the sources of irrigation? harvesting faster. They were rewarded 3. How much of the cultivated land is with high yields of wheat. irrigated? (very little/nearly half/ In Palampur, the yield of wheat grown majority/all) from the traditional varieties was 1300 kg 4. From where do farmers obtain the per hectare. With the HYV seeds, the yield inputs that they require? went up to 3200 kg per hectare. There was a large increase in the production of 3. Will the land sustain? wheat. Farmers now had greater amounts Land being a natural resource, it is of surplus wheat to sell in the markets. necessary to be very careful in its use. Scientific reports indicate that the modern Let’sDiscuss farming methods have overused the natural resource base. • What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming In many areas, Green Revolution is method? associated with the loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical • The following table shows the fertilizers. Also, continuous use of production of wheat and pulses in groundwater for tubewell irrigation has India after the Green revolution in reduced the water-table below the units of million tonnes. Plot this on a ground. Environmental resources like soil graph. Was the Green revolution fertility and groundwater are built up over equally successful for both the crops? many years. Once destroyed it is very Discuss. difficult to restore them. We must take care of the environment to ensure future • What is the working capital required development of agriculture. by the farmer using modern farming methods? Suggested Activity Table 1.2: Production of pulses and wheat • After reading the following reports from newspapers/magazines, write a letter Production Production to the Agriculture Minister in your own words telling him how the use of of Pulses of Wheat chemical fertilizers can be harmful. 1965 - 66 10 10 ....Chemical fertilizers provide 1970 - 71 12 24 minerals which dissolve in water and 1980 - 81 11 36 are immediately available to plants. 1990 - 91 14 55 But these may not be retained in the 2000 - 01 11 70 The Story of Village Palampur 5

Picture 1.5 ✥ ✁ ✂✄☎✆ ✝✞✁✁ ✟✠✡ ☛✞☞✌✆✞✍☎✌✞✎✏ ✎✑ ✒☎✁✌✞✝ ✌✠✓ ✁ ✏✓ soil for long. They may escape from Of the remaining families who own the soil and pollute groundwater, land, 240 families cultivate small plots of rivers and lakes. Chemical fertilizers land less than 2 hectares in size. can also kill bacteria and other micro- Cultivation of such plots doesn’t bring organisms in the soil. This means adequate income to the farmer family. some time after their use, the soil will be less fertile than ever In 1960, Gobind was a farmer with 2.25 hectares of largely unirrigated land. before....✭✔✕✖✗✘✙✚ Down to Earth, New With the help of his three sons Gobind cultivated the land. Though they didn’t Delhi) live very comfortably, the family managed to feed itself with a little bit of extra .....The consumption of chemical income from one buffalo that the family fertilizers in Punjab is highest in the possessed. Some years after Gobind’s country. The continuous use of chemical death, this land was divided among his fertilizers has led to degradation of soil three sons. Each one now has a plot of health. Punjab farmers are now forced land that is only 0.75 hectare in size. Even to use more and more chemical with improved irrigation and modern fertilizers and other inputs to achieve farming method, Gobind’s sons are not the same production level. This means able to make a living from their land. They cost of cultivation is rising very have to look for additional work during part of the year. fast.....✭✔✕✖✗✘✙✚ The Tribune, You can see the large number of small Chandigarh) plots scattered around the village in the picture. These are cultivated by the small 4. How is land distributed between farmers. On the other hand, more than the farmers of Palampur? half the area of the village is covered by plots that are quite large in size. In You must have realised how important Palampur, there are 60 families of medium land is for farming. Unfortunately, not all and large farmers who cultivate more the people engaged in agriculture have than 2 hectares of land. A few of the large sufficient land for cultivation. In farmers have land extending over 10 Palampur, about one third of the 450 hectares or more. families are landless, i.e. 150 families, most of them dalits, have no land for cultivation. 6 Economics

Picture 1.6 ❲✴✱♦ ✴✵ ✰t✾ ✶✮✾❁✿✯❄ ❲t✾✺✰ ❅✱✴❆❇ ❆❁✴✳♣t✮✵♣ ✲❉ ✲✳❁❁✴❅♦✯❊ ✯✴s✮✵♣❊ ✯❆✱✺❉✮✵♣ ✴✶ ✮✵✯✾❅✰✮❅✮✿✾✯❊ ❅✳❁✰✮❂✺✰✮✴✵ ✲❉ ✰✱✺✿✮✰✮✴✵✺❁ ✼✾✰t✴✿❊ ❅✳❁✰✮❂✺✰✮✴✵ ✲❉ ✼✴✿✾✱✵ ✼✾✰t✴✿❊ ✺✵✿ ❅✳✰✰✮✵♣ ✴✶ ❅✱✴❆✯❝ Let’sDiscuss Let’sDiscuss • In the Picture 1.5, can you shade the • Would you agree that the distribution land cultivated by the small farmers? of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur? Do you find a similar • Why do so many families of farmers situation for India? Explain. cultivate such small plots of land? 5. Who will provide the labour? • The distribution of farmers in India and the amount of land they cultivate is given After land, labour is the next necessary in the following Graph 1.1. Discuss in factor for production. Farming requires a the classroom. great deal of hard work. Small farmers along with their families cultivate their Graph 1.1: ✬✮✯✰✱✮✲✳✰✮✴✵ ✴✶ ✹✺✱✼✾✱✯ ✺✵✿ own fields. Thus, they provide the labour ❀✳❁✰✮❂✺✰✾✿ ❃✱✾✺ required for farming themselves. Medium and large farmers hire farm labourers to ❈✠✡☛☞✌✍☛✎✏ ✑✒✎✍ ◆ ✁✂✄☎ ✆✝ ✞✟☎✁✄☎♠ work on their fields. ✸✻✘ ✷✗✘ Let’sDiscuss ✻✙✘ ✽✗✘ • Identify the work being done on the field in the Pictures 1.6 and arrange ❙✓✍✡✡ ✔✍✒✓✎✒✕ ▼✎✏☞✠✓ ✍✖✏ them in a proper sequence. ✭✚✛✜✜ ✢✣✤✥ ✦ ✣✤✧★ ▲✍✒❣✎ ✔✍✒✓✎✒✕ ✭✩✪✫✛ ✢✣✤✥ ✦ ✣✤✧★ Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating ❋●❍■❏❑❄ Agricultural statistics at glance 2003: small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm labourers do not have a right over the Dept of agriculture and cooperation, Ministry of agriculture, Govt of India. The Story of Village Palampur 7

Picture 1.7 ❚ ✁ ✂✄☎✆✁✝✞✟✠✡✄☎ ☛✁✠☞✁✁☎ ✌✟✍✟ ✟☎✎ ✏✟✑✒✟✍✡ crops grown on the land. Instead they are labourer might be employed on a daily paid wages by the farmer for whom they basis, or for one particular farm activity work. Wages can be in cash or in kind like harvesting, or for the whole year. e.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get meals also. Wages vary widely from region to Dala is a landless farm labourer who region, from crop to crop, from one farm works on daily wages in Palampur. This activity to another (like sowing and means he must regularly look for work. harvesting). There is also a wide variation The minimum wages for a farm labourer in the duration of employment. A farm set by the government is Rs 60 per day, but Dala gets only Rs 35–40. There is 8 Economics

heavy competition for work among the agrees to give Savita the loan at an farm labourers in Palampur, so people interest rate of 24 per cent for four agree to work for lower wages. Dala months, which is a very high interest rate. complains about his situation to Ramkali, Savita also has to promise to work on his who is another farm labourer. field as a farm labourer during the harvest season at Rs 35 per day. As you can tell, Both Dala and Ramkali are among the this wage is quite low. Savita knows that poorest people in the village. she will have to work very hard to complete harvesting on her own field, and Let’sDiscuss then work as a farm labourer for Tejpal Singh. The harvest time is a very busy • Why are farm labourers like Dala and time. As a mother of three children she Ramkali poor? has a lot of household responsibilities. Savita agrees to these tough conditions • Gosaipur and Majauli are two villages as she knows getting a loan is difficult in North Bihar. Out of a total of 850 for a small farmer households in the two villages, there are more than 250 men who are 2. In contrast to the small farmers, the employed in rural Punjab and Haryana medium and large farmers have their or in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad own savings from farming. They are or Nagpur. Such migration is common thus able to arrange for the capital in most villages across India. Why do needed. How do these farmers have people migrate? Can you describe their own savings? You shall find the (based on your imagination) the work answer in the next section. that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of Thestorysofar.... destination? We have read about the three factors of 6. The capital needed in farming production—land, labour and capital— and how they are used in farming. Let us You have already seen that the modern fill in the blanks given below. farming methods require a great deal of capital, so that the farmer now needs Among the three factors of production, more money than before. we found that labour is the most abundant factor of production. There are 1. Most small farmers have to borrow many people who are willing to work as money to arrange for the capital. They farm labourers in the villages, whereas borrow from large farmers or the the opportunities of work are limited. They village moneylenders or the traders belong to either landless families or who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on . They are paid low wages, such loans is very high. They are put and lead a difficult life. to great distress to repay the loan. In contrast to labour, Savita is a small farmer. She plans to cultivate wheat on her 1 hectare of land. is a scarce factor of production. Cultivated Besides seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, she needs cash to buy water and repair land area is . Moreover, her farm instruments. She estimates that the working capital itself would cost a even the existing land is distributed minimum of Rs 3,000. She doesn’t have the money, so she decides to borrow from ✭ ✁✂✄☎☎✆✝✂✞ ✁✂✄☎☎✆✟ among Tejpal Singh, a large farmer. Tejpal Singh the people engaged in farming. There are a large number of small farmers who cultivate small plots of land and live in The Story of Village Palampur 9

conditions not much better than the Tejpal Singh, the large farmer, has a surplus of 350 quintals of wheat from all landless far m labourer. To make the his lands! He sells the surplus wheat at the Raiganj market and has good earnings. maximum use of the existing land, What does Tejpal Singh do with his farmers use and earnings? Last year, Tejpal Singh had put most of the money in his bank account. . Both these have led to Later he used the savings for lending to farmers like Savita who were in need of a increase in production of crops. loan. He also used the savings to arrange for the working capital for farming in the Modern farming methods require a next season. This year Tejpal Singh plans to use his earnings to buy another tractor. great deal of . Small Another tractor would increase his fixed capital. farmers usually need to borrow money to Like Tejpal Singh, other large and arrange for the capital, and are put to medium farmers sell the surplus farm products. A part of the earnings is saved great distress to repay the loan. Therefore, and kept for buying capital for the next season. Thus, they are able to arrange capital too is a scarce factor of production, for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some farmers might also use the particularly for the small farmers. savings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up shops. As we shall see, these constitute Though both land and capital are the capital for non-farm activities. scarce, there is a basic difference between Non-Farm Activities in Palampur the two factors of production. We have learnt about farming as the main production activity in Palampur. We shall is a natural resource, now take a look at some of the non-farm production activities. Only 25 per cent whereas is man-made. It of the people working in Palampur are engaged in activities other than is possible to increase capital, whereas agriculture. land is fixed. Therefore, it is very 1. Dairy — the other common activity important that we take good care of land Dairy is a common activity in many families and other natural resources used in of Palampur. People feed their buffalos on various kinds of grass and the ❥ ✁✂✄ and farming. ❜✂❥✄✂ that grows during the rainy season. The milk is sold in Raiganj, the nearby large 7. Sale of Surplus Farm Products village. Two traders from Shahpur town have set up collection cum chilling centres Let us suppose that the farmers have at Raiganj from where the milk is produced wheat on their lands using the transported to far away towns and cities. three factors of production. The wheat is harvested and production is complete. What do the farmers do with the wheat? They retain a part of the wheat for the family’s consumption and sell the surplus wheat. Small farmers like Savita and Gobind’s sons have little surplus wheat because their total production is small and from this a substantial share is kept for their own family needs. So it is the medium and large farmers who supply wheat to the market. In the Picture 1.1, you can see the bullock cart streaming into the market each carrying loads of wheat. The traders at the market buy the wheat and sell it further to shopkeepers in the towns and cities. 10 Economics

Optional Exercise • Let us take three farmers. Each has grown wheat on his field though the production is different (see Column 2). The consumption of wheat by each farmer family is the same (Column 3). The whole of surplus wheat this year is used as capital for next year’s production. Also suppose, production is twice the capital used in production. Complete the tables. Farmer 1 Production Consumption Surplus = Capital for the Production – next year Consumption Year 1 100 40 60 60 Year 2 120 40 Year 3 40 Farmer 2 Production Consumption Surplus Capital for the next year 40 Year 1 80 40 Year 2 40 Year 3 Farmer 3 Production Consumption Surplus Capital for the next year Year 1 60 40 Year 2 40 Year 3 40 Let’sDiscuss • Compare the production of wheat by the three farmers over the years. • What happens to Farmer 3 in Year 3? Can he continue production? What will he have to do to continue production? 2. An example of small-scale Unlike the manufacturing that takes manufacturing in Palampur place in the big factories in the towns and cities, manufacturing in Palampur At present, less than fifty people are involves very simple production methods engaged in manufacturing in Palampur. The Story of Village Palampur 11

and are done on a small scale. They are Kareem has opened a computer class carried out mostly at home or in the fields centre in the village. In recent years with the help of family labour. Rarely are a large number of students have been labourers hired. attending college in Shahpur town. Kareem found that a number of Mishrilal has purchased a students from the village are also mechanical sugarcane crushing attending computer classes in the machine run on electricity and has town. There were two women in the set it up on his field. Sugarcane village who had a degree in computer crushing was earlier done with the applications. He decided to employ help of bullocks, but people prefer to them. He bought computers and set do it by machines these days. up the classes in the front room of Mishrilal also buys sugarcane from their house overlooking the market. other farmers and processes it into High school students have started jaggery. The jaggery is then sold to attending them in good numbers. traders at Shahpur. In the process, Mishrilal makes a small profit. Let’sDiscuss Let’sDiscuss • In what ways is Kareem’s capital and labour different from Mishrilal’s? • What capital did Mishrilal need to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit? • Why didn’t someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible • Who provides the labour in this case? reasons. • Can you guess why Mishrilal is unable 4. Transport: a fast developing to increase his profit? sector • Could you think of any reasons when There are variety of vehicles on the road he might face a loss? connecting Palampur to Raiganj. • Why does Mishrilal sell his jaggery to , j e e p ,❘   ✁ ✂ ✄☎ ✆ ✝ ✆ ✞ ✞ ✆ ☎ ✄ t ✟ ✠ ✡ ✆ ✝ ✆ ✞ ✞ ✆ ☎ ✄ ☛ tractor, truck drivers and people driving traders in Shahpur and not in his the traditional bullock cart and bogey are village? people in the transport services. They ferry people and goods from one place to 3. The shopkeepers of Palampur another, and in return get paid for it. The number of people involved in transport People involved in trade (exchange of has grown over the last several years. goods) are not many in Palampur. The traders of Palampur are shopkeepers who Kishora is a farm labourer. Like other buy various goods from wholesale such labourers, Kishora found it markets in the cities and sell them in difficult to meet his family’s needs from the village. You will see small general the wages that he received. A few years stores in the village selling a wide range back Kishora took a loan from the of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, bank. This was under a government biscuits, soap, toothpaste, batteries, programme which was giving cheap candles, notebooks, pen, pencil, even loans to poor landless households. some cloth. A few of the families whose Kishora bought a buffalo with this houses are close to the bus stand have money. He now sells the buffalo’s milk. used a part of the space to open small shops. They sell eatables. 12 Economics

Further, he has attached a wooden cart Let’sDiscuss to his buffalo and uses it to transport various items. Once a week, he goes to • What is Kishora’s fixed capital? the river Ganga to bring back clay for • What do you think would be his the potter. Or sometimes he goes to Shahpur with a load of jaggery or other working capital? commodities. Every month he gets some • In how many production activities is work in transport. As a result, Kishora is able to earn more than what he used Kishora involved? to do some years back. • Would you say that Kishora has benefitted from better roads in Palampur? Summary Farming is the main production activity in the village. Over the years there have been many important changes in the way farming is practiced. These have allowed the farmers to produce more crops from the same amount of land. This is an important achievement, since land is fixed and scarce. But in raising production a great deal of pressure has been put on land and other natural resources. The new ways of farming need less land, but much more of capital. The medium and large farmers are able to use their own savings from production to arrange for capital during the next season. On the other hand, the small farmers who constitute about 80 per cent of total farmers in India, find it difficult to obtain capital. Because of the small size of their plots, their production is not enough. The lack of surplus means that they are unable to obtain capital from their own savings, and have to borrow. Besides the debt, many of the small farmers have to do additional work as farm labourers to feed themselves and their families. Labour being the most abundant factor of production, it would be ideal if new ways of farming used much more labour. Unfortunately, such a thing has not happened. The use of labour on farms is limited. The labour, looking for opportunities is thus migrating to neighbouring villages, towns and cities. Some labour has entered the non-farm sector in the village. At present, the non-farm sector in the village is not very large. Out of every 100 workers in the rural areas in India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities. Though there is a variety of non-farm activities in the villages (we have only seen a few examples), the number of people employed in each is quite small. In the future, one would like to see more non-farm production activities in the village. Unlike farming, non-farm activities require little land. People with some amount of capital can set up non-farm activities. How does one obtain this capital? One can either use his own savings, but more often has to take a loan. It is important that loan be available at low rate of interest so that even people without savings can start some non-farm activity. Another thing which is essential for expansion of non-farm activities is to have markets where the goods and services produced can be sold. In Palampur, we saw the neighbouring villages, towns and cities provide the markets for milk, jaggery, wheat, etc. As more villages get connected to towns and cities through good roads, transport and telephone, it is possible that the opportunities for non-farm activities production in the village would increase in the coming years. The Story of Village Palampur 13

Exercises 1. Every village in India is surveyed once is ten years during the Census and some of details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following based on information on Palampur. a. LOCATION: b. TOTAL AREA OF THE VILLAGE: c. LAND USE (in hectares): Cultivated Land Land not available for cultivation (Area covering dwellings, roads, Irrigated Unirrigated ponds, grazing ground) 26 hectares d. FACILITIES: Educational Medical Market Electricity Supply Communication Nearest Town 2. Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree? 3. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur? 4. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why? 5. Construct a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur. 6. Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages? 7. In your region, talk to two labourers. Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt? 8. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain. 9. Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land. 10. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers? 11. On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tajpal Singh? Would Savita’s condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest? 12. Talk to some old residents in your region and write a short report on the changes in irrigation and changes in production methods during the last 30 years. (Optional) 14 Economics

13. What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Make a short list. 14. What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages? References ETIENNE, GILBERT. 1985. ❘ ✁✂✄ ☎✆✝✆✄✞✟✠✆✡☛ ☞✡ ✌✍☞✂: Meetings with Peasants, Sage Publications, New Delhi. ETIENNE, GILBERT. 1988. ❋✞✞✎ ✂✡✎ ✏✞✝✆✁☛✑✒ ✓✡✎☞✂✔✍ ✕✂✄✖ ✗✞✡ ✘✂☛☛✄✆, Sage Publications, New Delhi. RAJ, K.N. 1991. ‘❱☞✄✄✂✙✆ ✓✡✎☞✂ ✂✡✎ ☞☛✍ ✏✞✄☞☛☞✚✂✄ ✛✚✞✡✞✠✑’ in C.T. Kurien (Edited) Economy, Society and Development, Sage Publications. THORNER, DANIEL AND ALICE THORNER. 1962. ▲✂✡✎ ✂✡✎ ▲✂✘✞ ✁ ☞✡ ✓✡✎☞✂, Asia Publishing House, Bombay. The Story of Village Palampur 15

2 People as Resource Chapter Overview India’s Green Revolution is a dramatic example of how the input The chapter 'People as Resource' is an of greater knowledge in the form of effort to explain population as an asset improved production technologies can for the economy rather than a liability. rapidly increase the productivity of Population becomes human capital when scarce land resources. India’s IT there is investment made in the form of revolution is a striking instance of education, training and medical care. how the importance of human capital In fact, human capital is the stock of has come to acquire a higher position skill and productive knowledge embodied than that of material plant and in them. machinery. 'People as Resource' is a way of ❙ ✁✂✄☎: Planning Commission, Govt. of India. referring to a country’s working people in terms of their existing productive skills and abilities. Looking at the population from this productive aspect emphasises its ability to contribute to the creation of the Gross National Product. Like other resources population also is a resource — a 'human resource'. This is the positive side of a large population that is often overlooked when we look only at the negative side, considering only the problems of providing the population with food, education and access to health facilities. When the existing 'human resource' is further developed by becoming more educated and healthy, we call it 'human capital formation' that adds to the productive power of the country just like 'physical capital formation'. Investment in human capital (through education, training, medical care) yields a return just like investment in physical capital. This can be seen directly in the form of higher incomes earned because of higher productivity of the more educated or the better trained persons, as well as the higher productivity of healthier people. 16 Economics

population need not be a liability. It can be turned into a productive asset by investment in human capital (for example, by spending resources on education and health for all, training of industrial and agricultural workers in the use of modern technology, useful scientific researches and so on). The two following cases illustrate how people can try to become a more productive resource: Picture 2.1 Story of Sakal Let’sDiscuss There were two friends Vilas and Sakal living in the same village • Looking at the photograph can you Semapur. Sakal was a twelve-year- explain how a doctor, teacher, engineer old boy. His mother Sheela looked and a tailor are an asset to the after domestic chores. His father Buta economy? Chaudhary worked in an agricultural field. Sakal helped his mother in Not only do the more educated and the domestic chores. He also looked after healthier people gain through higher his younger brother Jeetu and sister incomes, society gains also in other indirect Seetu. His uncle Shyam had passed ways because the advantages of a more the matriculation examination, but, educated or a healthier population spreads was sitting idle in the house as he to those also who themselves were not had no job. Buta and Sheela were directly educated or given health care. In eager to teach Sakal. They forced him fact, human capital is in one way superior to join the village school which he to other resources like land and physical soon joined. He started studying and capital: human resource can make use of completed his higher secondary land and capital. Land and capital cannot examination. His father persuaded become useful on its own! him to continue his studies. He raised a loan for Sakal to study a vocational For many decades in India, a large course in computers. Sakal was population has been considered a liability meritorious and interested in studies rather than an asset. But a large from the beginning. With great vigour and enthusiasm he completed his course. After some time he got a job in a private firm. He even designed a new kind of software. This software helped him increase the sale of the firm. His boss acknowledged his services and rewarded him with a promotion. People as Resource 17

Picture 2.2 ✥☎✆✝✞✟✠ ✆✡ ☛✞☞✌✠ ✌✍✎ ✥✌✏✌☞ Story of Vilas Let’sDiscuss Vilas was an eleven-year old boy • Do you notice any difference between residing in the same village as Sakal. the two friends? What are those? Vilas’s father Mahesh was a fisherman. His father passed away Activity when he was only two years old. His mother Geeta sold fish to earn money Visit a nearby village or a slum area to feed the family. She bought fish and write down a case study of a boy from the landowner’s pond and sold or girl of your age facing the same condition as Vilas or Sakal. it in the nearby ♠ ✁✂✄. She could In the two case studies we saw Sakal earn only Rs 20 to 30 a day by selling went to school and Vilas did not go. Sakal fish. Vilas became a patient of was physically strong and healthy. He did arthritis. His mother could not afford not need to visit the doctor frequently. to take him to the doctor. He could Vilas was a patient of arthritis. He lacked not go to school either. He was not the means to visit the doctor. Sakal interested in studies. He helped his acquired a degree in computers. Sakal mother in cooking and also looked found a job in the private firm while Vilas after his younger brother Mohan. continued with the same work as his After some time his mother fell sick mother. He earned a meagre income like and there was no one to look after his mother to support a family. her. There was no one in the family to support them. Vilas, too, was forced In the case of Sakal, several years of to sell fish in the same village. He education added to the quality of labour. like his mother earned only a meagre This enhanced his total productivity. income. Total productivity adds to the growth of the economy. This in turn pays an 18 Economics

individual through salary or in some other Economic Activities by Men and Women form of his choice. In case of Vilas, there could not be any education or health care Like Vilas and Sakal people have been in the early part of his life. He spends his engaged in various activities. We saw Vilas life selling fish like his mother. sold fish and Sakal got a job in the firm. Henceforth, he draws the same salary of The various activities have been classified unskilled labour as his mother. into three main sectors i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary sector Investment in human resource (via includes agriculture, forestry, animal education and medical care) can give high husbandry, fishing, poultry farming, and rates of return in the future. This mining. Quarrying and manufacturing is investment on people is the same as included in the secondary sector. Trade, investment in land and capital. One transport, communication, banking, invests in shares and bonds expecting education, health, tourism, services, higher return in the future. insurance etc. are included in the tertiary sector. The activities in this sector result A child, too, with investments made in the production of goods and services. on her education and health, can yield a These activities add value to the national high return in the future in the form of income. These activities are called higher earnings and greater contribution economic activities. Economic activities to society. Educated parents are found to have two parts — market activities and invest more heavily on the education of non-market activities. Market activities their child. This is because they have involve remuneration to any one who realised the importance of education for performs i.e., activity performed for pay themselves. They are also conscious of or profit. These include production of goods proper nutrition and hygiene. They or services including government service. accordingly look after their children’s Non-market activities are the production needs for education at school and good for self-consumption. These can be health. A virtuous cycle is thus created in this case. In contrast, a vicious cycle Picture 2.3 ❇ ✁✂✄ ☎✆ ✝✞✂ ✟✠✡✝☛☞✂ ✡ ✆ ✌☎☛ ✡✍ ✁✁✠✎✌ may be created by disadvantaged parents ✝✞✂✁✂  ✡✝✠✥✠✝✠✂✁ ✠✆✝☎ ✝✞☞✂✂ ✁✂✡✝☎☞✁✏ who, themselves uneducated and lacking in hygiene, keep their children in a similarly disadvantaged state. Countries like Japan have invested in human resource. They did not have any natural resource. These countries are developed/rich countries. They import the natural resource needed in their country. How did they become rich/developed? They have invested on people especially in the field of education and health. These people have made efficient use of other resource like land and capital. Efficiency and the technology evolved by people have made these countries rich/developed. People as Resource 19

consumption and processing of primary helps individual to make better use of the product and own account production of economic opportunities available before fixed assets. him. Education and skill are the major determinants of the earning of any Activity individual in the market. A majority of the women have meagre education and Visit a village or colony located near low skill formation. Women are paid low to your residential area and note compared to men. Most women work down the various activities where job security is not there. Various undertaken by the people of that activities relating to legal protection is village or colony. meagre. Employment in this sector is characterised by irregular and low income. If this is not possible, ask your In this sector there is an absence of basic neighbour what is their profession? facilities like maternity leave, childcare In which of the three sectors will you and other social security systems. categorise their work? However, women with high education and skill formation are paid at par with the Say whether these activities are men. Among the organised sector, economic or non-economic activities: teaching and medicine attract them the most. Some women have entered the Vilas sells fish in the village market. administrative and other services Vilas cooks food for his family. including those, which need high levels Sakal works in the private firm. of scientific and technological service. Ask Sakal looks after his younger brother your sister or your classmate what she and sister. would like to take up as a career? Due to historical and cultural reasons Quality of Population there is a division of labour between men and women in the family. Women The quality of population depends upon generally look after domestic chores and the literacy rate, health of a person men work in the fields. Sakal’s mother indicated by life expectancy and skill Sheela cooks food, cleans utensils, washes formation acquired by the people of the clothes, cleans the house and looks after country. The quality of the poulation her children. Sakal’s father Buta ultimately decides the growth rate of the cultivates the field, sells the produce in country. Illiterate and unhealthy the market and earns money for the family. population are a liability for the economy. Literate and healthy population are an Sheela is not paid for the services asset. delivered for upbringing of the family. Buta earns money, which he spends on Education rearing his family. Women are not paid for their service delivered in the family. Sakal’s education in the initial years of Their work is not accounted in the his life bore him the fruits in the later national income which is a sum total of years in terms of a good job and salary. goods and services produced in a country. We saw education was an important input for the growth of Sakal. It opened Geeta, mother of Vilas, earned an new horizon for him, provided new income by selling fish. Thus women are aspiration and developed values of life. paid for their work when they enter the Not only for Sakal, education contributes labour market. Their earning like that of their male counterpart is determined on the basis of education and skill. Education 20 Economics

Picture 2.4 ✞✟✠✡✡☛ ✟✠☞☛✌✍✎✏ ...human being is a positive asset and a precious national resource which towards the growth of society also. It needs to be cherished, nurtured and enhances the national income, cultural developed with tenderness and care, richness and increases the efficiency of coupled with dynamism. Each governance. There is a provision made individual’s growth presents a different range of problems and requirements. ... The catalytic action of education in this complex and dynamic growth process needs to be planned meticulously and executed with great sensitivity. ❙ ✁✂✄☎: National Education Policy, 1986. Graph 2.1: Literacy rates in India ✝✵ person ✼✵ male ✻✵ woman ✺✵ ✹✵ ✸✵ ✷✵ ✶✵ ✶✆✻✶ ✶✆✼✶ ✶✆✝✶ ✶✆✆✶ ✷✵✵✶ ✵ ✶✆✺✶ ❙ ✁✂✄☎: Census of India 2001, Series I India, Paper 1 of 2001. for providing universal access, retention Let’sDiscuss and quality in elementary education with a special emphasis on girls. There is also Study the graph and answer the following an establishment of pace setting of questions: schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya in each 1. Has the literacy rates of the population district. Vocational streams have been developed to equip large number of high increased since 1951? school students with occupations related 2. In which year India has the highest to knowledge and skills. The plan outlay on education has increased from Rs 151 literacy rates? crore in the first plan to Rs 43,825 crore 3. Why literacy rate is high among the in the tenth plan. The expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP rose males of India? from 0.64% in 1951–52 to 3.98% in 2002– 4. Why are women less educated than men? 5. How would you calculate literacy rate in India? 6. What is your projection about India’s literacy rate in 2010? People as Resource 21

Activity 2010 .... It is a time bound initiative of the central Government, in partnership Count the number of boys and girls with the states, the local Government studying in your class or in your and the community for achieving the goal neighbouring co-ed school. of universalisation of elementary education.” Along with it, bridge courses Ask the school administrator to and back-to-school camps have been provide you with the data of boys and initiated to increase the enrollment in girls studying in your class below five elementary education. Mid-day meal years and ten years. Study the scheme has been implemented to difference if any and explain it in the encourage attendance and retention of classroom. children and improve their nutritional status. These policies could add to the 03 (Budgetary estimate). The literacy literate population of India. rates have increased from 18% in 1951 to 65% in 2001. Literacy is not only a The tenth plan endeavoured to right, it is also needed if the citizen are increase the enrollment in higher to perform their duties and enjoy their education of the 18 to 23 years age group right properly. However, a vast difference from the present 6% to 9% by the end of is noticed across different sections of the plan period. The strategy focuses on population. Literacy among males is increasing access, quality, adoption of nearly 50% higher than females and it states-specific curriculum modification, is about 50% higher in urban areas as vocationalisation and networking on the compared to the rural areas. Literacy use of information technology. The plan rates vary from 96% in some district of also focuses on distant education, Kerala to a below 30% in some parts of convergence of formal, non-formal, distant Madhya Pradesh. The primary school and IT education institutions. Over the system has expanded to over 5,00,000 past fifty years, there has been a villages in India. Unfortunately, this huge significant growth in the number of expansion of schools has been diluted by university and institutions of higher the poor quality of schooling and high learning in specialised areas. Let us read dropout rates. “Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is the table to see the increase in number a significant step towards providing of college, universities, enrollment of elementary education to all children in students and recruitment of teachers the age group of six to fourteen years by since 1951 to 1999. Table 2.1: Number of Institutions of Higher Education, Enrolment and Faculty Year Number of Number of Students Teachers Colleges Universities 1950–51 750 30 2,63,000 24,000 1990–91 7,346 1996–97 9,703 177 49,25,000 2,72,000 1998–99 11,089 214 67,55,000 3,21,000 238 74,17,000 3,42,000 ❙ ✁✂✄☎: UGC Annual Report 1996–97 and 1998–99 and Selected Educational Statistics, Ministry of HRD. 22 Economics

Let’sDiscuss improvement in the health status of the population has been the priority of the Discuss this table in the classroom and country. Our national policy, too, aimed answer the following questions. at improving the accessibility of health care, family welfare and nutritional 1. Is the increase in number of colleges service with special focus on under- adequate to admit the increasing privileged segment of population. Over the number of students? last five decades India has built up a vast health infrastructure and man power 2. Do you think we should have more required at primary secondary and number of Universities? tertiary care in Government as well as in the private sector. 3. What is the increase noticed among the teachers in the year 1998–99. These measures adopted have increased the life expectancy to over 4. What is your idea about future college 64 years in 2000. *Infant mortality and Universities? rate (IMR) has come down from 147 in 1951 to 75 in 2000. **Crude birth Health rates have dropped to 26.1 and ***death rates to 8.7 within the same Firm maximise profit: Do you think any duration of time. Increase in life firm would be induced to employ people expectancy and improvement in who might not work efficiently as a childcare are useful in assessing the healthy worker because of ill health? future progress of the country. Increase in longevity of life is an The health of a person helps him to indicator of good quality of life realise his potential and the ability to marked by self-confidence. Reduction fight illness. An unhealthy person in infant mortality involves the becomes a liability for an organisation protection of children from infection, indeed; health is an indispensable basis ensuring nutrition along with mother for realising one’s well being. Henceforth, and childcare. ❙✒✓✔✕✖: National Health Policy, 2002. Let’sDiscuss Picture 2.5 ❈ ✁✂✄☎✆✝ ✞✟✠✝✄✁✝✡ ✁✝ ☛☞✆☞✆ ✌✍☎ Study the Table 2.2 and answer the  ✆✠✂✟  ❤ ✆❤✎✏☞✑ following questions. 1. What is the percentage increase in dispensaries from 1951 to 2001? 2. What is the percentage increase in doctors and nursing personnel from 1951 to 2001? * ■✗✘✙✗✚ ✛✜✢✚✙✣✤✚✥ ✢✙✚✦ ✤✧ ✚★✦ ✩✦✙✚★ ✜✘ ✙ ✪★✤✣✩ ✫✗✩✦✢ ✜✗✦ ✥✦✙✢ ✜✘ ✙✬✦✭ ** ❇✤✢✚★ ✢✙✚✦✧ ✤✧ ✚★✦ ✗✫✛✮✦✢ ✜✘ ✮✙✮✤✦✧ ✮✜✢✗ ✚★✦✢✦ ✘✜✢ ✦✯✦✢✥ ✰✱✲✲✲ ✳✦✜✳✣✦ ✩✫✢✤✗✬ ✙ ✳✙✢✚✤✪✫✣✙✢ ✳✦✢✤✜✩ ✜✘ ✚✤✛✦✭ *** ❉✦✙✚★ ✢✙✚✦ ✤✧ ✚★✦ ✗✫✛✮✦✢ ✜✘ ✳✦✜✳✣✦ ✳✦✢ ✰✱✲✲✲ ✴★✜ ✩✤✦ ✩✫✢✤✗✬ ✙ ✳✙✢✚✤✪✫✣✙✢ ✳✦✢✤✜✩ ✜✘ ✚✤✛✦✭ People as Resource 23

Table 2.2: Health infrastructure over the years H SC/PHC/CHC 1951 1981 2001 725 57,363 1,63,181 Dispensaries and Hospitals 9.209 23,555 43,322 Beds 1,17,198 5,69,495 8,70,161 Doctors (Allopathy) 61,800 2,68,700 5,03,900 Nursing Personnel 18,054 1,43,887 7,37,000 SC: Sub centre, PHC: Primary Health Centre, CHC: Community Health Centre. Source: National Health Policy, 2002. 3. Do you think the increase in the How many doctors are there in the number of doctor and nurses adequate hospital? for India? If not, why? How many nurses work in that 4. What other facilities would you like to hospital? provide in a hospital? Besides, try to gather the following 5. Discuss about the hospital you have additional information: visited? How many hospitals are there in your 6. Can you draw graph using this table. locality? There are many places in India which How many dispensaries are there in do not have even these basic facilities. your locality? Just four states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra have Unemployment 81 out of 181 medical colleges. On the other hand states like Bihar and Uttar Sakal’s mother Sheela looked after the Pradesh have poor health indices and few domestic chores, children and helped her medical colleges. husband Buta in the field. Sakal’s brother, Jeetu and sister Seetu spend Activity their time playing and roaming. Can you call Sheela or Jeetu or Seetu Visit a nearby hospital, either unemployed? If not, why? government or private and note down the following details. Unemployment is said to exist when people who are willing to work at the going How many beds are there in the wages cannot find jobs. Sheela is not hospital you have visited? interested in working outside her 24 Economics

domestic domain. Jeetu and Seetu are too phenomenon. Many youth with small to be counted in the work force matriculation, graduation and post population. Neither Jeetu, Seetu or Sheela graduation degrees are not able to find can be counted as unemployed. The job. A study showed that unemployment workforce population includes people from of graduate and post-graduate has 15 years to 59 years. Sakal’s brother and increased faster than among sister do not fall within this age group so matriculates. A paradoxical manpower they cannot be called unemployed. Sakal’s situation is witnessed as surplus of mother Sheela works for the family. She manpower in certain categories coexist is not willing to work outside her domestic with shortage of manpower in others. domain for payment. She too cannot be There is unemployment among called unemployed. Sakal’s grandparents technically qualified person on one hand, (although not mentioned in the story) while there is a dearth of technical skills cannot be called unemployed. required for economic growth. In case of India we have unemployment Unemployment leads to wastage of in rural and urban areas. However, the manpower resource. People who are an nature of the unemployed differs in rural asset for the economy turn into a liability. and urban areas. In case of rural areas, There is a feeling of hopelessness and there is seasonal and disguised despair among the youth. People do not unemployment. Urban areas have mostly have enough money to support their educated unemployment. family. Inability of educated people who are willing to work to find gainful Seasonal unemployment happens employment implies a great social waste. when people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year. People Unemployment tends to increase dependant upon agriculture usually face economic overload. The dependence of the such kind of problem. There are certain unemployed on the working population busy seasons when sowing, harvesting, increases. The quality of life of an weeding, threshing is done. Certain individual as well as of society is adversely months do not provide much work to the affected. When a family has to live on a people dependant on agriculture. bare subsistence level there is a general decline in its health status and rising In case of disguised unemployment withdrawal from the school system. people appear to be employed. They have agricultural plot where they find work. Hence, unemployment has detrimental This usually happens among family impact on the overall growth of an members engaged in agricultural activity. economy. Increase in unemployment is an The work requires the service of five indicator of a depressed economy. It also people but engages eight people. Three wastes the resource, which could have people are extra. These three people also been gainfully employed. If people cannot work in the same plot as five people. The be used as a resource they naturally contribution made by the three extra appear as a liability to the economy. people does not add to the contribution made by the five people. If three people In case of India, statistically, the are removed the productivity of the field unemployment rate is low. A large will not decline. The field requires the number of people represented with low service of five people and the three extra income and productivity are counted as people are disguisedly employed. employed. They appear to work throughout the year but in terms of their In case of urban areas educated potential and income, it is not adequate unemployment has become a common for them. The work that they are pursuing People as Resource 25

seems forced upon them. They may the secondary sector, small scale therefore want other work of their choice. manufacturing is the most labour- Poor people cannot afford to sit idle. They absorbing. In case of the tertiary sector, tend to engage in any activity irrespective various new services are now appearing of its earning potential. Their earning like biotechnology, information technology keeps them on a bare subsistence level. and so on. Picture 2.6 ✥ ✁ ✂✄☎ ✆✝✞✝✞✟✝✆ ✠✄✡ ✞☎☛✠ ☞✌☞ Let us read a story to know how people ✂✄☎ ② ✂ ✡✠✝✁ ✂✄☎  ✍✎✝☞ ✠✌✞ ✏✄ could become an asset for the economy of ✞✝✁☞ ✂✄☎✆ ✍✠✄✝✍ ✄✆ ✍✑✌②②✝✆✍✒ a village. Moreover, the employment structure Story of a Village is characterised by self-employment in the primary sector. The whole family There was a village inhabited by contributes in the field even though not several families. Each family everybody is really needed. So there is produced enough to feed its members. disguised unemployment in the Each family met its needs by the agriculture sector. But all the family also members making their own clothes have a share in what has been produced. and teaching their own children. One This concept of sharing of work in the field of the families decided to send one of and the produce raised reduces the its sons to an agriculture college. The hardship of unemployment in the rural boy got his admission in the nearby sector. But this does not reduce the college of agriculture. After some time poverty of the family, gradually surplus he became qualified in agro- labour from every household tends to engineering and came back to the migrate from the village in search of jobs. village. He proved to be so creative that he could design an improved type Let us discuss about the employment of plough, which increased the yield scenario in the three sectors mentioned of wheat. Thus a new job of agro- earlier. Agriculture, is the most labour engineer was created and filled in the absorbing sector of the economy. In recent village. The family in the village sold years, there has been a decline in the the surplus in a nearby neighbouring dependence of population on agriculture village. They earned good profit, partly because of disguised unemployment which they shared among discussed earlier. Some of the surplus themselves. Inspired by this success labour in agriculture has moved to either all the families after some time held the secondary or the tertiary sector. In a meeting in the village. They all wanted to have a better future for 26 Economics their children too. They requested the panchayat to open a school in the village. They assured the panchayat that they would all send their children to school. The panchayat, with the help of government, opened a school. A teacher was recruited from a nearby town. All the children of this village started going to school. After sometime one of the families gave training to his daughter in

tailoring. She started stitching clothes consume. Now they could sell what for all the families of the village for they produced to others who came to everyone now wanted to buy and wear their village markets. Over time, this well-tailored clothes. Thus another village, which formally had no job new job, that of a tailor was created. opportunities in the beginning, had This had another positive effect. The many like teacher, tailor, agro– time of the farmers in going far for engineer and many more. This was buying clothes was saved. As the the story of a simple village where farmers spent more time in the field, the rising level of human capital the yield of the farms went up. This enabled it to evolve into a place rich was the beginning of prosperity. The with complex and modern economic farmers had more than they could activities. Summary You have seen how inputs like education and health helped in making people an asset for the economy. The chapter also discusses about the economic activities undertaken in the three sectors of the economy. We also study about the problem associated with unemployment. Finally the chapter ends with the story of a village which formally had no job but later had plenty. Exercises 27 1. What do you understand by 'people as a resource'? 2. How is human resource different from other resources like land and physical capital? 3. What is the role of education in human capital formation? 4. What is the role of health in human capital formation? 5. What part does health play in the individual’s working life? 6. What are the various activities undertaken in the primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector? 7. What is the difference between economic activities and non-economic activities? 8. Why are women employed in low paid work? 9. How will you explain the term unemployment? 10. What is the difference between disguised unemployment and seasonal unemployment? 11. Why is educated unemployed, a peculiar problem of India? 12. In which field do you think India can build the maximum employment opportunity? 13. Can you suggest some measures in the education system to mitigate the problem of the educated unemployed? 14. Can you imagine some village which initially had no job opportunities but later came up with many? 15. Which capital would you consider the best — land, labour, physical capital and human capital? Why? People as Resource

References GARY, S. BECKER. 1966. ❍ ✁✂✄ ☎✂✆✝✞✂✟: ❆ ✞✠✡☛☞✡✞✝✌✂✟ ✂✄✍ ✎✁✆✝☞✝✌✂✟ ❆✄✂✟✏✑✝✑✒ ✓✝✞✠ ✔✆✡✌✝✂✟ ❘✡✕✡☞✡✄✌✡ ✞☛ ✎✍ ✌✂✞✝☛✄, General Series. Number 80. New York. National Bureau of Economic Research. THEODORE W. SCHULTZ. “■✄✖✡✑✞✁✡✄✞ ✝✄ ❍ ✁✂✄ ☎✂✆✝✞✂✟” American Economic Review. March 1961. Economic Survey 2004–2005. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi. India Vision 2020. The Report. Planning Commission. Government of India, New Delhi. Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002–2007). Planning Commission, Part II. New Delhi. Tenth Five Year Plan ( 2002–2007). Planning Commission, New Delhi. 28 Economics

3 Poverty as a Challenge Chapter Overview ❞ ✆✝✆☎✞ They could also be beggars with This chapter deals with one of the most children in tatters. We see poverty all difficult challenges faced by independent around us. In fact, every fourth person in India—poverty. After discussing this India is poor. This means, roughly 260 multi-dimensional problem through million (or 26 crore) people in India live examples, the chapter discusses the way in poverty. This also means that India has poverty is seen in social sciences. Poverty the largest single concentration of the poor trends in India and the world are in the world. This illustrates the illustrated through the concept of the seriousness of the challenge. poverty line. Causes of poverty as well as anti-poverty measures taken by the Two Typical Cases of Poverty government are also discussed. The chapter ends with broadening the official Urban Case concept of poverty into human poverty. Thirty-three year old Ram Saran works Introduction as a daily-wage labourer in a wheat flour mill near Ranchi in Jharkhand. In our daily life, we come across many He manages to earn around Rs 1,500 people who we think are poor. They could a month when he finds employment, be landless labourers in villages or people which is not often. The money is not enough to sustain his family of six— living in overcrowded ❥ ✁✂✂✄☎ in cities. They that includes his wife and four children aged betweem 12 years to six months. could be daily wage workers at construction sites or child workers in Picture 3.1 ✥✟✠✡☛ ✠☞ ✌✍✎ ✥✍✡✍✏ 29 Poverty as a Challenge

He has to send money home to his old Rural case parents who live in a village near Ramgarh. His father a landless Lakha Singh belongs to a small village labourer, depends on Ram Saran and near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. His his brother who lives in Hazaribagh, family doesn’t own any land, so they for sustenance. Ram Saran lives in a do odd jobs for the big farmers. Work one-room rented house in a crowded is erratic and so is income. At times basti in the outskirts of the city. It’s a they get paid Rs 50 for a hard day’s temporary shack built of bricks and work. But often it’s in kind like a few clay tiles. His wife Santa Devi, works as a part time maid in a few houses kilograms of wheat or ❞ ✁ or even and manages to earn another Rs 800. They manage a meagre meal of dal and vegetables for toiling in the farm rice twice a day, but there’s never through the day. The family of eight enough for all of them. His elder son cannot always manage two square works as a helper in a tea shop to supplement the family income and meals a day. Lakha lives in a ❦✂✄☎☎  earns another Rs 300, while his 10- year-old daughter takes care of the hut on the outskirts of the village. younger siblings. None of the children The women of the family spend the go to school. They have only two pairs day chopping fodder and collecting of hand-me-down clothes each. New firewood in the fields. His father a ones are bought only when the old TB patient, passed away two years clothes become unwearable. Shoes are ago due to lack of medication. His a luxury. The younger kids are mother now suffers from the same undernourished. They have no access disease and life is slowly ebbing away. to healthcare when they fall ill. Although, the village has a primary school, Lakha never went there. He had to start earning when he was 10 years old. New clothes happen once in a few years. Even soap and oil are a luxury for the family. Study the above cases of poverty and discuss the following issues related to poverty: • Landlessness • Unemployment • Size of families • Illiteracy • Poor health/malnutrition • Child labour • Helplessness Picture 3.2 ✥✆✝✞✟ ✝✠ ✡☛☞✌☛ ✥✍✎✏✌ 30 Economics

These two typical cases illustrate many both a cause as well as a dimensions of poverty. They show that consequence of poverty in the usual poverty means hunger and lack of shelter. sense. Broadly, it is a process through It also is a situation in which parents are which individuals or groups are not able to send their children to school excluded from facilities, benefits and or a situation where sick people cannot opportunities that others (their afford treatment. Poverty also means lack “betters”) enjoy. A typical example is of clean water and sanitation facilities. It the working of the caste system in also means lack of a regular job at a India in which people belonging to minimum decent level. Above all it means certain castes are excluded from living with a sense of helplessness. Poor equal opportunities. Social exclusion people are in a situation in which they thus may lead to, but can cause more are ill-treated at almost every place, in damage than, having a very low farms, factories, government offices, income. hospitals, railway stations etc. Obviously, nobody would like to live in poverty. Vulnerability One of the biggest challenges of Vulnerability to poverty is a measure, independent India has been to bring which describes the greater millions of its people out of abject poverty. probability of certain communities Mahatama Gandhi always insisted that (say, members of a backward caste) India would be truly independent only or individuals (such as a widow or a when the poorest of its people become free physically handicapped person) of of human suffering. becoming, or remaining, poor in the coming years. Vulnerability is Poverty as seen by social scientists determined by the options available to different communities for finding Since poverty has many facets, social an alternative living in terms of scientists look at it through a variety of assets, education, health and job indicators. Usually the indicators used opportunities. Further, it is analysed relate to the levels of income and on the basis of the greater risks these consumption. But now poverty is looked groups face at the time of natural through other social indicators like disasters (earthquakes, tsunami), illiteracy level, lack of general resistance terrorism etc. Additional analysis is due to malnutrition, lack of access to made of their social and economic healthcare, lack of job opportunities, lack ability to handle these risks. In fact, of access to safe drinking water, vulnerability describes the greater sanitation etc. Analysis of poverty based probability of being more adversely on social exclusion and vulnerability is affected than other people when bad now becoming very common (see box). time comes for everybody, whether a flood or an earthquake or simply a Social exclusion fall in the availability of jobs! According to this concept, poverty Poverty Line must be seen in terms of the poor having to live only in a poor At the centre of the discussion on poverty surrounding with other poor people, is usually the concept of the “poverty line”. excluded from enjoying social equality A common method used to measure of better-off people in better poverty is based on the income or surroundings. Social exclusion can be Poverty as a challenge 31

consumption levels. A person is the higher amount for urban areas has considered poor if his or her income or been fixed because of high prices of many consumption level falls below a given essential products in urban centres. In “minimum level” necessary to fulfill basic this way in the year 2000, a family of five needs. What is necessary to satisfy basic members living in rural areas and needs is different at different times and earning less than about Rs 1,640 per in different countries. Therefore, poverty month will be below the poverty line. A line may vary with time and place. Each similar family in the urban areas would country uses an imaginary line that is need a minimum of Rs 2,270 per month considered appropriate for its existing level to meet their basic requirements. The of development and its accepted minimum poverty line is estimated periodically social norms. For example, a person not (normally every five years) by conducting having a car in the United States may be sample surveys. These surveys are considered poor. In India, owning of a car carried out by the National Sample Survey is still considered a luxury. Organisation (NSSO). However, for making comparisons between developing While determining the poverty line in countries, many international India, a minimum level of food organisations like the World Bank use a requirement, clothing, footwear, fuel and uniform standard for the poverty line: light, educational and medical minimum availability of the equivalent of requirement etc. are determined for $1 per person per day. subsistence. These physical quantities are multiplied by their prices in rupees. The Let’sDiscuss present formula for food requirement while estimating the poverty line is based Discuss the following: on the desired calorie requirement. Food items such as cereals, pulses, vegetable, • Why do different countries use different milk, oil, sugar etc. together provide these poverty lines? needed calories. The calorie needs vary depending on age, sex and the type of • What do you think would be the work that a person does. The accepted “minimum necessary level” in your average calorie requirement in India is locality? 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories per person per Poverty Estimates day in urban areas. Since people living in rural areas engage themselves in more It is clear from the Table 3.1 that there is physical work, calorie requirements in substantial decline in poverty ratios in rural areas are considered to be higher India from about 55 per cent in 1973 to than urban areas. The monetary 36 per cent in 1993. The proportion of expenditure per capita needed for buying people below poverty line further came these calorie requirements in terms of down to about 26 per cent in 2000. If the food grains etc. is revised periodically trend continues, people below poverty line taking into consideration the rise in may come down to less than 20 per cent prices. in the next few years. Although the percentage of people living under poverty On the basis of these calculations, for declined in the earlier two decades (1973– the year 2000, the poverty line for a person 1993), the number of poor remained stable was fixed at Rs 328 per month for the around 320 million for a fairly long period. rural areas and Rs 454 for the urban The latest estimates indicate a significant areas. Despite less calorie requirement, reduction in the number of poor to about 260 million. 32 Economics

Table 3.1: Estimates of Poverty in India Poverty ratio (%) Number of poor (in millions) Year Rural Urban Combined Rural Urban Combined 1973–74 56.4 49.0 54.9 261 60 321 1993–94 37.3 32.4 36.0 244 76 320 1999–00 27.1 23.6 26.1 193 67 260 ❙ ✁✂✄☎✆ Economic Survey 2002–03, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Let’sDiscuss among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural Study the Table 3.1 and answer the agricultural labour households and the following questions: urban casual labour households. The • Even if poverty ratio declined between following Graph 3.1 shows the percentage of poor people in all these groups. 1973–74 and 1993–94, why did the Although the average for people below number of poor remain at about 320 poverty line for all groups in India is 26, million? 51 out of 100 people belonging to • Are the dynamics of poverty reduction scheduled tribes are not able to meet their the same in rural and urban India? basic needs. Similarly, 50 per cent of casual workers in urban areas are below Vulnerable Groups poverty line. About 50 per cent of landless agricultural workers and 43 per cent of The proportion of people below poverty line scheduled castes are also poor. The double is also not same for all social groups and disadvantage, of being a landless casual economic categories in India. Social wage labour household in the socially groups which are most vulnerable to disadvantaged social groups of the poverty are scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households. Similarly, ✻✵ Graph 3.1: Poverty in India 2000: Most Vulnerable Groups ✍☛✟☞✠✏✠✡✡☛☞✠✌☛☛✝✡☛✎ ✠✠✍✔✕♦✏✡☛✖✍ ✺✵ ✺✗ ✺✵ ◆✝✞ ✹✵ ✹✭ ✹✸ ☞✡✞☛ ✸✵ ✷✻ ✠✡✒✌✓✑✑✶☛ ✷✵ ✗✵ ✵ ❯✤✦★✩ ✙★✧✢★✣ ❘✢✤★✣ ★✪✤✥✙✢✣t✢✤✛ ✘✙✚✛✜✢✣✛✜ ❆✈✛✤★✪✛ ✫✩✜✥★✩ ✘✙✚✛✜✢✣✛✜ ✣★✦❧✢✤✛✤✧ ✣★✦❧✢✤✛✤✧ ✙★✧t✛✧ ♣❧✈✛✤t✬ ✤★t✥❧ t✤✥✦✛✧ Social Groups and Economic Categories ❙ ✁✂✄☎✆ Reports on Employment and Unemployment among Social Groups in India No. 469,472, NSSO, Ministry of Statistics, Programme Implementation, Govt of India. Poverty as a Challenge 33

Picture 3.3 ✥ ✁✂✄ ✁☎ ✥✆✝✞✂✞✟✞✠ scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe Story of Sivaraman population highlights the seriousness of the problem. Some recent studies have Sivaraman lives in a small village shown that except for the scheduled tribe near Karur town in Tamil Nadu. Karur households, all the other three groups (i.e. is famous for its handloom and scheduled castes, rural agricultural powerloom fabrics. There are a 100 labourers and the urban casual labour families in the village. Sivaraman an households) have seen a decline in poverty ❆✡☛☞✌✍✎✏✍✎✑☛✏✡ (cobbler) by caste now in the 1990s. works as an agricultural labourer for Rs 50 per day. But that’s only for five Apart from these social groups, there to six months in a year. At other is also inequality of incomes within a times, he does odd jobs in the town. family. In poor families all suffer, but some His wife Sasikala too works with him. suffer more than others. Women, elderly But she can rarely find work these people and female infants are days, and even if she does, she’s paid systematically denied equal access to Rs 25 per day for the same work that resources available to the family. Sivaraman does. There are eight Therefore women, children (especially the members in the family. Sivaraman’s girl child) and old people are poorest of 65 year old widowed mother is ill and the poor (see box). 34 Economics

needs to be helped with her daily Although state level poverty has witnessed chores. He has a 25-year-old a secular decline from the levels of early unmarried sister and four children seventies, the success rate of reducing aged between 1 year to 16 years. poverty varies from state to state. Recent Three of them are girls, the youngest estimates show that in 20 states and is a son. None of the girls go to school. union territories, the poverty ratio is less Buying books and other things for than the national average. On the other school-going girls is a luxury he hand, poverty is still a serious problem cannot afford. Also, he has to get them in Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Tripura and married at some point of time so he Uttar Pradesh. As the Graph 3.2 shows, doesn’t want to spend on their Orissa and Bihar continue to be the two education now. His mother has lost poorest states with poverty ratios of 47 interest in life and is just waiting to and 43 per cent respectively. Along with die someday. His sister and elder rural poverty urban poverty is also high daughter take care of the household. in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Sivaraman plans to send his son to Uttar Pradesh. school when he comes of age. His unmarried sister does not get along In comparison, there has been a with his wife. Sasikala finds her a significant decline in poverty in Kerala, burden but Sivaraman can’t find a Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, suitable groom due to lack of money. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal. Although the family has difficulty in States like Punjab and Haryana have arranging two meals a day, traditionally succeeded in reducing Sivaraman manages to buy milk once poverty with the help of high agricultural in a while, but only for his son. growth rates. Kerala has focused more on human resource development. In West Let’sDiscuss Bengal, land reform measures have helped in reducing poverty. In Andhra Observe some of the poor families Pradesh and Tamil Nadu public around you and try to find the following: distribution of food grains could have been • Which social and economic group do responsible for the improvement. they belong to? Global Poverty Scenario • Who are the earning members in the The proportion of people in developing family? countries living in extreme economic • What is the condition of the old people poverty— defined by the World Bank as living on less than $1 per day—has fallen in the family? from 28 per cent in 1990 to 21 per cent in • Are all the children (boys and girls) 2001. Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it attending schools? is marked with great regional differences. Poverty declined substantially in China Inter-State Disparities and Southeast Asian countries as a result Poverty in India also has another aspect of rapid economic growth and massive or dimension. The proportion of poor investments in human resource people is not the same in every state. development. Number of poors in China has come down from 606 million in 1981 to 212 million in 2001. In the countries of ❙ ✁✂✄ ☎✆✝✞ (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan) the decline has Poverty as a challenge 35

Graph 3.2: Poverty Ratio in Selected Indian States, 1999–2000 ✌✺ ✢✣✤✥ ✹✌ ✢✥✤✦ ✍✘✕✖✒✑✍✏✍✕✓✗✔✗€✎✍✍ ✜✚✛✑✘✕✗✍✒✎✍ ✹✺ ✧✣✤✢ ✧✦✤★ ✧✢✤✢ ✧★✤✥ ✙❜✍✘✕ ✸✌ ✥✣✤★ ✥✦✤★ ✥✩ ✸✺ ✥★✤★ ✥✪ ✷✌ ★✩✤✫ ★✩✤✧ ★✢ ★✥✤✣ ✷✺ ✫✤✣ ✫✤✥ ✣✤✦ ✦✤✥ ✧✤✩ ✶✌ ✶✺ ✌ ✺ ❖✬✭✮✮✯ ✱❇✯✭✲✰✰✯✳✬✯ ✴✬✯✲✵✮✰ ❆✮✮✯✻ ❚✬✭✴❯r✽✬✽✯✯✬ ✾✬✯✲✵✮❲✰✵✮✽ ❇✵❀❡✯❛ ❆❛❛ ✿❀✲✱✭✯✯✰✯✬✯✮✰✽✬✯❚✯✻✭❛ ✼✯✲r❂✯✬❆❀❀✯✲✽✯✰❃✬✯✯✾✬✯✲✵✮✰❘✯❄✯✮✽✰✯❀ ●r❄✯✬✯✽ ❂✵✬✯❛✯ ❍✯✬✳✯❀✯ ❍✭✻❊✯✵❅❛✰✰✭✯❛ ✾✬✯✲✵✮✰❏✯✻✾✻r❀r❄✯❁❈❂✯✮✰✻✭✬ ❙❋■❑▲◆: Economic Survey 2001–02, Ministry of Finance, Government of India Let’sDiscuss calls for reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day to half the Study the Graph 3.2 and do the following: 1990 level by 2015. • Identify the three states where the Let’sDiscuss poverty ratio is the highest. • Identify the three states where poverty Study the Graph 3.4 and do the following: • Identify the areas of the world, where ratio is the lowest. poverty ratios have declined. not been as rapid. Despite decline in the • Identify the area of the globe which has percentage of the poor, the number of poor has declined marginally from 475 million the largest concentration of the poor. in 1981 to 428 million in 2001. Because of different poverty line definition, poverty in Table 3.2: Poverty: Comparison among India is also shown higher than the Some Selected Countries national estimates. Country % of Population below In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact $1 a day rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001 (see graph 3.3). In Latin 1. Nigeria 70.8 America, the ratio of poverty remained the 2. Bangladesh 36.0 same. Poverty has also resurfaced in 3. India 35.3 some of the former socialist countries like 4. Pakistan 17.0 Russia, where officially it was non- 5. China 16.6 existent earlier. Table 3.2 shows the 6. Brazil proportion of people living under poverty 7. Indonesia 8.2 in different countries as defined by the 8. Sri Lanka 7.5 5.6 ✐ ✁✂✄ ♥✁✐☎ ♥✆ ✝☎✞✂✄✁✟ ✆✐ ✂ (means population below $1 a day). The ▼✐✆✆✂  ✐✠✡ ❙❋■❑▲◆: World Development Report, 2001. ❉✂✞✂✆☎✝✡✂ ✁ ☛☎♥✆☞ of the United Nations 36 Economics

Graph 3.3: Share of people living on $1 a day, 1980–2001 ✼✵ ❈✝✞✟✠ ✻✵ ❊✠€✡☛✠✍☞✞✡✎✞✞✍✠ ✌ ✺✵ ✏✑✒☛✝ ☞✡✞✠ ✙✘❝✙✚✜✢✣✙✛ ✏✒✓✔✏✠✝✠✕✠✟ ☞✎✕✞✍✠ ✏✒✓✔✏✠✝✠✕✠✟ ☞✎✕✞✍✠ ✏✑✒☛✝ ☞✡✞✠ ✹✵ ✸✵ ✷✵ ❈✝✞✟✠ ▲✠☛✞✟ ☞✖✗✕✞✍✠✟ ✌ ❈✠✕✕✞✓✗✠✟ ❊✠€✡✠☛ ✍☞✞✡✎✞✞✍✠ ✌ ▲✠☛✞✟ ☞✖✗✕✞✍✠✟ ✌ ❈✠✕✕✞✓✗✠✟ ✶✵ ✷✵✵✶ ✵ ✶☎✆✶ ✶☎☎✵ ❨✤✥✦✧ ❙ ✁✂✄❡: World Development Indicators 2005, The World Bank. Graph 3.4: Number of poor by region ($ 1 per day) in millions ❍■❉❉ ❍❉❉❉ ❑❑❖❏❏◗◆ ★■❉❉ ❂❃❄❅❂✯✬✯❁✯✮ ✳✿❁✭✾✯ ♦✲✬❀❁✱ ▼ ✰✯✽✱✲✯✾✳✭✱✿✭✭✾✯ ✴ ★❉❉❉ ✫✬✭✮✯ ■❉❉ ❂♦❃✲✬ ✳✱✭✯ ❉ ★✩✪❆ ★✩✪❇ ★✩✩❉ ★✩✩❋ ★✩✩● ★✩✩✩ ❍❉❉★ ★✩✪★ 37 ❘❚❯❱❲ ❙ ✁✂✄❡: World Development Indicators 2005, The World Bank. Poverty as a Challenge

Causes of Poverty effectively by most of the state governments. Since lack of land resources There were a number of causes for the has been one of the major causes of widespread poverty in India. One poverty in India, proper implementation historical reason is the low level of of policy could have improved the life of economic development under the British millions of rural poor. colonial administration. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional Many other socio-cultural and handicrafts and discouraged development economic factors also are responsible for of industries like textiles. The low rate of poverty. In order to fulfil social obligations growth persisted until the nineteen- and observe religious ceremonies, people eighties. This resulted in less job in India, including the very poor, spend a opportunities and low growth rate of lot of money. Small farmers need money incomes. This was accompanied by a high to buy agricultural inputs like seeds, growth rate of population. The two fertilizer, pesticides etc. Since poor people combined to make the growth rate of per hardly have any savings, they borrow. capita income very low. The failure at both Unable to repay because of poverty, they the fronts: promotion of economic growth become victims of indebtedness. So the and population control perpetuated the high level of indebtedness is both the cycle of poverty. cause and effect of poverty. With the spread of irrigation and the Anti-Poverty Measures Green revolution, many job opportunities were created in the agriculture sector. But Removal of poverty has been one of the the effects were limited to some parts of major objectives of Indian developmental India. The industries, both in the public strategy. The current anti-poverty and the private sector, did provide some strategy of the government is based jobs. But these were not enough to absorb broadly on two planks (1) promotion of all the job seekers. Unable to find proper economic growth (2) targeted anti-poverty jobs in cities, many people started working programmes. as rickshaw pullers, vendors, construction workers, domestic servants Over a period of thirty years lasting etc. With irregular small incomes, these up to the early eighties, there were little people could not afford expensive housing. per capita income growth and not much They started living in slums on the reduction in poverty. Official poverty outskirts of the cities and the problems estimates which were about 45 per cent of poverty, largely a rural phenomenon in the early 1950s remained the same even also became the feature of the urban in the early eighties. Since the eighties, sector. India’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world. The growth rate Another feature of high poverty rates jumped from the average of about 3.5 per has been the huge income inequalities. cent a year in the 1970s to about 6 per One of the major reasons for this is the cent during the 1980s and 1990s. The unequal distribution of land and other higher growth rates have helped resources. Despite many policies, we have significantly in the reduction of poverty. not been able to tackle the issue in a Therefore, it is becoming clear that there meaningful manner. Major policy is a strong link between economic growth initiatives like land reforms which aimed and poverty reduction. Economic growth at redistribution of assets in rural areas widens opportunities and provides the have not been implemented properly and resources needed to invest in human development. This also encourages people 38 Economics

to send their children, including the girl ✔✟✂✠☞ €✂☎✂✖✁☞✟ ✝✄✗✕ ✟ ✘✄✗ ☎  (PMRY) child, to schools in the hope of getting better economic returns from investing in is another scheme which was started in education. However, the poor may not be 1993. The aim of the programme is to able to take direct advantage from the create self-employment opportunities for opportunities created by economic educated unemployed youth in rural areas growth. Moreover, growth in the and small towns. They are helped in agriculture sector is much below setting up small business and industries. expectations. This has a direct bearing on poverty as a large number of poor ✝✞✟ ✆ ❊✠✡✆✄☛✠☞☎✁ ✌☞☎☞✟ ✁✂✄☎ ✔✟✄✕✟ ✠✠☞ people live in villages and are dependent on agriculture. (REGP) was launched in 1995. The aim of the programme is to create self- In these circumstances, there is a employment opportunities in rural areas clear need for targeted anti-poverty and small towns. A target for creating 25 programmes. Although there are so many lakh new jobs has been set for the schemes which are formulated to affect programme under the Tenth Five Year poverty directly or indirectly, some of them plan. ❙✙ ✟☎ ♥ ☛ ☎✁✂ ✌✟ ✠ ❙✙ ✟✄✗✕ ✟ are worth mentioning. ◆ ✁✂✄☎ ✆ ✝✞✟ ✆ ✘✄♥ ☎  (SGSY) was launched in 1999. The ❊✠✡✆✄☛✠☞☎✁ ✌✞ ✟ ☎✁☞☞ ✍✎✁ (NREGA) 2005 programme aims at bringing the assisted was passed in September 2005. The Act poor families above the poverty line by provides 100 days assured employment organising them into self help groups every year to every rural household in 200 through a mix of bank credit and districts. Later, the scheme will be extended to 600 districts. One third of the government subsidy. Under the ✔✟ ✑✚ ☎ proposed jobs would be reserved for € ☎✁✟✂ ✌✟ ✠✄✑ ☛  ✘✄✗ ☎  (PMGY) women. The central government will also establish National Employment launched in 2000, additional central Guarantee Funds. Similarly state assistance is given to states for basic governments will establish State services such as primary health, primary Employment Guarantee Funds for education, rural shelter, rural drinking implementation of the scheme. Under the water and rural electrification. Another programme if an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days s/he will important scheme is ✍☎✁☛✄✑ ☛  ✍☎☎  be entitled to a daily unemployment ✘✄✗ ☎  (AAY) about which you will be allowance. Another important scheme has reading more in the next chapter. been the ◆ ✁✂✄☎ ✆ ✏✄✄✑ ✒✄✟ ✓✄✟♦ ✔✟✄✕✟ ✠✠☞ The results of these programmes have (NFWP), which was launched in 2004 in been mixed. One of the major reasons for 150 most backward districts of the less effectiveness is the lack of proper country. The programme is open to all implementation and right targeting. rural poor who are in need of wage Moreover, there has been a lot of employment and desire to do manual overlapping of schemes. Despite good unskilled work. It is implemented as a intentions, the benefits of these schemes 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme are not fully reached to the deserving poor. and foodgrains are provided free of cost Therefore, the major emphasis in recent to the states. Once the NREGA is in force, years is on proper monitoring of all the the NFWP will be subsumed within this poverty alleviation programmes. programme. The Challenges Ahead Poverty has certainly declined in India. But despite the progress, poverty reduction remains India’s most compelling challenge. Wide disparities in poverty are visible between rural and Poverty as a challenge 39

urban areas and among different states. have been able to feed themselves. But Certain social and economic groups are do they have education? Or shelter? Or more vulnerable to poverty. Poverty health care? Or job security? Or self- reduction is expected to make better confidence? Are they free from caste and progress in the next ten to fifteen years. gender discrimination? Is the practice of This would be possible mainly due to child labour still common? Worldwide higher economic growth, increasing stress experience shows that with development, on universal free elementary education, the definition of what constitutes poverty declining population growth, increasing also changes. Eradication of poverty is empowerment of the women and the always a moving target. Hopefully we will economically weaker sections of society. be able to provide the minimum “necessary” in terms of only income to all The official definition of poverty, people by the end of the next decade. But however, captures only a limited part of the target will move on for many of the what poverty really means to people. It is bigger challenges that still remain: about a “minimum” subsistence level of providing health care, education and job living rather than a “reasonable” level of security for all, and achieving gender living. Many scholars advocate that we equality and dignity for the poor. These will be even bigger tasks. must broaden the concept into ☛☞✌✍✎ ✏✑✒✓✔✕✖. A large number of people may Summary You have seen in this chapter that poverty has many dimensions. Normally, this is measured through the concept of “poverty line”. Through this concept we analysed main global and national trends in poverty. But in recent years, analysis of poverty is becoming rich through a variety of new concepts like social exclusion. Similarly, the challenge is becoming bigger as scholars are broadening the concept into ❤ ✁✂✄ ♣☎✆✝✞✟✠✡ Exercises 1. Describe how the poverty line is estimated in India. 2. Do you think that present methodology of poverty estimation is appropriate? 3. Describe poverty trends in India since 1973. 4. Discuss the major reasons for poverty in India. 5. Identify the social and economic groups which are most vulnerable to poverty in India. 6. Give an account of interstate disparities in poverty in India. 7. Describe global poverty trends. 8. Describe current government strategy of poverty alleviation. 9. Answer the following questions briefly (i) What do you understand by human poverty? (ii) Who are the poorest of the poor? (iii) What are the main features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005? 40 Economics

References DEATON, ANGUS AND VALERIE KOZEL (Eds.) 2005. ❚ ✁ ✂✄✁☎✆ ✝✞✟✠☎✞ ✡☛☞✁✄✆✌ ✍✁✎☎✆✁. MacMillan India Limited, New Delhi. Economic Survey 2002–2003. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi. (Chapter on social sectors, [Online web] URL: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ es_2002–03/social.htm) Economic Survey 2004–2005. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi. (Chapter on social sectors, [Online web] URL: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ es_2004–05/social.htm) Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan 2002–2007. Planning Commission, New Delhi. Part II, Chapter 7: Poverty Elimination and Rural Employment, [Online web] URL: http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/midterm/english- pdf/chapter -07.pdf National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. [Online web] URL: http:// rural.nic.in/rajaswa.pdf Tenth Five Year Plan 2002–2007. Planning Commission, New Delhi. (Chapter 3.2, Poverty Alleviation in Rural India: Strategy and Programmes, [Online web] URL: http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/10th/volume2/ v2_ch3_2.pdf World Development Report 2000–2001. Attacking Poverty, The World Bank, Oxford University Press, Delhi. Poverty as a Challenge 41

4 Food Security in India Chapter Overview In the 1970s, food security was understood as the “availability at all times • Food security means availability, of adequate supply of basic foodstuffs” accessibility and affordability of food (UN, 1975). Amartya Sen added a new to all people at all times. The poor dimension to food security and households are more vulnerable to food emphasised the “access” to food through insecurity whenever there is a problem what he called ‘entitlements’ — a of production or distribution of food combination of what one can produce, crops. Food security depends on the exchange in the market alongwith state Public Distribution System (PDS), or other socially provided supplies. Government vigilance and action at Accordingly, there has been a substantial times when this security is threatened. shift in the understanding of food security. The 1995 World Food Summit declared, What is food security? “Food security at the individual, household, regional, national and global Food is as essential for living as air is for levels exists when all people, at all times, breathing. But food security means have physical and economic access to something more than getting two square sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet meals. Food security has following their dietary needs and food preferences dimensions for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 1996, p.3). The declaration further recognises (a) ❛ ❛✁✂❛✄✁✂✁☎✆ ✝✞ ✞✝✝✟ means food that “poverty eradication is essential to production within the country, food improve access to food”. imports and the previous years stock stored in government granaries. a national disaster/calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami, (b) ❛✠✠✡☛☛✁✄✁✂✁☎✆ means food is within reach widespread failure of crops causing of every person. famine, etc. ❍✌✍ ✎✏ ✑✌✌✒ ✏✓✔✕✖✎✗✘ ✙✑✑✓✔✗✓✒ ✒✕✖✎✚✛ ✙ ✔✙❝✙✜✎✗✘✢ Due to a (c) ❛✞✞✝☞✟❛✄✁✂✁☎✆ implies that an individual natural calamity, say drought, total has enough money to buy sufficient, production of foodgrains decreases. It safe and nutritious food to meet one's creates a shortage of food in the affected dietary needs. areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up. At the high prices, some people Thus, food security is ensured in a cannot afford to buy food. If such calamity country only if (1) enough food is available happens in a very wide spread area or is for all the persons (2) all persons have stretched over a longer time period, it the capacity to buy food of acceptable may cause a situation of starvation. quality and (3) there is no barrier on A massive starvation might take a turn access to food. of famine. Why food security? ❆ ✣❛✤✁✥✡ ✁☛ ✠✦❛☞❛✠☎✡☞✁☛✡✟ ✄✆ ✧✁✟✡ ☛s☞✡❛✟ ✟✡❛☎✦☛ ✟★✡ ☎✝ ☛☎❛☞ ❛☎✁✝✥ ❛✥✟ The poorest section of the society might be food insecure most of the times while persons above the poverty line might also be food insecure when the country faces 42 Economics

❡✣✤✦❡✧✤★✩ ★✪✫✩❡✦ ✬✭ ✮✯✰★❡✦ ✫✩❡ ✯✮ Do you know who were affected the ★✯❝✱✪✧✤❝✪✱❡✦ ✲✪✱❡✰ ✯✰ ✦❡★✪✭✤❝✳ ✮✯✯✦ ✪❝✦ most by the famine? The agricultural ❧✯✩✩ ✯✮ ✬✯✦✭ ✰❡✩✤✩✱✪❝★❡ ✦✫❡ ✱✯ ✲❡✪✴❡❝✤❝✳ labourers, fishermen, transport ✮✰✯✧ ✩✱✪✰❢✪✱✤✯❝✵ workers and other casual labourers were affected the most by dramatically The most devastating famine that increasing price of rice. They were the ones who died in this famine. occurred in India was the FAMINE OF BENGAL in 1943. This famine killed thirty lakh people in the province of Bengal. Table 4.1: Production of Rice in the Province of Bengal Year Production Imports Exports Total Availability (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) (Lakh tonnes) 1938 85 – – 85 04 – 83 1939 79 03 – 85 02 – 70 1940 82 – 01 92 03 – 79 1941 68 1942 93 1943 76 ❙✙✚✛✜✢: Sen, A.K, 1981 Page 61 Let’sDiscuss 1. Some people say that the Bengal famine happened because there was a shortage of rice. Study the table and find out whether you agree with the statement? 2. Which year shows a drastic decline in food availability? Picture 4.1 ✥✆✠✁✔✠✆✂✌✄ ✔✂✗✆✂☞✕ ✠✁✁✂✔✂✄☎ ✠✆ ✠ Picture 4.2 ❉ ✁✂✄☎ ✆✝✞ ✟✞✄☎✠✡ ☛✠☞✂✄✞ ✌✍ ✁✞✡✂✞✍ ✗✞✄✆✁✞✒ ✶✎✏r✘ ✶✎✏✑✒ ✠ ✍✠☞✂✡✓ ✡✞✠✔✞✕ ✂✆✕ ✔✂✡✡✠☎✞ ✂✄ ✐✝✂✆✆✠☎✌✄☎ ✖✂✕✆✁✂✗✆ ✂✄ ✟✞✄☎✠✡✘ Food Security in India 43

Suggested Activity engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure bare (a) What do you see in Picture 4.1? survival. (b) Which age group is seen in the first Story of Ramu picture? Ramu works as a casual labourer (c) Can you say that the family shown in in agriculture in Raipur village. His the Picture 4.2 is a poor family? why? eldest son Somu who is 10 years old (d) Can you imagine the source of also works as a ♣ ✁✂ to look after the livelihood of the people, (shown in two Pictures) before the occurrence of cattle of the Sarpanch of the village famine? (In the context of a village) Satpal Singh. Somu is employed for the whole year by the Sarpanch and (e) Find out what type of help is given to is paid a sum of Rs 1,000 for this the victims of a natural calamity at a work. Ramu has three more sons relief camp. and two daughters but they are too young to work on the field. His wife (f ) Have you ever helped such victims (in Sunhari is also (part time) working the form of money, food, clothes, as house cleaner for the livestock, medicines etc.) removing and managing cow dung. She gets ½ litre milk and some PROJECT WORK: Gather more cooked food along with vegetables information about famines in India. for her daily work. Besides she also works in the field along with her Nothing like the Bengal Famine has husband in the busy season and happened in India again. But it is supplements his earnings. disturbing to note that even today, there Agriculture being a seasonal are places like Kalahandi and Kashipur activity employs Ramu only during in Orissa where famine-like conditions times of sowing, transplanting and have been existing for many years and harvesting. He remains unemployed where some starvation deaths have also for about 4 months during the been reported. Starvation deaths are also period of plant consolidation and reported in Baran district of Rajasthan, maturing in a year. He looks for Palamau district of Jharkhand and many work in other activities. Some times other remote areas during the recent he gets employment in brick laying years. Therefore, food security is needed or in construction activities in the in a country to ensure food at all times. village. By all his efforts, Ramu is able to earn enough either in cash Who are food-insecure? or kind for him to buy essentials for two square meals for his family. Although a large section of people suffer However, during the days when he from food and nutrition insecurity in is unable to get some work, he and India, the worst affected groups are his family really face difficulties and landless people with little or no land to sometimes his small kids have to depend upon, traditional artisans, sleep without food. Milk and providers of traditional services, petty self- vegetables are not a regular part of employed workers and destitutes meals in the family. Ramu is food including beggars. In the urban areas, the insecure during 4 months when he food insecure families are those whose remains unemployed because of the working members are generally employed seasonal nature of agriculture work. in ill-paid occupations and casual labour market. These workers are largely 44 Economics

Let’sDiscuss run his family even with small earnings from rickshaw-pulling? • Why is agriculture a seasonal activity? The social composition along with the • Why is Ramu unemployed for about inability to buy food also plays a role in food insecurity. The SCs, STs and some four months in a year? sections of the OBCs (lower castes among • What does Ramu do when he is them) who have either poor land-base or very low land productivity are prone to unemployed? food insecurity. The people affected by • Who are supplementing income in natural disasters, who have to migrate to other areas in search of work, are also Ramu’s family? among the most food insecure people. A • Why does Ramu face difficulty when high incidence of malnutrition prevails among women. This is a matter of serious he is unable to have work? concern as it puts even the unborn baby • When is Ramu food insecure? at the risk of malnutrition. A large proportion of pregnant and nursing Story of Ahmad mothers and children under the age of 5 years constitute an important segment of Ahmad is a rickshaw puller in the food insecure population. Bangalore. He has shifted from Jhumri Taliah along with his 3 According to the National Health and brothers, 2 sisters and old parents. Family Survey (NHFS) 1998–99, the number of such women and children is He stays in a ❥ ✁✂✂✄. The survival of approximately 11 crore. all members of his family depends on The food insecure people are his daily earnings from pulling disproportionately large in some regions rickshaw. However, he does not have of the country, such as economically a secured employment and his backward states with high incidence of earnings fluctuate every day. During poverty, tribal and remote areas, regions some days he gets enough earning for more prone to natural disasters etc. In him to save some amount after buying fact, the states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern all his day-to-day necessities. On and south-easter n parts), Bihar, other days, he barely earns enough Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, to buy his daily necessities. However, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and fortunately, Ahmad has a yellow card, Maharasthra account for largest number which is PDS Card for below poverty of food insecure people in the country. line people. With this card, Ahmad gets sufficient quantity of wheat, rice, Hunger is another aspect indicating sugar and kerosene oil for his daily food insecurity. Hunger is not just an use. He gets these essentials at half expression of poverty, it brings about of the market price. He purchases his poverty. The attainment of food security monthly stock during a particular day therefore involves eliminating current when the ration shop is opened for hunger and reducing the risks of future below poverty people. In this way, hunger. Hunger has chronic and seasonal Ahmad is able to eke out his survival dimensions. Chronic hunger is a with less than sufficient earnings for consequence of diets persistently his big family where he is the only inadequate in terms of quantity and/or earning member. Let’sDiscuss • Does Ahmad have a regular income from rickshaw-pulling? • How does the yellow card help Ahmad Food Security in India 45

quality. Poor people suffer from chronic Picture 4.3 ✥ ☛✂✁☞✌✁ ☛✁✍☞ ✎ ✆✏✂☎ ✑✒✂✆✓✔✆✕ ✔✆ hunger because of their very low income ✂ ☛✔✌✄✓ ✍☛ ✍✆✌ ✍☛ ✒❛✌ ✖✔✕❛ ✗✔✌✄✓✔✆✕ and in turn inability to buy food even for ❱✂✁✔✌✒✔✌✑ ✍☛ ✘❛✌✂✒ ✍✆ ✘❛✔✙❛ ✒❛✌ survival. Seasonal hunger is related to ●✁✌✌✆ ❘✌✚✍✄ ✒✔✍✆ ✔✑ ☎✂✑✌✓✛ cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the special stamp entitled ‘Wheat seasonal nature of agricultural activities Revolution’ in July 1968. The success and in urban areas because of the casual of wheat was later replicated in rice. The labour, e.g., there is less work for casual increase in foodgrains was, however, construction labour during the rainy disproportionate. The highest rate of season. This type of hunger exists when growth was achieved in Punjab and a person is unable to get work for the Haryana, where foodgrain production entire year. jumped from 7.23 million tonnes in 1964–65 to reach an all-time high of Table 4.2: Percentage of Households with 30.33 million tonnes in 1995–96. ‘Hunger’ in India Production in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and the Type of hunger northeastern states continued to stagger. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Year Seasonal Chronic Total Pradesh, on the other hand, recorded significant increases in rice yield. ❘ ✁✂✄ 16.2 2.3 18.5 4.2 0.9 5.1 SuggestedActivity 1983 2.6 0.7 3.3 1993–94 Visit some farms in a nearby village and 1999–2000 collect the details of food crops cultivated by the farmers. ❯✁☎✂✆ 5.6 0.8 6.4 0.5 1.6 Food Security in India 1983 0.3 0.9 Since the advent of the Green revolution 1993–94 1.1 in the early-’70s, the country has avoided famine even during adverse weather 1999–2000 0.6 conditions. ❙✝✞✟✠✡: Sagar (2004) India has become self-sufficient in foodgrains during the last thirty years The percentage of seasonal as well as because of a variety of crops grown all chronic hunger has declined in India as over the country. The availability of shown in the above table. foodgrains (even in adverse weather conditions or otherwise) at the country India is aiming at Self-sufficiency in level has further been ensured with a Foodgrains since Independence. After independence, Indian policy makers adopted all measures to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India adopted a new strategy in agriculture, which resulted in the ‘Green Revolution’ especially in the production of wheat and rice. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, officially recorded the impressive strides of the Green revolution in agriculture by releasing a 46 Economics

Graph 4.1: Production of Foodgrains in India (Million Tonnes) ✷ ✁ ✷✁✁ ✶ ✁ ✶✁✁  ✁ ✁ ✶✂✄✁☎✄✶ ✶✂✆✁☎✆✶ ✶✂✝✁☎✝✶ ✶✂✂✁☎✂✶ ✷✁✁✁☎✁✶ ✷✁✁✶☎✁✷ ✷✁✁✷☎✁✞ ✷✁✁✞☎✁✟ ❙✠✡☛☞✌: Economic Survey 2004–05. Let’sDiscuss before the sowing season to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the Study the Graph 4.1 and answer the production of these crops. The purchased following questions: foodgrains are stored in granaries. Do you know why this buffer stock is created (a) In which year did our country cross by the government? This is done to the 200 million tonnes per year mark distribute foodgrains in the deficit areas in foodgrain production? and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price (b) In which decade did India experience also known as Issue Price. This also the highest decadal increase in helps resolve the problem of shortage of foodgrain production? food during adverse weather conditions or during the periods of calamity. (c) Is production increase consistent in India since 2000–01? What is the Public Distribution System? carefully designed food security system by the government. This system has two The food procured by the FCI is components: (a) buffer stock and (b) public distributed through government distribution system. regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. This is called the What is Buffer stock? public distribution system (PDS). Ration shops are now present in most localities, Buffer Stock is the stock of foodgrains, villages, towns and cities. There are namely wheat and rice procured by the about 4.6 lakh ration shops all over the government through Food Corporation country. Ration shops also known as Fair of India (FCI). The FCI purchases wheat Price Shops keep stock of foodgrains, and rice from the farmers in states sugar, kerosene oil for cooking. These where there is surplus production. The items are sold to people at a price lower farmers are paid a pre-announced price than the market price. Any family with for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price. The MSP is declared by the government every year Food Security in India 47

a ration card* can buy a stipulated amount The introduction of Rationing in India of these items (e.g. 35 kg of grains, 5 litres dates back to the 1940s against the of kerosene, 5 kgs of sugar etc.) every backdrop of the Bengal famine. The month from the nearby ration shop. rationing system was revived in the wake of an acute food shortage during the *There are three kinds of ration cards: 1960s, prior to the Green Revolution. In (a) Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the wake of the high incidence of poverty the poor; (b) BPL cards for those below levels, as reported by the NSSO in the poverty line; and (c) APL cards for all mid-1970s, three important food others. intervention programmes were introduced: Public Distribution System SuggestedActivity (PDS) for food grains (in existence earlier but strengthened thereafter); Integrated Visit your area’s ration shop and get the Child Development Services (ICDS) following details (introduced in 1975 on an experimental basis) and Food-for -Work** (FFW) 1. When does the ration shop open? (introduced in 1977–78). Over the years, 2. What are the items sold at the ration several new programmes have been launched and some have been shop? restructured with the growing experience 3. Compare the prices of rice and sugar of administering the programmes. At present, there are several Poverty from the ration shop with the prices Alleviation Programmes (PAPs), mostly in at any other grocery shop? (for families rural areas, which have an explicit food below poverty line) component also. While some of the programmes such as PDS, mid-day meals 4. Find out: etc. are exclusively food security Do you have a ration card? programmes, most of the PAPs also What has your family recently bought enhance food security. Employment with this card from the ration shop? programmes greatly contribute to food Are there any problems that they face? security by increasing the income of Why are ration shops necessary? the poor. Suggested Activity Gather detailed information about some of the programmes initiated by the government, which have food component. Hint: Rural wage employment programme, Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sampurna Grameen Rojgar Yojana, Mid Day Meal, Integrated Child Development Services, etc. Discuss with your teacher. € ✁✂✄☎✆ ✝✞✝ 48 Economics