‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.’ Explain by giving reasons.
Approach · directive: “explain”
What it asks · Explain why poverty persists despite decades of anti-poverty programmes, pointing to weaknesses in design, delivery and the wider economy.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Explain the reasons poverty persists that lie in the programmes: weak design, targeting and delivery
- Explain the deeper reasons: the pattern of growth, human capital, social barriers, vulnerability and regional gaps, with the way forward in brief
Open with · Poverty has fallen sharply, from about 45 per cent in 1993–94 to about 22 per cent in 2011–12 on the Tendulkar line, yet many remain poor and many more hover just above the line.
Cover
- Growth pattern: low-quality and job-poor growth, a large low-productivity farm and informal workforce, and weak wage growth limit the reach of growth to the poor.
- Design and targeting: faulty identification of beneficiaries, inclusion and exclusion errors, overlapping schemes and small benefits that do not lift families over the line.
- Delivery: leakages, corruption, delayed payments and weak local capacity; direct benefit transfers, Aadhaar and Jan Dhan accounts have cut some leakages.
- Human capital and social barriers: poor health, education and skills, and caste, gender and tribal disadvantage, trap families in poverty across generations.
- Vulnerability: health costs, indebtedness, drought and price shocks push near-poor households back into poverty, and social security covers few informal workers.
- Regional gaps: poverty is concentrated in less developed regions with weaker infrastructure, land inequality and thin State capacity.
- Way forward: quality jobs and skills, universal social protection, better targeting with convergence of schemes, land and credit access, and independent evaluation.
Close with · Anti-poverty schemes have helped, but ending poverty needs inclusive growth, better delivery and investment in people, with multidimensional measures guiding policy.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 217 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Poverty on the Tendulkar line fell from about 45 per cent in 1993–94 to about 22 per cent in 2011–12, yet a large population stays poor and many more hover just above the line: programmes have eased poverty without ending it.
Weaknesses in the programmes
- Design and targeting: faulty identification of beneficiaries, inclusion and exclusion errors, overlapping schemes and benefits too small to lift a family over the line.
- Delivery: leakages, corruption, delayed payments and weak local capacity; direct benefit transfers, Aadhaar and Jan Dhan accounts have reduced but not removed these.
Reasons beyond the programmes
- Growth pattern: job-poor growth, a large low-productivity farm and informal workforce, and weak wage growth limit how much growth reaches the poor.
- Human capital and social barriers: poor health, education and skills, and caste, gender and tribal disadvantage, pass poverty across generations.
- Vulnerability: illness costs, debt, drought and price shocks push near-poor families back, and social security covers few informal workers.
- Regional gaps: poverty concentrates in less developed regions with weak infrastructure, land inequality and thin State capacity.
Way forward
- Quality jobs and skills, universal social protection, convergence of schemes with better targeting, land and credit access, and independent evaluation.
Anti-poverty schemes have helped, but ending poverty needs inclusive growth, better delivery and investment in people, with multidimensional measures guiding policy.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.