India : Achievements and Challenges in Reducing Poverty Book

Poverty in India, like its population, is predominantly rural but remarkably responsive to economic growth. As the economy grows, poverty diminishes, faster when growth is strong, slower when it is not. India's progress in reducing poverty has been uneven as well as slow. The range in poverty reduction among states is so wide that Kerala's progress in lowering the headcount index of poverty is more than 120 times that of Bihar and more than four times that of Rajasthan. Even more noticeable than geographic differences in rates of progress in reducing poverty incidence are the inequalities that persist across gender, castes, and ethnic groups. Social indicators for women are markedly lower than for men, and the level of scheduled castes and tribes in both economic and social achievements is still below the national average. Whether male or female or low caste, landless wage-earners continue to be at the bottom of the economic ladder. Besides slow growth, another important force accounting for the slow progress in poverty reduction is investment in human resources. India's record in this respect, has been spotty at best. Health care and education for the poor have been neglected. As a result, half of India's labor force is illiterate and tens of millions of primary-school-age children are working rather than learning while their parents, especially their mothers, languish in illiteracy. The reforms India started in 1991 hold the promise of considerable improvements in the living standards of the country's 300 million poor. By reexamining its commitment to economic liberalization, and redirecting towards infrastructure, health, and education the large resources now absorbed by subsidies,India can give its long battle to reduce poverty a new impetus.