“Poverty and hunger in India: A socio-economic analysis of policies of the government(s)”
Meril Mathew Joy
2009/BALLB/028
IIIrd Semester
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INTRODUCTION OF POVERTY AND HUNGER
“Poverty”has reduced but still remains a major concern for Nation. Poverty is not only the scarcity of resources, but is set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. “Hunger” and “Poverty” are powerful but familiar terms. Everyone knows what they mean, yet, they evoke different descriptions for everyone. Even major international organizations mandated to alleviate hunger and poverty use a variety of interpretations. The Hunger Project board member Mohini Giri said, “To me, hunger is rape,
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Since 1950s, Indian government has introduced various planning schemes to help the poor attain self sufficiency in at least the case of food. The most important initiative that has been taken was the supply of basic commodities, particularly food. Modern day society comprises two general classes:-
1. Those that have more food than appetite.
2. Those that have more appetite than food.
People falling under the second category are hungry people & remain hungry. Generally, the word “Hunger” has three meanings according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Food is like a moral right of all who are born into this world. Poverty is the principal cause of hunger. The hunger, about which we are talking here, is the scarcity of food in a country. If hunger is to be eliminated, poverty has to be dealt with simultaneously. The causes of poverty include poor people's lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution and conflict between specific countries and obviously, hunger itself. Hunger is primarily a problem of general poverty, and thus overall economic growth and its distributional pattern cannot but be important in solving the hunger problem. It is particularly critical to pay attention to employment opportunities, other ways of acquiring economic means, and also food prices, which influence people’s ability to
More than 1 billion people in the world right now are suffering from hunger. Food security is “the access by all people at all times to the food needed for a healthy life,” as defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. There are four points to food security, which are “availability, access, utilization, and stability.” When one or even all these points are missing, it is described as food insecurity. The rise of food prices in 2008 shocked and affected millions of people, many of whom were very poor. Because of the rise of food prices, there were protests and hunger was put at the top of the list, although it did not stay there. Science has to understand how to deal with hunger as the problem grows. Using scientific research and changing policies can have a huge impact on the issue of hunger. Population is
World hunger is a very serious issue in today’s world, that is very stunning in a world full of resources and food to feed the hungry. World hunger affects millions around the world. There are 795 million malnutritioned people around the world today. The good news is that hunger is a problem that can be solved. There is enough food in the world to feed everyone. Today’s knowledge, and willing people can just be enough to solve the main issue of world hunger.
Most of the world’s hunger and malnutrition is located in poverty stricken areas. In fact, ninety-eight percent of food deprivation is in developing countries. One of the leading reasons to this, is the high level of poverty in these areas. People living in poverty often don’t have enough money to afford food, and when they do, it generally doesn’t have enough nutrition to keep a human body running properly. On average, 896 million people in developing countries live on fourteen dollars or less a week. This income prevents people from being able to purchase food, causing malnutrition. Hunger is the main devastation of poverty and “is often called the most severe and critical manifestation of poverty”, mainly due to low the low income of most
In Mexico, around forty five percent of its one hundred and eighteen million people face food shortages or hunger. In south America, nearly ten million Peruvians suffer from hunger; that is nearly one-third of the population. In many countries around the world, it is the rural poor who suffer most. Hunger and disease, is usually in close combination and often precipitated by natural disasters or war, have plagued humankind throughout history. People need nutrition to be strong and to be able to go to school or work, but without any healthy food that cannot happen. Their bodies cannot process the activities or material they are shown due to lack of nutrients that you get from healthy sustenance. therefore, they are not able to get a good paying job or education for later in their future. World hunger is a problem that must be addressed as seen through illness,
Richard Robbins explores and analyzes the creation and the upkeep of hunger in his book “Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Each day, over a billion people in the world lack basic food needs. Common misunderstandings about world hunger are that it is the result of insufficient food production, famine is the common reason for hunger and that hunger is caused by overpopulation. Robbins argues against that theory and says that famines is not the leading cause of hunger and hunger is not due to overpopulation or insufficient food production. “Food production is not determined by the global need for food; it is determined on how many people have the means for it” (page 176). The documentary “The End of Poverty” reinforces Robbins belief that food is a commodity.
The reality of hunger is one that is often suppressed and denied around the world. One huge misconception is that everyone who is hungry does not have a job. People argue that hunger is the fault of the person who cannot afford food. If they were really hungry, then they would have done something about it right? Surely, they aren’t actually hungry otherwise, they would have gotten a real job. Sadly, the victims of food insecurity not only have to face the challenges of hunger but also have to listen to the biting criticism of other citizens. Just as Quindlen said, the first step to ending hunger is recognizing
Hunger is a problem and crisis found worldwide. Hunger does not just affect one specific race or group of people but a variety of people throughout the world. People don’t expect to go hungry and one can never predict if this will be a problem for them. Going hungry can happen to anyone and at the time least expected. Have you ever wondered what it is like to not know when your next meal will be? What about not knowing how to provide enough food to feed your family? Not everyone thinks of these questions, as some are oblivious to these ongoing problems related to hunger.
Hunger stalks America and many other countries. How the world deals with hunger is dependent on cultural attitudes and the understanding of what hunger means to the individual and communities. In the United States, the majority of hungry people are the elderly, children, and the disabled which represent a bloc of people unable to provide for themselves with employment. The understanding that governmental systems and institutions responsible for food insecurity are failing, is becoming mainstream in the population, not the previous idea that agriculture does not produce enough food. How to provide physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for healthy lives is a problem of political and economic exclusion, social injustice and discrimination (Cunningham 2017, Lecture 1). The right to food security should be an uncompromised right of humanity, no matter the cost to government or agriculture.
All around the world, many countries are suffering from poverty and hunger. This problem can be caused by harmful economic systems, environmental factors, and past leadership.
Poverty is the main cause of hunger in the world. Poverty includes people's lack of resources, such as food, water, proper climate, and even soil fertility. Giving an unequal pay can also lead to poverty. For example, in developing countries, poor people approximately receive $1.25 a day or less.
Poverty has been a long-lasting economic crisis in the world. The effects are drastic not only on the world’s economic stability but the stability and well-being of many people as well. Change is needed. True change is the hope many citizens have living in poverty due to a broken, damaged system regarding poverty. To make the world a better, suitable place to live, immediate action must be taken to finally resolve this issue.
World hunger has been a problem for a long time. People have the desire to solve world hunger, or to be associated with the suffering problem. World hunger is rooted around poverty. However, world hunger involves in food insecurity, food stamps around the country, inequalities between men and women, and race. These are examples of the three lenses: Functionalist, conflict theory, and social constructionism.
World hunger is on the rise since the turn of the century. Many people overlook world hunger because there are many organizations supporting the cause. Awareness has been brought towards the cause but surprisingly the number still keeps going up. “In 2016, the number of chronically undernourished people reached 815 million, up 38 million from the previous year” (McVeigh, K). Having 11% of the world’s population be undernourished is a serious problem that many people are not aware of. Even though there is a campaign to end world hunger by 2030 it will be impossible to achieve if people don’t start to help. UNICEF has recognized this and has launched it’s own world hunger campaign that has inspired many to make a difference.
Hunger is the world’s number one health risk. It has killed more people than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined each year. In Hong Kong, more than 1.5 million people don’t have that choice. The poverty line for a one-person family is HK$3,800 per month. One in eight people live below the line. 30% of the Hong Kong population live in public housing like coffins, cage homes and rooftops. Hong kong has the highest income gap between being rich and being poor in the world. There are 600,000 working poor at a minimum wage of HK$32.50 per hour. In 2001 1.77 million people were homeless in India. The proportion of homeless people to total population declined to 0.15% in 2011 from 0.19% in 2001. There were still 1.77 million people in 2011 living in roadsides, railway platforms, and under flyovers. “Although the decline in population was too small, it is good that there was a decline.” said Santosh Mehrotra. Delhi and Rajasthan went into Assembly elections and were in the top five states that had a huge population of people being
Poverty is a social problem that affects everyone on an economic, political and social level. The problem of human suffering is one that we must combat strategically on many levels. According to the United Nations, “in 2015 more than one billion people around the world live in a state of poverty, lacking the basic goods food, clothing, and shelter that humans need to survive” (“Poverty”). There are a great number of areas that keep individuals poor, such as lack of resources, inadequate income, lack of education, language barriers and the high cost of child care. Being able to work and provide basic necessities is our basic human right and we should not be deprived of these basic human rights that individuals need in order to live satisfying lives. The government has the responsibility of helping individuals in need with the economic assistance to feed, clothe, house, educate, provide health care and decent wages for every individual. They should ensure that individuals have access to resources that will help them build a better future. There are several ways that we can work together to strategically find solutions to end inequality among the poor individuals in our society.