Poverty
Poverty is a serious economic and social problem of Indian society. Poverty is the root cause of social problems like crime, child crime, begging, prostitution, slums. Poverty is also the cause of economic problem. Poverty has been viewed differently in different periods and societies, the nature of poverty in the agricultural economy is different from that found in the industrial economy. The nature of poverty of a particular time is different from the nature of poverty of a particular time. The way to measure wealth or poverty in a state is to look at the consumption of goods and services in that country at a particular time, it is called national income or dividend. Poverty or poverty in India is not only a macroeconomic problem but also a terrible social disease. It is true that the nature of poverty is economic; But as a result of this, the social consequences that come from the social consequences of normal social relations are broken a lot. The bitter form of this poverty that is visible in India, will probably be seen in very few countries in the world. Mr. Sanjay Chaudhary has written that “In fact, poverty is a comparative word in international context; The term denotes a particular class of population in a particular country. Only 5 percent of the total population of India is such that Purchasing Power is similar to another citizen of America. That’s why one Indian poor and one American poor in a row. It would be wrong to consider it. Measures have been set to measure poverty such as standard of living, no, ability to get a nutritious diet, purchasing capacity of a person, etc. . . . . . . . In fact, poverty depends on purchasing power. The lower the purchasing power, the poorer it is. ‘This thing will become even more clear with the following deliberation.
Every human has certain basic requirements to survive. Even if the items of comfort and luxury are removed, it is necessary to maintain a minimum standard of living so that the person can get proper food, adequate clothing and a good house and their quantity should be such that the person and his dependents are To fulfill its basic requirements. When these basic requirements are also not met and the standard of living of the person and their dependents falls below that minimum level, then that state is called poverty.
Goddard, while defining poverty, wrote, “Poverty is the absence or insufficient supply of those things which are necessary to keep a person and his dependents healthy and strong. “
In the words of Gillin and Gillin, “Poverty is the condition in which a person is unable to maintain a high standard of living due to insufficient income or due to thoughtless expenditure so that his physical and mental skills are maintained.” Nor does that person and his dependents be able to function in a manner consistent with the values set by the society to which he is a member. “From the above definitions, it is clear that poverty is the condition in which a person and his dependents have a life. The material required to maintain the minimum level is also not available.
Causes of Poverty in India
Poverty or poverty in India is not only a macroeconomic problem but also a terrible social disease. It is true that the nature of poverty is economic; But as a result of this, the social consequences that come from the social consequences of the normal social relations are broken a lot.
Poverty is a complex problem, so take a shower on the basis of a particular factor. Can be explained. In other words, there is more than one reason for poverty. The following are some of the reasons responsible for Indian poverty in particular:
Social Causes- The following are the social causes of poverty:
Joint family system – Joint family system is very much responsible for poverty. This system makes many people lazy, useless and irresponsible. Who thinks about working when you get food while sitting? Such people do not share anything in the economic progress of the country. Joint family practice encourages child marriage, which increases the population of the country rapidly and at the same time increases the maturity of the country.
Caste system – Indian caste system is a big obstacle in the way of economic progress of the country. This practice has divided the people of the country into many small parts so that all the people can not cooperate together and contribute to the economic progress of the country. Not only this, people of the caste-system also do not understand the “Dignity of Labor”. Therefore, the upper caste people never want to do the things that the lower caste people do. It has also increased poverty in the country.
Disease and low health level – Many of the people of India always have severe diseases. Malaria, T.V. B, millions of people suffer from diseases like cancer, due to which they often have to take leave from mills, factories etc. This reduces production on the one hand and reduces the employment of workers on the other. Similarly, people in the country die at a young age due to low health level, due to which there is a continuous shortage of unbecoming and deserving people. Due to this also, the economic progress cannot be done properly here.
Slums – Almost all Indian industrial workers live in slums. By staying in these settlements, they become victims of many types of terrible diseases and their health declines day by day. Workers’ efficiency decreases as health declines, and national production and income both decrease as efficiency decreases. Currently 5 in the country. 120 million people live in a slum. It is also a major cause of poverty.
Illiteracy – illiteracy is the main cause of poverty in India. 52 of the total population in this country. 11 percent (according to the interim report of 1991 census) is literate. Not only this, proper provision for technical education and training is even less in the country. That is why it is not possible to find skilled people to work in factories here. It is believed that as long as there is a shortage of people trained in industrialization training to thrive in the country, the economic condition of the country cannot improve.
Parsonal Causes
Illness – The main cause of family poverty is illness. Disease makes a person weak and worthless; He is not able to work and his income is reduced. Not only this, a lot of money is wasted in getting treatment for the disease which leads to poverty.
Mental diseases – More common are more mental illnesses. About 1 in this country 69 million people are victims of mental development deficiencies. Mental ragas also make a man unfit to work, so that his income stops. Also, the treatment of mental illness is not as simple as that of physical diseases. It is estimated that there are at least 8 lakh mental patients in this country who need to be kept in hospital.
Bad habits – A person’s bad habits also make him poor. Prostitution, intoxication, gambling, betting, etc. are particularly notable in bad habits in India. These bad habits make the economic basis of a person’s personal and family life hollow.
Accidents – Train, motor, airplane etc. accidents occur in large numbers in India. Also, Indian workers have to work on old and broken machines in mills and factories. Due to this, a lot of accidents happen in Millav factories. As a result, many people either die or some part of their body becomes useless. Permanent or temporary incapacity thus generated also increases poverty. Poverty increases in the family even if the earning person dies due to accident.
Economic Causes-
Poverty is an economic phenomenon, so economic reasons also contribute immensely in increasing it. As is evident from the following deliberation:
Backward state of farming – India is an agricultural country. About 70 percent of the total population here depends on farming for their livelihood. But the sad thing is that the state of farming here is very backward compared to other countries. Due to low irrigation or other difficulties. Agricultural production is very less in the country and the people of the villages suffer from poverty.
Backward condition of basic industries – The condition of basic industries has also fallen in this country. There is an acute shortage of factories for making iron and steel, scientific equipment, electric heavy machinery, mineral oil, air transport, rail transport, etc. On the one hand, the development of industries is not possible quickly, on the other hand, a lot of money goes to foreign countries in getting machines and equipment from abroad. Both these conditions thrive on poverty.
Less capital – In India, capital – accumulation is very less. The reason for this is that the income of the residents here is so low that all their money is spent in eating and wearing. People who save some money, a lot of it is either kept hidden or gold or silver jewelery is made. With this, the necessary capital is not available for new industries – businesses to flourish and poverty is developed in the country.
Lack of advanced means of transport and communication – for the advancement of industries – businesses, trade and commerce, it is necessary that the means of transport and communication of the country are in advanced state; But in India, they are very lacking. The facilities of train, telegram, telephone etc. are very less in Indian villages. Due to this the villagers are unable to sell their produce properly and they do not get the proper price for their produce. Poverty also thrives in the country.
Lack of efficiency of workers – One of the reasons of poverty in India is that the efficiency of the workers here is very low. It is said that workers of other progressive countries often work three times more than Indian workers. Due to this lack of efficiency of labor, production here is reduced and it has an impact on national income and poverty does not leave the country chased.
Lack of proper banking and credit facilities – Banking and credit facilities are not available in India in sufficient quantity due to which the accumulation and creation of capital is not done properly in the country nor adequate credit facilities are available to the farmers, traders and industrialists. Can be attained. Apart from this, agriculture and industry – businesses do not develop properly in the country and poverty thrives.
Inadequate use of natural resources – As it has been clarified that there is no shortage of natural resources in this country and India is rich enough in the fields of hydro power, land, minerals – wealth and animal wealth. But the present situation is that Indians are not able to use these tools properly and due to this, despite all this, they remain poor.
Political Causes- Some political causes of poverty can be mentioned:
British imperialism – British imperialist policy had made the Indian economy absolutely hollow. The British used to buy raw materials from this country at their own prices and take them to their country and develop the industries and sell the goods made at high prices. This would lead to the gradual destruction of the industries here. Gone . Apart from this, the British used to recover the government-related expenditure that was incurred on India at that time. In this form, crores of rupees used to go from here to England. The British brought an end to the British Empire from India, but the empire of strong and terrible poverty established by it is still intact in the country.
War – The last two world wars have also increased the poverty of India. Especially after the Second World War, the imbalance that started in the economic situation of the country has not ended even today. Not only this, due to the attacks of China and Pakistan on India, the country’s economic crisis increased even more. Similarly, the liberation struggle that took place in ‘Bangla Desh’ in 1971 also had a very bad effect on India’s economy because there were about 1 crore refugees there. Came here and after staying for about 20 months, Bangla went back to the country. The Government of India spent 325 crore rupees on the eating, living, medical and return of the refugees, as well as financial assistance for its rehabilitation.
Demographic factors are said to be “overpopulation is the root cause of India’s poverty. “It is said that the population of India is increasing at a very fast pace. For example, in 1901, the population of the country was usually 23.83 crores which increased to 27. 89 in 1931. In 1941, the population of India was usually 31. 8 crores which was increased to 43. 92 crores in 1961. India’s population was 54, 81, 59, 625 in 1971 and 68, 51, 84, 692 in 1981 which was recorded in 1991 census. As per the provisional figures of the report, it has been 84, 39, 30, 861. In the current state of economic development, India is not able to maintain such a growing population well, hence the situation of overpopulation in the country at present Which promotes poverty in the following ways:
(i) It is estimated that due to rapid increase in population, new workers in India are increasing in number to 2.5 million per year. Employing them is not easy. This leads to unemployment and poverty in the country.
(ii) Another side effect of excessive population of workable workers. It is expected that the supply of workers is much higher than the demand of the workers. She goes . Due to this, the value of labor means the poverty in nature increases by decreasing the wages of the workers.
(iii) Per capita income decreases greatly due to increase in population. The result is that the person neither gets proper food nor to live. Nice houses Taking away food from inadequate and unbalanced food and living in unhealthy houses. Types of severe diseases surround and their efficiency decreases. Declining efficiency decreases income even more.
(iv) The excess of population and the rapid increase in it daily is a major impediment in the path of economic development of the country. In this, the country first has to worry about filling the stomach of most people or protecting them from starvation. This also increases poverty in the country.
(v) Increasing the population increases the pressure on the land. Today, 70 percent of the country’s population depends on farming for their livelihood. Due to excessive pressure on the land of the population, the fields have become very small and scattered and modernization and development of farming has become very difficult. Hence the total production of agriculture is very less in the area and the people of the village remain poor. Therefore, it can be said that overpopulation is the root cause of poverty or poverty of India, but this is not the only reason, there are other reasons for poverty which we have discussed.
The major social consequences are:
Child crime – An important social consequence of poverty is child crime. When a child from a poor family sees children of his or her more affluent family consuming various kinds of comforts and luxuries, and even if they are unable to get those things due to poverty, then that poor child has greed, malice and Feelings of jealousy arise. First tries to obtain those items by legitimate means and when he fails in these attempts, then he adopts theft by illegal means. In the event of extreme sleeplessness, the children do not meet their primary needs and learn to steal from hunger. Similarly, due to poverty, both parents have to work, this loosens their control over children and makes it easy for children to spoil. That is, they become child criminals.
Crime – A side effect of fearlessness is also crime. Due to poverty, a person is not able to fulfill his primary needs as well. Therefore, at first he wants to fulfill these needs by staying on the path of honesty, but when he is unable to do so, then he tries to steal and forcefully seize his needs by illegal means. More than stealing or robbing a person than seeing his wife and children starve before his eyes
Understands well Similarly, in a situation of extreme poverty, the mental balance in the economic concerns loses and in that stage it is possible for him to commit any crime.
Suicide – A person can also commit suicide due to poverty or poverty. When a person suffering from poverty fails to arrange bread and clothes for himself and his dependents, then at that stage he commits suicide and saves himself from self-immolation. Similarly, poverty arises due to sudden loss in business. It also leads to suicide. Not only that, poverty destroys the social reputation of a person and loss of reputation sometimes becomes so unbearable for the person that he finds death sweeter than swallowing the bitter pill of this insult. –
Separation – A direct side effect of fearlessness is marriage – separation. Being anxious for many days in religious matters is also the destroyer of marital relations. It is possible that the dead husband hit the streets throughout the day in search of his job – and when he returned home in the evening, he could not get the sympathy of the wife. The wife thinks this and says that if tried properly there is no reason to not get a job. These things and financial worries make husband – wife and children irritable and this leads to discord and unrest in the family. In a state of poverty, children do not have shoes, their clothes are torn and ragged and there is no eating at home, all worries make marital life odd, which can result in marriage. –
Unemployment – Unemployment is another side effect of poverty. Due to poverty, a person is not able to fulfill his primary needs and it is not possible to arrange for food, house, clothes etc. As a result, he becomes sick. Injured persons have to take more sticks in the job. A high hawker may be fired and may be unemployed. In addition, many types of mental diseases also make humans unfit to work due to economic concerns, even unemployment thrives.
Begging – A social side effect of poverty can also be beggary. At the peak of poverty, when a man starts starving and sees his wife and children starving and dying in front of his eyes, begging for him is also not a matter of shame.
Prostitution – When basic economic needs are not met due to poverty, many women are forced to adopt prostitution. In fact, prostitution is to sell one’s body in exchange for money, ie ‘money’ is the main thing in prostitution. And hence poverty can be considered as the main reason for this. There are many helpless girls and women who covertly run prostitution in order to protect themselves from the trauma of poverty, because the money needed to fill their stomach and cover their body is also required by these measures When it is not available, then there is no other solution for them other than selling the body. It is therefore clear that prostitution is also a bitter social consequence of poverty.
Relationship between Poverty and mal-nutrition
– It is quite clear that poverty and inadequate nutrition are closely related to each other. A person who is chained to the chains of poverty first thinks of raising food and the matter of fruits, milk, ghee and other nutritious foods remains a dream for him. Due to poverty, that person does not have enough purchasing power to provide adequate nutrition for himself. Scholars are of the opinion that simple working person should get 2, 500 to 2, 600 calories per day, hard-working person 2, 800 to 3, 000 calories, school’s small children 1, 600 and older children Requires 2, 400 calories. On this basis, a meal of 3,000 calories is considered necessary for a normal adult male, but due to poverty in India, as in Prof. N. R. Dhar (Prof N. R. Dhar) has said that 1, 628 calories are available. In other words, we can say that the amount of calories or nutrients that young children should get, is almost as much as adult people in our country. Not only this, due to poverty in India, only 5 ounces of milk is given per person, whereas they should drink 25 ounces. 56 in Canada. 8 ounces, 44 in Australia. 5 ounces, 40 in England. 7 and 35 in America. 6 ounces of milk is given per person. Pregnant and obstetric women at least 33. 8 ounces of milk should be provided, but the milk of poverty to innumerable mothers in India. So doesn’t food also get it right? Due to the extreme poverty prevailing among the Indians, the condition of their inadequate nutrition is that the investigation so far in this connection leads to the conclusion that two-thirds of the families do not eat any kind of fruits and other such things. About one-third of the families do not get any kind of rich food like fish, meat, eggs etc. and one fourth family recommended the use of other things made of milk or foliage or leafy vegetables, other vegetables, ghee and vegetable oil and pulses. Values are below. Use of pulses and other vegetables in only one of the five families examined is at the recommended level. Finally, in this regard, the statement of the Planning Commission can also be presented that “Our country has not yet reached that level of progress only because of poverty, at which the food grains and other types according to the balanced quantity for all the countrymen It is possible to supply enough. “
Remedial Measures
The following measures can prove useful in removing the poverty of India:
Improvement in the state of agriculture – India is an agricultural country. For this reason, to overcome the poverty of this country, it is also necessary to improve the state of agriculture. Improving the condition of the land, providing irrigation facilities, raising good seed fertilizers and agricultural implements, encouraging consolidation, cooperatives, etc. can be some important measures in this regard.
Remove illiteracy – To get rid of poverty, first of all we will have to try to remove illiteracy from the country. This kind of improvement will have to be made in today’s popular education system so that students can prove useful in the practical world. Also, there should be proper arrangement for industrial education and training.
Enhancing the habit of saving – People will have to increase the habit of saving by providing more facilities through publicity. At the same time, people will have to make efforts to make their savings unproductive.
Generating health standards – The government, owners and other society – voluntary organizations will have to make efforts to ensure that the public health level can be improved and their pursuit of serious diseases is eliminated. For this, medical facilities will have to be increased and proper houses will have to be arranged.
Proper banking and credit facilities – For the economic development of the country, it is very important that adequate and adequate banking and credit facilities are made available in the country. In this regard, special attention will have to be paid to the villages so that they can get sufficient funds for the development of agriculture and rural industry.
Industry – Development of trades – To remove poverty, various types of industrial machines and capital goods industries also need to be developed more and more. Airplanes, motorcars, iron and steel, electrical goods, scientific instruments, heavy chemicals etc. industries and factories and small and cottage industries have to be encouraged more and more.
Changes in social institutions – To overcome the complex problem of poverty, many types of changes in social institutions are also necessary. In this regard, the first thing to be done is to change the institution of marriage. In Indian society, there are many customs related to the institution of marriage, due to which unnecessary expenditure is incurred. Not only this, many people take loans due to these customs and thus Madame remains in the grip of poverty. For example, dowry is a practice which is the main reason for the poor condition of innumerable people. Caste system is also one such social organization which contributes to increase poverty. Due to restrictions of caste-system, a person does not get the opportunity to do business according to his interest and ability and he is not able to improve his economic condition. Therefore, this type of transit is also necessary in an institution called caste. It is necessary that it does not interfere in the economic life of the person. Apart from this, many types of superstitions and rituals are found in Indian society, in respect of which a person has to spend a lot of money, such as in Hindu society unnecessary money is spent on naming ceremony, shaving ceremony, sacrificial ritual, sacrificial rite. In fact, by creating public opinion against all such rituals and superstitions, a large part of a person’s income can be saved. Not only this, to remove poverty, it is necessary to make changes in the institution called family. In this regard, single families have to be promoted in place of joint families. In fact, the joint family makes the person lazy and useless, while in a lonely family, the person is encouraged to earn more by working harder. It is thus clear that a change in social institutions will be an important and important step towards alleviating poverty.
Former Member of Planning Commission, Dr. Rajkrishna has suggested a seven-point program to alleviate the poverty of the country, these are (i) Employment Guarantee Scheme like Maharashtra, (ii) AntyodayaYojana, (iii) Time bound Scheme for Irrigation and Manure, (iv) ) Grain for Work Scheme, (v) Small Farmer Development Program (vi) Operation Flood Scheme for Dairy Development, (vii) Minimum Needs Program.
Government Efforts to Eradicate Poverty for Poverty
Many efforts have been made and are being made by the Central and State Governments to solve the problem of poverty removal in India, some of which are briefly discussed below:
Development of heavy industries in the country – There is a lot of potential for industrial growth due to adequate natural resources in the country. In the Seventh Plan, it was proposed to spend 22,971 crore rupees under this head. It is expected that a large number of people in the country will get employment and poverty will be reduced.
Promotion of Village and Small Scale Industries – In the context of Indian conditions, it is necessary that maximum and small cottage industries businesses in the country should be given maximum encouragement. This will provide more employment opportunities to the people. The new government at the center has accepted this fact. 2752 in this head for the seventh plan with the same purpose. 74 crores was spent.
Development of education – In order to remove poverty, it is considered necessary that the level of productivity of the entire nation should be raised by expanding the facilities of general and technical education and teaching. For this purpose, Rs 904 crore was spent in the fourth plan on general education, this amount was 1324 in the fifth plan. 24 crore and 2523 in the Sixth Plan. 74 crores, while in the Seventh Five-Year Plan, this item was Rs. 7770. It is estimated to cost Rs 95 crore. In addition, a vigorous National Literacy Mission program has been made to make 8 crore adult illiterates literate in the country. Under this scheme, three crore people will be made literate by 1990 and five crore people by 1995. For this, an amount of 1 billion 30 crore has been fixed in the central sector and 2 billion 30 crore in the state sector during the seventh plan period. With a view to making radical changes in the education system of the country, a new education-policy has been implemented so that it can meet the contemporary needs of the country.
Health and Family Welfare Program – Many efforts have been made by the government to remove the defects arising out of bad health and also to not allow the population growth to grow faster. In this item, in the sixth plan 2. 831. 05 crores was a provision of Rs. About 9 billion rupees were spent on these programs in the Seventh Plan. The central government had made a provision of Rs 950 crore in this head in the budget of 1990 – 91.
Antyodaya Program – In many states of which Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are prominent. ‘Antyodaya program’ was started. The main objective of this program is to improve and strengthen their place in the society by providing as many facilities as possible to the Harijans, landless, people belonging to the scheduled castes and economically weaker sections of the society. .
Twenty Point Economic Program – Former Prime Minister, self in the direction of poverty alleviation of the country. The twenty-point program presented by Shri Mati Gandhi has been a notable contribution. Not only this, in August 1986, the former Prime Minister of the country announced a new ‘Twenty Point Program’ 1986. The first session of this program is ‘Struggle against poverty’. In short, the new twenty sessions are as follows – (1) struggle against poverty, (2) rain-dependent agricultural development, (3) better use of irrigation water, (4) improved agricultural production, (5) land reforms, ( 6) Special programs for rural workers, (7) Clean drinking water, (8) Health for all, (9) Family of two children, (10) Educated nations (11 Scheduled Castes – Tribes, Justice, (12) Equality to women, (13) New opportunities for youth, (14) Houses for all, (15) Improvement of narrow settlements, (16) Forest expansion, (17) Environmental protection, (18) Consumer welfare (19) Villages Energy for (20) Responsible Administration. During the year 1988 – 89, an outlay of Rs. 9987. 79 crore was approved for the twenty-point program for 22 states.
Unemployment removal programs – At the government level, more and more efforts are being made to remove unemployment or unemployment in the country. In this context, a few years ago, in lieu of work in the country, the food grains program was started. To make this program more effective, ‘National Rural Employment Program’ (NREP) has been started from October 1980. A total of Rs.1874 crore was spent on this program during the Sixth Plan and Rs.2,3092 crore in the Seventh Plan, and employment was provided for 17, 750 lakh and 14, 780 lakh working days respectively. 572 crore rupees were spent on this program in the year 1988 – 89. ‘Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Program (RLEGP)’ has been started on 15 August 1983 to provide maximum employment in villages. Under this program, during the Sixth and Seventh Plan, Rs. 394 crores and 2640 crores respectively. 2630 lakh and 11 respectively by spending. Employment provided for 500 lakh working days. Similarly, since 15 August 1979, more than 17 lakh 94 thousand youths have been trained under the National Scheme of Training (TRYSEM) to provide self-employment to rural youth as a centrally sponsored scheme.
JawaharRozgarYojana – The National Rural Employment Program and the Rural Rural Employment Guarantee Program were merged into the single rural employment program known as ‘JawaharRozgarYojana’ (JRY) from 1 April 1989. Under this new employment scheme, through the Panchayats, at least one member of 4 crore 40 lakh families living below the poverty line will get employment. 2 for this scheme in the year 1989 – 90. 623. 08 crores The provision of Rakha was kept, which was divided between the Union and the States on the basis of 80: 20. The primary objective of this program is to increase additional gainful employment opportunities for unemployed and under-employed persons in rural areas. Apart from this, other goals are – to create productive and community-oriented assets to provide direct and sustainable benefits to the poor, so that it can grow at a rapid pace and raise the income level of the rural poor, Ar (2) All of the rural life Rectification of the sides. During the year 1989 – 90 an amount of 2, 100 crores was given to the districts as part of the center and the annual target was to provide employment for 9120 lakh working days.
The Central Government has started a new “Loan Scheme for Urban Poor” from 1 September 1986 to alleviate urban poverty. The scheme was expected to benefit about 7 lakh urban poor by March 1990.
Integrated Rural Development Program – The ‘Integrated Rural Development Program’ is a major front of the government’s strategy to reduce poverty in villages. The main objective of this program is to raise the families of the identified target groups above the poverty line and create sufficient additional opportunities for self-employment in the villages. The strategy of this program in the Seventh Five-Year Plan had two aspects – first, the successes in the Sixth Plan should be strengthened and supplementary support should be given to the families who have not risen above the poverty line even today, without any mistake. Secondly, to help the new beneficiaries in such a way that they get the poverty line only with the help received for the first time. During the Seventh Plan, 180 lakh families were assisted. There is a total of 8852. 35 crores was imposed, while in the Sixth Plan, 4762. Assistance was given to 165 lakh families by appropriating Rs 78 crore. More than 45 percent of the assistance was given to the families of scheduled castes and tribes. In 1988 – 89, 25 percent women were assisted under this program. There is now a 50 percent increase in the subsidy given to families belonging to Scheduled Castes and the ceiling of subsidy amount has been increased to Rs. 5,000. There were about 8 of these castes in the period 1990 – 91. It is estimated to benefit 5 lakh families. The biggest advantage of the Integrated Rural Development Program was that it benefited a large number of the poorer sections and the most expected section of the society and crossed the poverty line. ‘