Syllabus
GS Paper 2 Issues relating to poverty and hunger
GS Paper 3 Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
Applications where to apply?
When asked about
– Impact of economic growth on poverty and inequality in India
– Inter-connectedness of poverty, inequality, social mobility, development, and governance.
– Effectiveness of different development strategies and models in addressing poverty and inequality.
Context
The interview revolves around the issues of poverty and inequality in India, the lack of data on extreme poverty since 2011, and the effectiveness of various government policies in addressing these issues.
Source
The Indian Express | Editorial dated 20- January 2024
India’s policy frame is not focused on inequality
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo are economists who won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on global poverty. Their research uses field experiments to create tools to improve education, health, and economic well-being.
Issues with India’s policy formulation
India has made significant strides in reducing poverty in recent decades, but the issue of inequality remains a major challenge.
- Poverty vs. Inequality: The discussion highlights the growing concern about rising inequality in India, contrasting it with the past where social inequality existed alongside widespread economic limitations.
- Data Scarcity: Both Duflo and Banerjee emphasize the critical lack of recent data on poverty, hindering effective policy formulation.
- Targeted schemes like PM Awas Yojana and PM-Kisan involves challenges in identifying genuine beneficiaries.
- Education and Employability:
- The slow progress in improving primary education outcomes is attributed to a lack of consistent focus on the basics.
- Unrealistic expectations for government jobs is a major hurdle to employability. People spend the first six, seven years of what would be the working life, taking tests, trying to get a job, etc, and then failing, and then taking (some other) job.
- Child Stunting and Wasting:
- Duflo recognizes the lack of clear solutions for this issue despite its political consensus.
- There is low protein intake in India compared to global recommendations.
- Budget Allocation:
- Banerjee differentiates between health and education budgets. While India’s health spending remains globally low, education spending falls within the median range for its income level.
- The concern lies in the skewed allocation within education, favoring elite institutions over quality basic education.
Measures for inclusive growth
Addressing these issues will require a multi-pronged approach that includes policy reforms, increased social spending, strengthened social safety nets, and measures to combat discrimination and corruption. By tackling inequality head-on, India can ensure that its economic growth benefits all its citizens and create a more just and equitable society.
- Reliable data source:
- Need for authoritative survey that’s credible, and politically insulated.
- Multidimensional Poverty Index: While acknowledging its limitations as a substitute for consumption data, Banerjee considers it a better option than relying on outdated information.
- Effective Poverty Alleviation Programs: NREGA and PDS are identified as programs with demonstrably positive impacts on poverty reduction.
- Targeted schemes like PM Awas Yojana and PM-Kisan require further assessment due to challenges in identifying genuine beneficiaries and potential political motivations.
- Focusing on basics
- Banerjee emphasizes the need for a pedagogy that encourages curiosity and independent thinking over rote learning.
- It is possible to improve basic education, it’s been demonstrated at a huge scale in government schools including in poor states like UP.
| Case Study Uganda Uganda suggests that you can get huge effects from encouraging children to think on their own. In the equivalent of the school-leaving exam, there is the upper primary ending exam in Uganda. Once children was exposed to a pedagogy that encouraged them to think on their own, the pass rate went up from 50% to 75%. That’s a 50% increase! |
- Reforms like a transitional system and rethinking the shape of government employment
- Government could expand the number of people it employs
| Case Study China In China there are three people with a bachelor’s degree in every village working for the village government. These are people with certain skills and a certain amount of knowledge of the world. So one thought is that, the government should start introducing maybe a transitional mechanism where you take a job, and then it’s only if you’re good at it, that you keep it otherwise you can work for some years, and then you don’t. It’s like a tenure system. That will still create more jobs. |
- Promoting protein consumption as a potential approach to deal with malnutrition. Increasing awareness on dietary needs of children
- Increasing budget allocation to build institutions for social mobility.
Conclusion
The interview offers valuable insights into the complex challenges of poverty and inequality in India.It emphasizes the need for reliable data, effective policies, and a focus on social mobility through quality education and realistic job expectations. Addressing the issue of protein deficiency emerges as a potential avenue for tackling child stunting and wasting.
RELATED TOPICS
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
MPI is released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).It measures “interlinked deprivations in health, education and standard of living that directly affect a person’s life and wellbeing”.
- The index is a key international resource that measures acute multidimensional poverty across more than 100 developing countries.
- The MPI monitors deprivations in 10 indicators spanning health, education and standard of living and includes both incidence as well as intensity of poverty.
References
Practice Question
Critically analyze the effectiveness of existing poverty alleviation and social mobility programs. Discuss the role of reliable data, policy reforms, and attitudinal changes in tackling these challenges. [250 words]