Evolution of poverty alleviation programme in India

Abstract

Since independence, India has made huge economic progress which no doubt has raised the standard of living of our people but still the journey to eradicate poverty is quite long. One third of Indian population is living below the minimum income which is required for subsistence. Poverty is a major social determinant of health as poor people lack access to basic social amenities like safe water, sanitation, food security, health infrastructure etc., which makes them highly vulnerable to deadly diseases. On the other hand, catastrophic expenditure on health and loss of economic productivity due to disease makes millions of people poor every year. Seeing the grave situation, Government of India has launched various poverty alleviation programmes from time to time. In this review we discuss evolution of employment generation programme since its inception in India. We also focus on upcoming challenges in further reducing the poverty rate and future opportunities.