Basic Amenities Approach and Critical Assessment of Poverty Alleviation

The Fifth Five Year Plan expected this approach

• India was among the inventors in the world to visualize that through public expenditure on social consumption needs, education, subsidized food grains, water supply, health, and sanitation, people’s living standards could be enhanced
• Three critical programs whose goal is to improve the food and nutritional status of the poor are Integrated Child Development Scheme, Public Distribution System, and Midday Meal Scheme
• These are genuine attempts to develop infrastructures and housing conditioning programs like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana
• Some elderly people, poor women who are deprived, and widows are provided pension support under the National Social Assistance Programme
• People in India are encouraged to open bank accounts under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. This scheme promotes savings habits and means to move every one of the advantages of government plans and sponsorships to account holders straightforwardly

India has achieved satisfactory progress in many aspects under this approach

Poverty Alleviation Programmes- A Critical Assessment:

The poverty alleviation programs resulted in considerable development. The percentage of absolute poor in some states goes down the national average. However, certain limits have been observed.

Limitations:

• In many parts of India, lack of basic amenities, hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and malnourishment are common
• There is no radical change seen in the change in nomenclature, integration, or mutations of programs
• The benefits from direct poverty alleviation programs have been appropriated by the non-poor due to the unequal distribution of land and other assets
• The number of resources allocated for these programs is not adequate
• Furthermore, implementation primarily depends on government and bank officials for their implementation. But such officials are ill-motivated, corruption-prone, inappropriately trained,  and vulnerable to pressure from a variety of local elites. The resources are inefficiently used and wasted
• No active participation of local-level institutions in program implementation

Way Forward:

• Positive implementation of any program is not possible without the active participation of the poor
• Poverty can effectively be eliminated when the poor actively contribute to growth by their active involvement in the growth process
• Involvement can be ensured by social mobilization, empowering needy individuals to take part and get them enabled. This will likewise assist with setting out openwork doors which might prompt an expansion in degrees of pay, expertise development, wellbeing, and proficiency
• By distinguishing the destitution-stricken regions, it is important to give frameworks like schools, streets, power, telecom, IT administrations, preparing foundations, and so on in such regions

• Conclusion:- 

  According to the United Nations’ Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2018, 271 million people in India moved out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Over a ten-year period, the country’s poverty rate has nearly halved, falling from 55% to 28%. In India, a large portion of the population continues to live below the poverty line. Rapid economic growth and the use of technology for social sector programmes have contributed to a significant reduction in the country’s extreme poverty. Despite rapid growth and development, an unacceptably large proportion of our population remains impoverished on multiple fronts. To eradicate poverty in India, a more comprehensive and inclusive approach is required.