POVERTY AND HUNGER

Published on 17 Feb 2025

Relation poverty, development and hunger

India is the nation accommodating the maximum number of poor population, with 14.96% of the population being multidimensionally poor. India’s position in the Global Hunger Index has also been low with 111th out of 125 nations. Development deficit is a reason for both these issues, and the former getting widened due to persistent levels of poverty and hunger.

How poverty leads to hunger

✔     Accessibility of food: Poverty results in limited access to quality food, which leads to hunger. Even when food is available, a lack of nutritious food will lead to undernourishment.

●      Example: Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are noted for high undernourishment rates. These states also have high levels of poverty.

✔     Affordability of food: Food inflation has increased the price of basic food items, thus making them highly unaffordable for the poor.

●      Example: In November 2023, food inflation was more than 8%, with vegetable inflation at 17% and cereal inflation at 10%.

✔     Poor infrastructure support: Poverty limits access to storage mechanisms to store surplus food grains, which could have been used when food is in deficit.

●      Example: Lack of storage is the prime reason behind India losing 5% to 13% of fruits & vegetables and 3% to 7% of other crops. This food wastage disproportionately affects the poor.

✔     Less potential for education: This reduces their potential for future growth, leading to long-term hunger.

✔     Lack of resilience: Poor people are more vulnerable to climate risks, recessions, pandemics etc. Lack of savings reduces their resilience, thus limiting their access to food.

●      Example: Vulnerability to floods has been a major reason for crop loss in Northeast India, leading to food crisis in the region, especially among the poor.

How poverty leads to development crisis

✔     Limited access to quality education: A deficit in quality education hinders the employability of the population. This hinders investment and scope for development.

●      Example: Around 78% of colleges in India are privately managed, making it unaffordable for the poor to have admission to these institutions.

✔     Low investment in healthcare: An unhealthy population can be an economic liability that exhibits a lack of productivity. This pulls down overall development.

●      Example: As per NITI Aayog, the mean out-of-pocket expenditure for healthcare in India is 14660, which is a significant sum for the poor people.

✔     Social instability: Poor people are more vulnerable to resource deficit conflicts and identity conflicts, which inhibits the future development potential of the region.

✔     Low consumption level: Since the poor have little to purchase, there is little motivation to produce. Also, the lack of savings brings down investment, which leads to a development deficit.

●      Example: As per Azim Premji Report, around 23 crore Indians were pushed into poverty during COVID. This reduced demand, which hindered production, leading to economic slowdown.

✔     Less choices: Poverty offers very little freedom for the person to choose from. This lack of freedom to choose the best itself shows a development crisis.

✔     Low tax base: Government cannot tax the poor, which reduces the revenue side of the government. Less public spending inevitably leads to a development deficit.

●      Example: Only around 6% of India’s population file IT returns which is very low when compared to European economies.

How development crisis reinforces poverty and hunger

✔     Less scope for human development: A less developed economy invests little in education, health and nutrition, which reduces human capacity, thus pushing them to poverty.

●      Example: The investment in education and health by eastern states in India has been low when compared to southern states.

✔     Poor logistics network: Lack of proper connectivity hinders the supply of food and resources to deficit regions, which directly contributes to increased hunger.

●      Example: Development deficit in the left-wing extremist regions of the country has resulted in poor logistics which hinder the supply of resources.

✔     Unemployment and underemployment: Development deficit hinders investment and limits job opportunities, leading to unemployment. The lack of quality avenues also increases underemployment.

●      Example: The unemployment rate in Northeast India is 5.73% while the average Indian rate is 3.4%. The development deficit is a primary reason for this unemployment.

✔     Economic instability: A nation short of development cannot adequately absorb shocks These shocks indiscriminately affect the poor, thus increasing the intensity of poverty.

✔     Poor storage and processing: Underdeveloped regions invest less in post-harvest, which results in increased food wastage. This leads to increased poverty and hunger.

✔     Limited access to finance: Development deficit hinders the flow of investment and restricts financial penetration. Thus, people have limited access to credit at an affordable rate.

●      Example: Financial penetration is maximum in Southern India while it is the least in Eastern India.

Way forward

✔     Planned welfare spending: Proper channelization of funds under poverty alleviation programmes to improve the capacity of poor people.

✔     Invest in human development: Better spending on education, skilling and health is the route to address development deficit and poverty in the longer term.

✔     Income stability: Formalization of employment, universal social security, unemployment allowances etc. to ensure more economic stability.

✔     Address infrastructure deficit: This could address the development shortage and attract more investment to drive better growth.

Thus, development, poverty and hunger are correlated with each having a cause-effect relation on one another. Hence a holistic approach to tackle all three would only serve the purpose.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

1.               Besides the welfare schemes, India needs deft management of inflation and unemployment to serve the poor and the underprivileged sections of society. Discuss. (2022)

2.               Can the vicious cycle of gender inequality, poverty and malnutrition be broken through microfinancing of women SHGs? Explain with examples (2021)

3.                “The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone”. In this context analyse the latest United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index Report. (2020)

4.               There is a growing divergence in the relationship between poverty and hunger in India. The shrinking of social expenditure by the government is forcing the poor to spend more on Non-Food essential items squeezing their food – budget. - Elucidate (2019)

5.               How far do you agree with the view that the focus on lack of availability of food as the main cause of hunger takes the attention away from ineffective human development policies in India? (2018)

6.               Hunger and Poverty are the biggest challenges for good governance in India still today. Evaluate how far successive governments have progressed in dealing with these humongous problems. Suggest measures for improvement. (2017)

7.               ‘To ensure effective implementation of policies addressing water, sanitation and hygiene needs, the identification of beneficiary segments is to be synchronized with the anticipated outcomes’. Examine the statement in the context of the WASH scheme. (2017).

8.               Though there have been several different estimates of poverty in India, all indicate reduction in poverty levels over time. Do you agree? Critically examine with reference to urban and rural poverty indicators. (2015)

9.               Identify the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are related to health. Discuss the success of the actions taken by the Government for achieving the same. (2013)

Tags:
Social Justice

Keywords:
Poverty Hunger Development

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Social Justice