One of the country's parliamentarians recently said that poverty is just a state of mind and self confidence is needed to overcome it. This was probably the most bizarre definition of poverty we have ever come across. It speaks volumes of what the government thinks of this social evil. It is probably deeming poor citizens to be just voters who can be flattered by promises. With no intent, nothing can be done to eradicate poverty in India. And now one of the means through which poverty can be eradicated has also been trimmed
The World Bank has curtailed its window which offered concessional loans to India to fight poverty. These concessional loans are available to countries that are below a certain benchmark. The benchmark in this case is per capita GDP. With India surpassing that benchmark, it is now no longer eligible for such concessional loans.
This effectively indicates that India is no longer poor and the standard of living has improved. However, in reality more than half of the country's population can barely afford a reasonably decent standard of living. And with no hope of redressal, neither from the government nor by way of international aid, Indians may have to learn to live in poverty.
World banks' withdrawal has indeed come as a setback to India. But we believe this is because of the use of a flawed benchmark. Per capita GDP measure gives wrong picture of any nation's standard of living when there is a huge income divide. Increasing wealth amongst the rich can result in higher per capita GDP. And this is precisely what is happening in India. Rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. While this increases the per capita GDP, it does not reflect the true picture of India.
Now considering that support window from World Bank has been curtailed, it is yet another setback to poverty eradication in India.
We pity that even after 65 years of independence, there are no visible signs of large scale poverty reduction in India. As per one World Bank report nearly half of the Indians still do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. And this is a sorry sign for a country which is en route to conquering Mars!
The current state is a result of rampant corruption and lack of intent from the politicians. Money destined to be used for the poor is siphoned off. Then there are scams, subsidies and wasteful expenditures which swallow the balance money!
We feel that no government can change the face of India unless there is an intent to do so. And the intent can change only when people at the helm rise above their own personal self interests and work towards creating a more equitable society.
Do you think money alone can eradicate poverty in India? Let me know your comments
The World Bank has curtailed its window which offered concessional loans to India to fight poverty. These concessional loans are available to countries that are below a certain benchmark. The benchmark in this case is per capita GDP. With India surpassing that benchmark, it is now no longer eligible for such concessional loans.
This effectively indicates that India is no longer poor and the standard of living has improved. However, in reality more than half of the country's population can barely afford a reasonably decent standard of living. And with no hope of redressal, neither from the government nor by way of international aid, Indians may have to learn to live in poverty.
World banks' withdrawal has indeed come as a setback to India. But we believe this is because of the use of a flawed benchmark. Per capita GDP measure gives wrong picture of any nation's standard of living when there is a huge income divide. Increasing wealth amongst the rich can result in higher per capita GDP. And this is precisely what is happening in India. Rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. While this increases the per capita GDP, it does not reflect the true picture of India.
Now considering that support window from World Bank has been curtailed, it is yet another setback to poverty eradication in India.
We pity that even after 65 years of independence, there are no visible signs of large scale poverty reduction in India. As per one World Bank report nearly half of the Indians still do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. And this is a sorry sign for a country which is en route to conquering Mars!
The current state is a result of rampant corruption and lack of intent from the politicians. Money destined to be used for the poor is siphoned off. Then there are scams, subsidies and wasteful expenditures which swallow the balance money!
We feel that no government can change the face of India unless there is an intent to do so. And the intent can change only when people at the helm rise above their own personal self interests and work towards creating a more equitable society.
Do you think money alone can eradicate poverty in India? Let me know your comments
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