Abstract

Poverty has always been a cause of great concern. Significant decline in poverty ratio has been observed in both rural and urban areas during 2011-12. The rural poverty head count ratio declined by 16 percentage points from 41.8 per cent to 25.7 per cent and urban poverty declined by 12 percentage points from 25.7 per cent to 13.7 per cent. Though, the nation shows considerable improvement in poverty reduction, it is alarming that, still, 1 in every 5 persons in India is below the national poverty line. India’s 1.25 billion citizens have higher expectations about their future today, than they have ever had before. In this perspective, this paper discusses various programmes and policies for poverty alleviation. The broad vision and aspirations, which the Twelfth Plan seeks to fulfill are reflected in the subtitle: ‘Faster, Sustainable, and More Inclusive Growth’. Inclusive development incorporates social and financial inclusion and in most cases the socially excluded are also financially excluded. The government’s policies are directed towards bringing these marginalized sections into the mainstream. Towards this end, the central government has been implementing many social-sector programmes. They can be classified under the following broad heads viz. poverty alleviation and employment generation, social protection, rural infrastructure and development, urban infrastructure, and welfare and development of weaker sections.

Key Words: Poverty, rural, urban, programmes and policies