The Indian Economy Since 1991, 2nd Edition

31

Trends and Patterns of Poverty in India

B. A. Prakash

31.1 Introduction

High incidence of poverty among the majority of the rural and urban population has been the basic socio-economic problem faced by India since Independence. The main thrust of the economic policies and planning during the last six decades in India has been to reduce poverty. A number of poverty alleviation schemes were implemented by the Union Government since the early 1970s. The official estimates on poverty shows that the poverty ratio which was 55 per cent in 1973–74 fell to 27.5 per cent in 2004–05. Though there had been a decline in the poverty ratio, poverty still remains as the most severe socio-economic problem of the country. More than 30 crore people were living ...