The previous century was marked by India’s great transformation from a colonial agrarian economy to a modern, vibrating, knowledge-based economy within the framework of a liberal and secular democracy. A high annual GDP growth rate of over 8 per cent is now being achieved on a consistent basis. The rapid economic growth has, however, brought only a marginal decline in rural and urban poverty as nearly 250 million people, constituting about 25 per cent of the country’s total population, still remain below the poverty line. The data relating to the dimensions of poverty is startling–a whopping 350 million people are illiterate, 150 million have no access to safe drinking water, 750 million lack clean sanitation facilities and are prone to diseases resulting there from, and 50 per cent of the children eat below acceptable nutritional levels. Average life expectancy at birth has no doubt risen to 63 years, but Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) are still at unacceptably high levels–57 per 1000, and 3 per 1000 live births respectively. In terms of Human Development Index (HDI), India is ranked 126 among the 177 listed countries. Even the mentioned statistics do not fully capture the sheer destitution and misery our marginalized sections of population are subjected to. The poverty that they endure robs them of their human dignity and makes a mockery of our claims to social justice and equity. Growth, when unevenly spread, dwarfs overall prosperity. Hence, bridging the income divide is the biggest challenge for India. The government on its part has launched several poverty alleviation programmes but they have not brought the desired result. The approach paper to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan has laid emphasis on strategies that accelerate growth and make it broad based. The present anthology is comprised of well-researched articles by erudite scholars who have deeply analyzed the problem of persisting poverty in India. Various factors responsible for such a situation have been studied and ways and means suggested to considerably reduce if not eradicate poverty. The book will serve as a valuable reference source for students and teachers of economics and researchers on this subject. It will also be useful for the policymakers, planners, parliamentarians, government agencies and NGOs. Common readers concerned with the overall development of the nation will find it highly informative.
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