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Rural poor & poverty eradication by Karnaram Poonar & Sujata Raghavan

THE definition of poverty has been at the core of discussions and commitments at the international level to address it and, by a logical conclusion, to eradicate it. This intent is the basis for the lofty Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN member-states and international organisations at the beginning of this century. Now, 10 years later, the UN Summit on MDGs in New York last month was meant to revisit, assess and reaffirm the overarching commitment to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by the year 2015.

Poverty cannot be viewed merely as a set of indicators, as a one-dimensional phenomenon. Rather, a complex play of regional, socioeconomic and political factors. And new estimates of poverty in the developing world by World Bank raise concerns about the incidence of extreme poverty being higher than previous estimates, which formed the baseline of the MDGs.

In India, there are other concerns. Government policy and intent to address poverty issues is one thing. To actualise it is another. The fault often enough lies in implementation, but in this case, it is not solely that. Policymakers are found wanting on grasping the processes that contribute to poverty. Increasingly, as economists unabashedly declare and politicians reluctantly admit, any move to eradicate poverty is driven by growth of the economy, its GDP.

How to connect this growth with poverty alleviation should be the overriding concern of our policymakers. The processes on the ground that keep the poor, poor, need to be examined more closely. Can we look at the patterns of production, consumption, transportation of goods and services in rural India from the point of view of the villager? At the local level, if we observe how wealth is created, where it reaches and whom it benefits, we may be able to identify ways to reduce the extent of impoverishment.

If we take the village as a unit, not a geographical one but an economic one, it has a pool of resources, both human and
natural. This essentially comprises agricultural land, trees, people, water, agricultural produce, wood, minerals, animals, milk, meat, animal skin and metal. This is the collective village property. Out of this wealth is created that translates into a slew of products and services, food grain, fodder, milk, leather, wood, metal, cotton to name a few, varying, of course, from region to region.

The logical flow of this wealth to the end-user is what determines who stays poor and who benefits in the rural scenario. Much of what has been generated in the villages finds its way into the markets, which are invariably in urban centres or, at any rate, not in the villages. All the resources in the village, human and natural, are used to create wealth, which does not remain in the village to benefit its own people, but reaches urban centres leading to their prosperity. Much of what the rural population needs in terms of daily use is now available only in the markets, leaving them with no option but to go chasing the very goods they have been creating.

This can help us discern why poverty eradication as a goal still remains so elusive. Why the growth in the economy or the whole edifice of government’s policies, its slew of programmes, reforms and measures does not lead to a significant progress in poverty alleviation. The answer is quite simple. It is about giving the people a choice to make the decisions regarding their collective property, the generation of wealth at the local level, its distribution and usage.

The mechanism for this is also available. The Gram Sabha, which involves all adults in the community, is the fundamental decision making body and, in a sense, the repository of all the resources of the village. According to the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, the development of villages is the responsibility of Gram Sabha. Indian policymakers will need to pay more attention to institutional reforms like the strengthening of Gram Sabhas, which would trigger the processes of poverty eradication.