Poverty which is a very common curse in the under development and developing nations has a devastating effect not only on the individual but also on the society. It is the result of population explosion, unpractical education, government inefficiency, inadequate resource mobilisation, ineffective policy formulation and a number of short-comings. Let’s see what is poverty, causes of poverty, effects of poverty and how to reduce poverty.
Essay on Poverty in 600 Words
Poverty is an abstract form of a country that needs to be focused both by government and individual. To abolish poverty we need a combination of responsible policies by government and responsible behavior of individual.
▪︎ What is Poverty
Poverty is a very common term used in the under development and developing countries. It, however, does not have any clear definition. It is a complicated, multi-faced concept. Poverty is defined by the dictionary as – the state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support. There are numbers of countries in the universe where a significant population lives below the poverty line. And this poverty has a devastating effect not only on the individual but also on the society.
▪︎ Types of Poverty
Poverty which is an abstract form may be measured considering certain parameters. Poverty can be classified into two types – absolute poverty and relative poverty.
Absolute Poverty:
Absolute poverty is based on purely biological factor and does not have anything to do with social necessity. It is a circumstance in which people cannot pay the price of essential commodities of life, housing and education.
Relative Poverty:
Relative poverty refers to a situation when a person is unable to support the standard of living that is considered normal in society.
▪︎ Causes of Poverty:
Poverty of a nation does not appear suddenly. It is the result of multiple factors. There are many factors that contribute to the rising of poverty in a country. It is the result of population explosion, unpractical education, limited access to job, inadequate infrastructure, government policies, economic inequality and a number of short-comings. And it extremely difficult to get out of this curse of poverty.
▪︎ Effects of Poverty:
Poverty leads to number of conditions. Those who live below poverty line usually have unhygienic conditions around and that results in spread of diseases like diarrhea, malaria, typhoid and so many diseases. It is a fact that poverty decreases the standard of living and increases corruption among citizens of a nation.
There are many children in African and Asian continents who suffer from malnutrition due to the cruel impact of poverty. Moreover, poverty leads to the rise of child labour in a nation. Children of the poor families are forced to work and hence they are deprived of education.
Poverty also leads them to the field of crime. Frustrated poor people take up criminal activities like extortion, robbery and kidnapping. Poor people are forced to work in unhygienic conditions for long hours and are easy victims to stress and health related problems.
▪︎ How to Reduce Poverty:
For removal of poverty, increase in employment and living standards of the people should be the main priorities. At this point of time, we should have to strike a balance between the development of agriculture and industry. We cannot think of a country without its rural part and agriculture. To curtail the poverty, both agriculture and industry should go hand in hand in order to make a country poverty free. Government should impart educational facilities effectively and freely.
At the same time, government should think of practical and vocational based education system for the proper utilisation of human resources. We need to thin out the gap between Government estimates and estimates by different methods. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in his book “Ignited Minds” stressed upon the need of alleviating poverty and to raise GDP growth from 6% to 7%. Leaving political interest and any motive to befool our people, some constructive steps should be taken to remove poverty.
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