Revision summary
Schemes have reduced extreme want but have not removed the causes of poverty. Leakage and weak public services stop benefits from becoming a lasting exit. Landlessness, casual work, and regional and caste concentration keep people poor. Urban rents and informal jobs create new poverty beside rural programmes. Headcount depends on the poverty line; pockets remain even when the average improves.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD P[Programmes] --> N[Net food work cash] S[Land caste informality region] --> W[Want continues] L[Leakage weak school clinic] --> W N --> F[Poverty falls but remains]
Conclusion
- Combine work, food, health, and skills so a household has an exit path, not only a safety net.
- Fix targeting and local capacity; a well-designed scheme fails if the panchayat and the clinic are empty.
Poverty remains because programmes treat symptoms while land, job quality, caste, and region still produce want. Eradication needs secure livelihoods and public services, not only a longer list of schemes.
Quick related
Students also ask
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How the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism? Discuss.
Next question in the 2018 paper (Q10). View answer →
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Have poverty programmes failed completely?
No. Hunger and extreme deprivation have fallen in many series. The question is why a large residue and new urban poor remain.
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Is growth enough to end poverty?
Growth helps when it creates regular work. Without land rights, health, and inclusion of caste and tribal belts, growth leaves pockets behind.
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