International Day for the Eradication of Poverty today

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty today

Wednesday, 17 October 2018 | PNS | Haridwar

Observed since 17 October 1987, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been marked over these years by the United Nations to acknowledge the effort and struggle of those living in poverty and telling them that their voices are heard. Despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, poverty in India means deprivation of basic necessities such as food, house, clean drinking water, shelter and toilets. 

The commemoration of the International Day is based on the theme ‘Coming together with those furthest behind to build an inclusive world of universal respect for human rights and dignity.’ Call to Action to fight to end poverty everywhere in all forms is in the United Nations’ agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

Poverty has many faces and it is a social struggle which affects communities far and wide across the nations. Observers say that situation is not as grim as the statistics show and if the current trends continue, India's share of world GDP will significantly increase from 7.3% in 2016 to 8.5% by 2020. However, they add that it has been estimated that around 21 percent of the total population of India live below the poverty line, defined in terms of a nutritionally adequate diet or a minimum desirable level of income.

If broadly classified, the causes of poverty mainly include massive population growth leading to imbalance between demand and supply of essential goods. The demand for basic necessities such as housing, food and shelter is at its peak, but the resources are limited.

Awareness campaigns explaining the benefits of controlling the population growth should be widely circulated among the developing nations, observers opine.

They cite illiteracy as another important factor since illiterate people do not get jobs through which they can pull themselves and their families out of poverty. Unemployment remains the major cause of poverty and unequal distribution of wealth contributes to poverty with the wealth remaining under the ownership of 10 to 15% people in the country, the experts say.

Speaking to The Pioneer, an army officer A P Singh said, “Education can play a major role in eradication of poverty. The Government can run schools on the PPP mode, giving the schools proper infrastructure. The role of teachers in stimulating the students to fight poverty is immense.” He added that around 51 percent of the rural families are engaged in casual labour jobs while another 30 percent is engaged in agriculture.  “Education will empower them to engage in better jobs, which in turn would help them come above the poverty line,” he said.

Speaking of the measures which can be taken to eradicate poverty, educationist Karuna Sharma said, “People do not try to break this cycle of poverty. They just look forward to the Government to provide them with freebies. Without sincere efforts on the part of individual and society, poverty cannot be uprooted.”

Creation of employment opportunities and increased production through massive industrialisation, improved irrigation system to improve agricultural farm output, equal opportunity and empowerment of women are required to successfully fight poverty, said Commandant Roshan Lal Sharma from PAC 40 wing. He also stressed on encouraging people to join vocational training institutes to gain skills. “This is how poverty can be minimised,” he added.

A ceiling on maximum individual incomes has to be defined and strictly enforced for the service personnel as well as businessmen, said the principal SMJN College Sunil Batra. Individual incomes above the ceiling should be impounded for the building up of a national development fund by the Government, he said and added that the black money menace must be attacked at all levels at the same time.

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