Rural Poverty and Slums

Despite various poverty alleviation programmes, the number of slum-dwellers in increasing continuously. In fact, it is not solely an economic problem but a problem of lopsided socio-economic development, under both a social system in a traditional set up and a capitalist system in a modern set up. The present study notes that various programmes of wage employment, rural development and equity have not helped to improve the lot. To check the migration of rural poor, the permanent solution of agricultural growth through watershed development schemes and agro-industrial growth is reiterated for bettering the rural poor. The study calls for an alternative development paradigm in which the village should be seen as a basic unit of development.