Chapter – 3

Poverty as a Challenge

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of Class 9 Social Science Chapter 3 (Poverty as a Challenge) in English. These Important Questions are useful for the students who are going to appear in Class 9 exams.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, Bihar Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 9
Subject	Social Science
Chapter no.	Chapter 3
Chapter Name	(Poverty as a Challenge)
Category	Class 9 Social Science Important Questions in English
Medium	English

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

Q1. Name the two poorest states in India.

Ans. Bihar and Odisha

Q2. What is poverty?

Ans. Poverty refers to a situation in which a person is not able to get the minimum basic necessities of life eg. 
food, clothing, shelter etc. for his or her sustenance.

Q3. What is the poverty line?

Ans. Poverty Line: A person is considered poor if his or her income or consumption level falls below a given “minimum level” necessary to fulfill basic needs. This minimum level is referred to as Poverty Line.

Q4. What is the accepted average calorie requirement for a person per day in urban areas?

Ans. 2100 calorie

Q5 Why is calorie requirement of a person in rural area higher than the calorie requirement of a person of urban area?

Ans. Because, people living in rural areas engage themselves in more physical work than the people of urban areas.

Q6 Which organization in India carries the periodical survey for the estimation of poverty?

Ans. National Sample Survey Organisation.

Q7 Which standard is used by the World Bank for the estimation of poverty line?

Ans. The World Bank uses a uniform standard for poverty line: minimum availability of the equivalent of USD 1.90 (at present) per person per day.

Q8 Mention any two social groups that are most vulnerable to poverty.

Ans.  Schedule Tribes (ST) and Schedule Castes (SC).

Q9 Why has Kerala succeeded in reducing poverty?

Ans. By focusing more on human resource development.

Q10 What is the main reason for the poverty reduction in Punjab and Haryana?

Ans.  High agricultural growth rates.

Q11. What is the historical reason for the widespread poverty in India?

Ans. Low level of economic development during the British era.

Q12. ‘The current anti-poverty strategy of the government is based broadly on two planks’. Mention these two  planks.

Ans. (a) promotion of economic growth and, (b) targeted anti-poverty programmes.

Q13. Which Act guarantees minimum 100 days employment per person per year in rural areas?

Ans. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-2005.

Q14, Which scheme has been started to create self-employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural areas?

Ans. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)

 

Short/ Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. How is poverty seen by social scientists?

Ans. Poverty as seen by social scientists:

• Poverty relates to the level of income and consumption.
• Apart from this, poverty is looked through other social indicators like illiteracy level, lack of general resistance due to malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare, lack of job opportunities, lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation etc.

Q2. How is the poverty line determined in India?

Ans. Determination of Poverty Line in India: Poverty Line is determined by the following basis:

• Caloric requirement: The accepted average caloric requirement in India is 2400 calories per person per day in
  rural areas and 2100 calories per person per day in urban areas.
• Income/consumption: The monetary expenditure per capita needed for buying the requisite calorie requirements in tennis of food grains etc. is calculated. It is revised periodically taking into consideration the rise in prices. On the basis of these calculations, for the year 2011-12, the poverty line for a person was fixed at Rs.972 per month for the rural areas and Rs.1000 for the urban areas. These estimates were given by Tendulkar committee. However, the then Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) had appointed another committee in 2012 under the chairmanship of C. Rangrajan. The Rangarajan Committee submitted its report in June, 2014. It raised the Poverty Line for rural area to Rs. 972 and for urban areas to Rs. 1407. (Source- niti.gov.in)

Q3. The proportion of people below poverty line is not same for all social groups and economic categories in India’. Explain.

Ans.

• Data suggests that some social groups and economic categories are more vulnerable than others in India.
• Among the social groups, Schedule Tribes and Schedule Castes households are most vulnerable groups.
• Similarly, among the economic groups, the most vulnerable groups are the rural agricultural labour households and the urban casual labour households.
• The proportion of people below poverty line in these groups is much higher than the national average in India.

Q4. What are the main reasons of poverty in India?

Ans. Causes of Poverty:

• Policies of the British era.
• Low economic growth after independence up to eighties.
• Population growth.
• Limited success of Green Revolution.
• Unequal distribution of land and other resources.
• Socio-cultural factors.

Q5. Describe the current anti-poverty strategy of the government in India?

Ans. Anti-Poverty measures: Two strategies:

Promotion of economic growth

There is a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction. Economic growth widens opportunities and provides the resources needed to invest in human development. However, the poor may not be able to take
advantage from the opportunities created by economic growth. 

Growth also increases the government revenues and consequently, it could afford the programmes for poverty reduction. That is why these two strategies are also known as complementary to each other.

Targeted anti-poverty programmes

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-2005.
• Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana(PMRY)
• Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
• Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana
• Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

Q6. Mention the important features of Mahatma Gandhi’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-2005

Ans. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act- 2005

• Aim- Assuring employment to every rural household.
• Minimum 100 days of assured employment in a year.
• One-third jobs are reserved for women.
• If an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days s/he is entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
• Wage as per the Minimum Wages Act.

Q7. Mention the important features of Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana.

Ans. Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)

• Started in 1993.
• Aim- To create self employment opportunities for educated unemployed youth in rural and small towns.
• Help in setting up small business and industries.

Q8. Suggest some ways to reduce poverty in India.

Ans. The challenges ahead and new approaches in poverty reduction

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations calls for ending the extreme poverty by 2030. In this context, reduction of poverty requires innovative approaches in our country. Further, with development, it is expected that the definition of poverty would change. Though, we have been able to maintain high economic growth in the last 20 years, but this has not resulted in creating large number of employment. Further, we need to make anti-poverty schemes more effective. Following new approaches are worth mentioning here:

• Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar and Mobile (JAM)- This trinity could play an important role in widening the reach of the government to the vulnerable sections. This would prevent the leakages in the distribution in the long run.
• Universal Basic Income- It is considered as an alternative to various state subsidies for poverty alleviation conomic Survey, 2017). Though it is still at discussion level, the Universal Basic Income envisages paying the beneficiaries directly into their bank accounts to help reduce leakage.

Q9, Why do you find a strong link between economic growth and poverty reduction in India? Give reasons.

Ans. Economic growth and poverty reduction: interconnection The economic growth up to the early eighties, 1980s and 1990s and the level of poverty is a direct evidence of connection between economic growth and poverty reduction. But, the question arises how the growth helps in the reduction of poverty? Conceptually, rapid economic
growth works through two channels:

• It creates well-paid jobs and raises real wages. Both factors raise incomes of poor households thereby directly reducing the poverty. Further, with increased income, the households are able to spend in education and health services. This spending in education and health helps in the reduction of poverty in the long run. More income leads to more investment in businesses and industries thereby creating more employment, and consequently reduction in poverty.
• Rapid economic growth leads to growth in government revenues. The government uses these increased revenues in running various welfare programmes. It is because of the increasing revenue that India could afford Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and near universal Public Distribution System (PDS).

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