Rural Poverty in India: Structure, determinants and suggestions for policy reform

Poverty, particularly rural poverty, has been one of the enduring policy challenges in India.
Surely the most important objective of the reforms process would have been to make a
significant dent on rural poverty. It is from this that a program of accelerated growth must
draw its rationale. In this paper, I discuss the evolution of poverty in India – particularly
during the reform period. Then I analyze the structure and determinants of this poverty. The
rate of decline of poverty declined during the 1990s as compared to the 1980s. I advance
some reasons for this. Policy prescriptions for a more effective anti poverty strategy are
discussed.