The long colonial rule left India a poor and under developed country. As a result we have been facing several serious Problems since independence. Poverty is one of them.

Poverty means not possessing the ability to acquire the “Unimum basic need for a decent human existence like food, ning, shelter, education and health care. Those who are this t0 these needs are below the poverty line. Though acute problem is being faced by several parts of the world but India still has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Out of 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 350-400 million are unluckily below the poverty line.

The problem of poverty is wide spread in our country; it affects the development of the country by forming a vicious circle. A large number of people do not get proper nourishment. Therefore they become physically weak and are unable to work efficiently. For this reason the overall production declines which in turn affects the economic growth of the country. Since economic progress is hampered, people remain in the group of poverty.

Poverty seems to be a never-ending cycle. It has been seen that the children of poor parents, due to lack of poorer nourishment and education, turn out to be poor. It has also been seen that they also inherit a mindset of poverty. India’s Hindu caste system is also responsible for the existing poverty. The high caste people always exploited the poor low caste people. As a result generation after generation the poor remains poor and the rich always enjoys high standards of living. This is the reality which our country has been facing since long.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

There are three main causes of poverty in our country- deficiency in economic growth, lack of education and skills, and overpopulation. Our economy has no doubt grown and there has been development but it has failed to provide sufficient number of jobs, productivity and just wages, our population is increasing day by day and this is the root cause of all problems. If has marred the rate of economic growth. While jobs may have increased in number, our population has grown much faster. In such a situation it is really very difficult to promote the economy of our country.

So far education is concerned; it can play a key role in developing the country by removing poverty. But it is our bad luck that large mass of people are illiterate. They are bound to live in utter darkeners. After independence our governments have undoubtedly made great efforts to spread education throughout the country but progress in this field has been slow. The reason behind this is again over-population.

If we want to uproot poverty, we must check the rate of population growth. Once it is controlled, there would be no poverty, no hungers, and no unemployment. Everything will be on right track.