Poverty is commonly understood in terms of having less money. However, a more realistic definition of poverty should include many other "quality of life" indices like nutrition, sanitation, availability of clean drinking water, health, education, exposure to pollution, degeneration in social values, environmental degradation and social insecurity. According to the above not only do the poor people have less money but they face very harsh conditions of life and live under a constant sense of insecurity and uncertainty. To be poor is not just about physical hardships but also entails tremendous mental strain.

Various arguments have been offered for explaining the existence of poverty understood as above. The most popular argument is based on high population. People say that the population is too large for the whole country to be living comfortably. If this IS the case then how come there are also people in India who are rich? How come they have more money than the have-nots? People in India are poor because they do not have enough money to buy food and not because there isn’t enough food. There is this story of a poor Russian man working in a coal mine. As the production of coal increased beyond a point some of the workers had to be fired. This man too is fired. When he goes home, no food is cooked that day. His son asks him why there is no food? The man replies saying that there is no food because there is no money to buy the coal because he was fired because there was too much coal being produced! The problem was that the extra coal could not be sold at a price high enough to give good profit to the mine owner. It was therefore not "coal shortage" but "profit shortage" because of which there was no food in the house of the poor mine worker! It is the same story for the poor people of India. There is enough food stored in the country but the poor people simply cannot afford to buy it. Ironically enough, some time ago, a report in The Hindu mentioned that rice stored in the government go downs was rotting and being eaten away by the mice!! Paradoxically you have poverty amidst plenty. Therefore the argument that poverty is caused by too many people compared to the available food, shelter and clothing does not hold water.

Another popular argument is that the people of India are lazy and do not work hard enough. Is it not a common sight to see women sweeping the roads early in the morning, construction laborers working hard throughout the day even under the hot summer sun, poor women in urban areas going to several houses scrubbing the floors and washing clothes? Is this all not hard work??? Do the rich work any harder than the poor??? Then why are they privileged compared to the poor? If things actually worked on the basis of hard work the majority of people in India would have been super rich by now. In contrast, however, in India majority of the population has to work for their living unlike a small minority (the rich) who do not have to work that hard. It is the poorest of the poor who seem to work the hardest. They have no choice. Therefore, the above argument also does not sound convincing.

Some people say that India is poor because of lack of natural resources. If that was the case then Japan and England, being small countries with meager natural resources, should have been the poorest and Bihar, a state rich in minerals and water resources, the richest. Within the breadth and length of India we can find a treasure of natural resources. For example, we have an abundance of water resources. Inspite of this we have either droughts or floods in the country during which the poor suffer the most. Someone aptly said that India is a rich country but its people poor. A very true statement. Infact what needs to be explained is why are people poor in India inspite of being well endowed with natural resources.

I would say that people in India are poor because of the unequal distribution of wealth. The poor work extremely hard but never seem to get any richer. The reason for this lies in the fact that their output is controlled by the rich and the product of their hard work is constantly siphoned of by them. The rich monopolize the produce of the poor and this way the constant gap between the have s and the have-nots is maintained. Poverty of the large majority of Indian population goes hand in hand with the affluence of the rich community minority. My argument is that poverty is "created" and "generated" when few people control the existing resources of the country which are necessary for creating wealth. Rich people use the poor people to create wealth, which is retained by the former. Poor people only get the minimum that they need to survive. Thus, there is a strong link between poverty of many to the "richness" of few. Poverty, therefore, is not a "natural" condition of the poor people. It is not as if all the people were poor to start with and slowly all will become rich- - depending on their luck and hard work! If the poor seek to live a more secure and comfortable life they will have to fight for their rights.

In a nutshell, therefore, I am arguing that the existence of poverty in India cannot be explained by high population, lack of natural resources or by the disinclination of people to work hard. A more plausible explanation can be found in the unequal distribution of resources between the rich and poor and this unequal distribution is maintained because of continued control of the rich over the poor by political means. Gandhiji once correctly remarked that there is enough in this world to meet everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed.

People are poor, because there is no GOVERNMENT And if there is some semblance to government in the various kichdis (mix-up or mess-up) in various states or even at Delhi (centre); they are manipulated and maneuvered by the corrupt, the criminals, the corporate and; hold your breath, the World Bank audit subsidiaries, a new colonial, colonizing power!

Methinks, thought I am just 13 odd years, What I witness in the area of works where both my parents slog and sweat it out to get justice for the toiling masses.

The adivasis were called junglees and relegated to the jungles there to be buried into the forbidden dreadful unknown by the colonizers. Blissfully ignorant to the greedy competitive world outside, the ‘junglees’ lived harmonious, happy, and community living depending on the forests, which they natured and which in turn natured them. All here, including the non-humans, lived in a natural harmonious inter and mutual dependent way for their sustainable living. Came the common, the middleman, the dalad—and slowly but surely the rich forests and the forests dwellers, the adivasis, were laid waste to fill up the bottomless pockets of the greedy merchants of doom, spelling death, devastation and destruction for not only the adivasis but for the whole country. They thrived because they got the protection of those who sat on their chairs in power pretending to govern. We have the case of Veerappan, at one extreme, and we hear the adivasis in Chota Nagar, Chaibasa in Bihar speak of the Tatas as, ‘jis miti par, ham tati karete, ho miti hamare le kar Tata bade ban gaye!’. Here we can see a criminal and a corporate growing rich at the cost of those adivasis. (Not only natural but even human resource looted).

The kolis, are for my parents a recent experiences. The kolis or the fishing and coastal communities living along the 7000 odd Indian coastal region. We speak specifically of the coastal region of Maharastra State, part of which falls within the Greater Mumbai Region. These kolis are the original, the traditional inhabitants of the area, the oceans, rivers and other water-bodies and the land for their living. They slog, sweat and slave, day in and day out, night and day, to carve out a living. In our small area like Gorai (North western coastal region of Mumbai), nearly Rs.10/- crores are earned in foreign exchange. Their natural resources are huge, their catch plenty, but their earnings and savings are almost NIL—this is because, there is no government who cares for their welfare, for their wellbeing. There are middlemen who abound, who loan out money, who take advances and vanish into thin air, till new ones materialise and perform the same vanishing tricks after looting the simple people. Till now, these coastal people guarded the shores through their simple but sustaining trade, dependent on their experiences and rich customary traditional knowledge. They would never over harvest; they would not pollute or destroy the water-bodies or the land. But now, we talk only of Gorai-Uttan coastal belt, the previous Narayan Rane government gifted over 700 acres of Mangrove lands to one of the filthiest rich person in the world, Subhash Goyal. These set up the Amusement park called Essell World within the limits of the now defined CRZ limits. They continue to deplenish the neighboring underground water for their Water Kingdom.(An open secret nearly 84% of the filthy rich ladies entering the Water Kingdom, puke and pee in the Water Kingdom saying ‘It feels great’ shamelessly exposing the school children to disease and death in the Water Kingdom ). They are depenishing the earth to fill up there is Amusement park and they are killing mangroves thus devastating the natural sponging system of the ocean currents; and the natural purifiers and spawning places of the fish, the flora and the fauna. When the local protest peacefully, the state government machinery only makes the citizens into criminals by charging them for breaking up law and order .The real thieves, thugs, and terrorists are allowed to operate freely.

In this area, the nexus, between the state (revenue, police ,port and other authorities ) and the criminals is visible and rules the roost – impoverishing the citizens who toil tirelessly.

The third areas of operation are the slums in the city of Bombay. My teacher, tuition teacher lives in one such slum. She toils day in and day out, earning a pittance. She does not charge the students overmuch because she cannot afford a place in some respectable quarter. I have yet to see a dedicated teacher like my tuition teacher. These are people who came in search of a living. They worked here and there making ends meet. The land is encroached upon thanks to the politicians whom they were forced to vote into power. For their water connection they have to pay extra, they get only contractual labor. Their lands back in the rural areas have been neglected, and the people who have migrated to Mumbai are being milked dry. Many of these people are forced into illegal activities, like illegal distilleries, adulteration of milk and edible oil; adulteration of kerosene and what have you. These same politicians continually milking the state dry of its revenue and royalties.

Finally, the world Bank a new colonial power. And India is touching its feet in subservience and subjugation through our illiterate and criminally prone political leaders (some not all). The World Bank is dictating terms and conditions to India as to how to go in for MEGA PROJECTS. These only destroy the earth and the ocean (wee see the mighty ONGC and the Steamers with their diseased ballast water release) polluting our seas and our shores) like monster. Besides destroying and devastating the earth and the ocean, the World Bank is also undermining community living and community harmony. Through the mega projects they are taking the control of the community and putting the control in the hands of a single authority, be it the state, a foreign power like Enron, or what have you. Today we have TVs in almost every home, but not every child can afford to go to a school. Today we see the sea (high tide) washing and dashing against the kolis’ house, but instead of giving them land for their expansion, CRZ is applied to them and land is given free to the likes of Esselworld and other landmonsters in the name of MTDC. The very earth and the ocean on which the toiling people survived are literally being removed from under their feet and laid at the tear corporate.

So people are poor, because the present day government in nothing but the dalals or the middlemen of criminals, the corrupt, the moneybags, the mafia, the corporate and of the new colonizing power the World Bank.

It is said that one billion people in this world live in absolute poverty. Of these one half go to bed hungry every night and a large proportion of these are children. We do not have to make an effort to find poor people. They are there in the street corners, footpaths, by the ride of the railway track, etc, Why are they poor? Are they lazy? Looking at them men pulling rickshaw and women among them busy weaving basket or some other work show as that they are not lazy. They are skilled too, in weaving baskets, making crude kitchenware etc. How can they be the over population? It could be anybody around, why only them?

But why are only people poor? When I talked to people, observed the living conditions of poor, thought about the poor and read about poverty, I understood several things about the subject. People could be poor because a lack of natural resources. Yes, there are more poor people from dry Telangana than fertile Andhra region. When the rainfall is less and land is dry we can not grow crops. So there would be nothing to do. People would have nothing to buy or sell.

Resources could also be limited because of too many people asking for a share, just like ten people wanting to share a small piece of cake. Certainly it would not be enough for everybody. Urbanization is another reason for poverty. Poor people from villages come to city looking for work in the city. These people may not find jobs and so end up as poor people in slums. This is what we find in many cities, certainly in Hyderabad, Bangalore, that I have seen.

Generally people make a living by growing crops or manufacturing goods that we use, and also by selling them. But if we grow crops all round the year land looses fertility and may become unfit for agriculture. So also every thing we produce in factories we use natural resources. For making paper we need bamboo. It will lesson the forests and could result in less rainfall and natural disaster.

People can also be poor because of natural disaster like floods. We see on TV people loosing every thing in floods. Even when it does not rain people have to use up their savings and so become poor.

Poverty also comes because of the way people run the government. It politicians are corrupt and do not administer with everybody’s benefit in mind, then only a few people in the country get benefit in mind then only a few people in the country get benefit and other only a few people in the country get benefit and other will become poor. This is also told of the British. When they ruled our country they took away our resources and made us poor. Cotton from India taken to England to make cloth and sell it to us. This is said to continue even now in many ways. Rich countries make the rules and poorer countries for their convenience and because of this poorer countries loose more in trade.

But poverty seems to be made by us. It is mostly because of our unwillingness to give others their share. It is also because of our greed to have more comforts and luxuries without understanding how it affects the nature and life of other people indirectly. Because of excessive pollution there is a big hole in the ozonosphere allowing ultra violet rays to fall on the earth. Much of the poverty could be avoided if we learn how to live in harmony with nature.

When I look here and there,
I found a thing strange everywhere,
This thin is an evil.
It sucks poor people’s blood as devil,
To mankind it is a curse,
Which in the world is worst,
From lovely little faces it snatches happiness,
Poor people want to live a highly utilized life,
So that hunger cannot kill their children and wife,
We know the poorness is a curse,
But have we questioned ourselves " Why it is worst "
Let’s try to find out what is its cause,
Wait! Wait! I have found it having swear words,
Illiteracy is the pillar of this fort
Which randomly stand,
Till this is not destroyed poverty will not come to an end,
So join hands and say "we will study " courageously.
"And will work hard" say confidently.
Less knowledge makes our population rice.
Less are here educated and wise,
Let’s pledge ours will be two,
So the two, can enjoy school too
When in a country there is population explosion,
It always leads to unemploytation,
When people are unemployed,
They don’t get money and their life is destroyed,
Having unemployed people means unsuccessful nation,
This cause nation’s economic degradation,
Next cause is corruption.
Every department is indulging in this profession.
A corrupted person is like a witch.
He grabbed money from poor to make himself rich.
In this way rich become richer and poor becomes more poor.
Poor people have nothing to eat.
A rich corrupted person beat them and can even peel their skin.
He never follow this rule’s "more pay for more work".
He give them less salary and take more work.
On them he put tax.
And thinks his body of wax.
Oh! God! When there will be a change?
When people will end their poverty reign?
Illiteracy, over population, unemployment, corruption
Which makes people poor are four devils.
This answer to our question,
"Why are the people poor ?"

By Lalit Sharma,
7^th Standard,
Maharaja Argasen Model School,
Delhi.

Not withstanding India’s entering up on 20^th century with about more than "one hundred corers" of population, standard of living of the common people is no doubt unsatisfactory. This vast country starting from Kashmir to cape of cambrain and the Ganges to the Godavary has been rich in population but what is their unfulfilled desire? Why has this country become maimed and crippled in socio-economic field, fifty-three years after the country abound in natural resources? Is it not possible to utilize them?

If we deeply contemplate, we can know that due to some special reasons, today we are very poor in the world. Our physical condition is not satisfactory till now. It is a deep concern to fulfill the basic needs of life like food, clothing and dwelling. It is the burning example of our developed pecuniary conditions. Some hints relating to our undeveloped physical condition are highlighted below:

India stands as the second largest populated country in the world. Population in this country is rising at an alarming speed every year. Low production along with rapid growth of population puts deep pressure on the economic system of the country. Work can’t be provided to all able men and women. So unemployed battles the economic development of our country, and the country tends towards undeveloped stage. What can we hope under this situation?

Although our country is rich in natural resources like land, forest, mine, water, we have become completely backward in want of their proper utilization. Most of our lands have been left uncultivated in want of irrigation and single crop is yielded in a year. Industry, trade and commerce play a vital role in the development of a country but there is no progress owing to uncertain means of income?

Unemployment is also the main obstacle in the path of progress. Most of the educated youth are now wandering aimlessly in want of work. In comparison to spread of education, new work can’t be created. As a result of these circumstances, people are compelled to indulge in different devilish works like murder, theft, robbery and terrorism.

Our country is not fully self sufficient in the field of science, agriculture and industry. Although we adopt scientific method in some cases still we have not given up our traditional method which gives very low and unsatisfactory yield. But our progress will be possible if production is high with major investment within a short period. It can only be possible by introduction of scientific knowledge.

Sufficient capital investment is essential to achieve production capacity. Rapid growth of population jeopardizes the creation of capital. Major portion of the country’s production is spent to fulfill the bare necessities of life. As a result of which saving to create capital becomes negligible. Moreover, we have to be like an arrow in order to increase production capacity. It obstructs the progress of the country.

In rural areas a man needs food, 2700 calorie per day where as in urban area a man needs 2400 calories. In 1979-80 it was calculated that monthly expenditure of a rural man was seventy-six rupees. So income is gradually increasing but the expenditure exceeds income. Now a days it has reached the optimum position. In developed countries like Germany, France, Canada, USA and Switzerland perceptual income is more than their expenditure. So all those countries are now considered "Developed countries" in the world. So from the per capita income point of view, India is a poor country. So most of the people of this can not fulfil their basic needs.

Although India is an agricultural country, agricultural out put has not reached its expected goal. Factors like land reform, land holding in a particular spot irrigation, marketing, agricultural research and its extension and introduction of scientific apparatus has not been properly implemented as a result of which, there is failure in production. In want of agricultural researches and non-implementation of scientific equipment there is reduction of production. Sufficient co-operation on behalf of the government is not up to the mark, which encourages less export and more import. So it is a question that how our progress is possible under this situation.

There is rule of democracy after independence. Although we have become our own rules we are not able to achieve the expected progress. Country voters are misguided and biased by fictitious and false assurance during election and they do not cast their votes to the fitting candidates. "Autocracy dominates democracy". Steps taken by the government do not touch the common people. Some selfish miscreants spread their spiders net under the asylum of the ruling party. In this context how can there be up-liftment of the poor, innocent and classless society! We must stand in the way of these who are taking the country towards destruction by their crooked policies. Corruption must be eradicated from the grassroots level. Murder, rape, misappropriation of public account, cheating terrorism, theft, robbery must be done away with. Only then can we get peace and happiness.

In the end, we must not lose heart. We must make the people conscious of their right and duties. We must send them rights and duties. We must send them the gospel of democracy. If everybody become "self-reliant" and cultivates cosmopolitan outlook, our country will one day reach the zenith of success and words like "poor" will gradually become unfamiliar to our people.