Comments on: Whose poor is poor?

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:23:25 +0000

All the new so called progress is just because the CEO wants to have cheap Indian service labor. Slavery is back but it is by the Internet. As the backlash against outsourcing and CEOs increases in the West in the global crisis, India will be the main looser. Nehru and its founder wants socialist India for the poors but the Brahman caste want the capitalism so only few gets the benefits while rest loose. With this much population and caste system and a downturn economy based on service sectors. It is a real challenge to the shining India.

By: B

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:40:42 +0000

I think it’s a very though provoking article. If we want to truly improve ourselves then we need keep the bar as high as possible. When we say that a person earning 16Rs a day is no longer poor, then we are just living in a fool’s paradise. I think it is time we put more thought while assessing the quality of life each citizen of our country has. The question is not just about having two meals a day, but things like education, health care, housing, social justice are all equally important for anyone to have a dignified life.

I think we have done reasonably good job in reducing poverty since independence, but much of the work still needs to be done and we need realistic statistics to know if we are on the right path.

By: Kumkum Roy

Kumkum Roy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:17:51 +0000

An insightful column–do hope it has some impact,
kumkum

By: Merchant M S

Merchant M S — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:29:49 +0000

No need of statistics and figures. One has to travel in an unbook compartment of Delhi Janta Express from Mumbai to Delhi, and one shall see the real Bharat. Poverty, hunger and disease.

By: neha

neha — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:39:57 +0000

Very well said but i dont agree with the world bank report which says that almost half of our country are poor…thats just a way of showing and reinforcing the statement that we are underdeveloped or so called “third world” country.

By: john

john — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:29:20 +0000

absolutely true.it is far better to over estimate than to under estimate, as economic policies and government plans are defined by these.

By: Subhash

Subhash — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:15:35 +0000

Every Individual has a minimum knowledge to over the issue of poverty and can use their facilities in such a way where all the Indians can meet at a point to strike – off it. And then there won’t be any kind of worries to think.

By: Arun

Arun — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:09:18 +0000

The estimation of poverty should be as objective as possible since it decides financial allocations for poverty alleviation programmes. Underestimation will lead to allotment of small share of national resources for poverty alleviation.it neccesitates to follow a proper methodology to measure it and ensure inclusive growth.

By: renee

renee — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:52:31 +0000

KUDOS to Net Comment!

As someone from the U.S., and not having been in India since the mid-1980′s for a 6-week trip, I say….

Yes, self-sustaining villages/communities are a terrific idea economically and culturally. It’s about time people with skills (or who will soon acquire “skills”) form protection around themselves to become self-sustaining, and to stop looking to the government for help (if it gives help at all??). Certainly, there are many business minded individuals in India who can teach basic economics, “manufacturing” their own wares, distribution, cost analysis, marketing, computer use, etc. to their own people. If folks in villages kept their focus on unifying their talents, and then marketing the goods they produce, using a business model, they then can pass this information onto their children, become self-sustaining, and get out of poverty.

As far as statistics go, who is to say? Anyone who is not Indian and travels there can see first hand the number of beggars on the street and children and teenagers forced into prostitution. This is a disgrace to these people. Frankly, India, as other countries, needs more women in politics. Men in politics seem to turn away from despair and ignore “their own people.”

So, artisans in India could use a self-sustaining model to success, retaining their cultural identity, and also provide for themselves where the government has failed.

Also, birth control would help eradicate over-population and therefore reduce poverty immensely, not only in India but everywhere around the world. Why don’t “politicians” mention this? Why not discuss birth control, use it, reduce populations, reduce poverty and polution, and overtaxing of resources, reallocate resources and food evenly; all of this, I believe would help/balance an economy faster than any other method..birth control!

That said, the U.S. and Europe hopefully would not be able to continue its exploitation of Indian, African and Asian people. The more “a people” can become self-directed, the less dependency and therefore exploitation by others….. England and Belgium (is it) owe the India people SERIOUS financial assistance for plundering over the years…..

Birth control = reducing poverty = self-sustaining, self-directed communities = happier, healthier, financially responsible people!

By: suman

suman — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:45:13 +0000

The published percentage of us living below poverty line doesn’t make much sense till the commodity basket is correctly defined taking into consideration the services part getting a proper representation. Once we have done that we can work on finding how many of us can or can’t afford the basket. Even after this we will still not take into account the absence of availability of primary education and basic health services.
If we want to have a inclusive growth we need to figure out how can we give primary education and basic health services to one and all.