Poverty in the globalized words is multidimensional. This is so, as it rooted in various causes and also in multiple ways of eradicating it. India is one of the countries in the world that has high incidence of poverty eliciting a lot of concern from analysts and researches because of its scope and density. Research conducted in 2004-2005 estimated that approximately 27.5 percent of poverty incidence. This implied that approximately one quarter of the population was living below the poverty line. This paper will therefore focus on the cause of poverty in India as compared to other countries.
Poverty conventionally refers to the state of being extremely poor to an extent of not meeting the daily basic necessities. However, according to United Nations and World Bank, poverty has other definitions. The United Nations describes poverty as the violation of human rights or dignity where people are denied access to having basic necessities, opportunities as well as choices( Himanshu Sen, 2004). The World Bank goes further to describe poverty as the state of being deprived, in which the deprivation comprises of various factors( Ng et al.,2013) . These factors are inclusive of lack of education, good health facilities, security, water and sanitation, employment and lastly exploitation (Inhuman treatment).
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Corruption is one of the leading causes of poverty in India. Corruption is known to inhibit delivery of public services, as public funds in most directed to other channels that do not benefit the citizens ( Himanshu Sen, 2004 ).This further hinders progression and growth as the resources supposed to offer public services are scarce or not available. Additionally, when public resources are siphoned out off shore, many foreign investors are afraid of putting up worthy investments. This in most cases undermines the credibility of country, reduces the revenue collected from foreign investment. In poor countries like India, leaders have monopolistic control over most of the country’s resources. In case of misappropriation, it becomes difficult to hold them responsibility as the actions of the people are often conceived as weak. According to Mehta& Shah (2003), poor governance as a result of corruption causes a major obstacle in poverty reduction . Increase in corruption in India is as result of lack of transparency, accountability and low levels of bureaucracy in governance. India faces this challenge mostly in the public sectors especially in taxation, police department and customs. Corruption also results to income inequality as only the rich benefit from the loot in public resources. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen affecting economic growth and limiting poverty reduction.
High levels of illiteracy play a significant role in increasing the high rates of poverty. Education increases the opportunities for increase in earning and quality job which improves the quality of life of the citizens ( Himanshu Sen, 2004). In India, poverty level increases due lack of valuable and productive knowledge that can transform people into more valuable human capital which later not only leads to the economic growth of a country but improves the lives of people. Lack of proper skills in knowledge in certain areas such as reading, writing and communicating, often results to people making poor choices rather than informed decisions in matters of earnings. Lack of skilled labor significantly increases poverty as the population only get employed as casual laborers hence low wages. In India, approximately 22 % of the populations do not have education; in this percentages are without high school diplomas (Ng et al., 2012). Only approximately 4.5 percent have college and university degrees. Education is constitutive and instrumental in the role of development. It increases the development and the growth of country through increased incomes and reduction in unemployment rates.
Infrastructure is a key element in increased level of poverty as well as poverty alleviation. This is because it is a catalyst to enhancing economic development and in improving access to various facilities like health ( Ali& Pernia, 2003). In India, poor infrastructural development for many years has affected economic and social development leading to increased levels of poverty. In India, roads play a crucial role alone as for many years they have accounted for approximately seven percent of the aggregate economic growth. Rural areas in India contribute approximately two thirds of the non-farms jobs in the service sector. Lack of good roads in rural area contributes to the slow growth of industries. Products delivery into the market is inhibited which contributes to slow growth. Moreover, they sometimes reach to the market late and bought at throw away prices. The result is low paid wages to the employees due to the little growth seen in the industry as result of poor infrastructure. High poverty levels continue to increase as the income gap between the rich and the poor continue to growth. Electricity is also an infrastructural development that contributes to industrialization process. Industrialization provides employment to the growing population as the industries have enough energy. In developing countries, a retrospective view of rural electrification indicated that most industries increased from 18 to 86 after electrification. If India was to implement such as strategy there would be drastic growth in economic and employment rates ( Ali& Pernia, 2003).
Political stability affects the economic development and growth of a nation. Unstable political environment reduces the rate of investments as well as the speed of economic development ( Ng et al., 2013) . Political unrests happen due to violent demonstrations and sometimes coups that affect significantly the economic growth of a country. India is one of the countries that has high propensity for civil unrest, due to the demand by the people to the government to provide goods and services. Research shows that approximately over 40,000 people have been killed in the country since independence due to civil unrests (Ng et al., 2013). Civil unrest impairs economic performance hence exacerbating poverty in poor countries like India. The overall result is decline in a nation’s income per capita which ultimately increase the poverty level.
Researchers have argued that the biggest problem facing India is the high growing population. India’s urban population has been on the increases, since 1990. In a period of approximately 20 years, the population growth has been estimated to be about 29 percent ( Himanshu Sen, 2004). This means that the urban and rural poverty rates are almost converging due to increased population growth which in most cases increases the poverty levels. In high population, the consumption rate of the population in terms of infrastructure, food, sanitation increases as a result he country has to use the scarce resources to maintain the needs of the growing population. Thus the country is faced with huge problems of imparting education, employment, urban developmental and environmental degradation.
In conclusion, poverty entails human beings not having opportunities to enjoy most fundamental needs that are required for survival. The result is insecurity, slow economic development and lack of even basic capacity to work. Most of them will feel excluded and powerless in their own country and community. In India, the main causes of poverty are corruption, civil unrests, lack of infrastructural development, high illiteracy levels and overpopulation. This sometimes may vary from countries to countries depending on the government policies and the geographical location. The dimension mentioned as the leading cause of poverty play an essential role in identifying measures to eradicate poverty.
References
Ali, I., & Pernia, E. M. (2003). Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction-What is the Connection?.
Himanshu Sen, A. (2004). Poverty and Inequality in India: Getting close to the truth. Economic and Political Weekly , 4247-4263.
Mehta, A. K., & Shah, A. (2003). Chronic poverty in India: Incidence, causes and policies. World Development , 31 (3), 491-511.
Ng, A. H. H., Farinda, A. G., Kan, F. K., Lim, A. L., & Ting, T. M. (2013). Poverty: Its Causes and Solutions. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering , 7 (8), 2471-2479.
