A Study on Poverty and Hunger in India

Poverty is not simply a lack of adequate income. It is a social phenomenon in which a section of a society is unable to fulfil even its basic necessities of life. Even with more than a thousand analysis and hundreds of programs to alleviate poverty, the level of poverty has not decreased up to the mark in the world. India is continuing to face this issue in spite of its development in many areas of operation. Article 25 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of United Nations1 states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”. This right is further reaffirmed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. But this basic right is not conferred on many people. The Human Development Indicator shows that India stands in the 136th position among 186 countries with an index of 0.554 and is in the lowest ebb of the Medium Human Development. Hence this paper intends to study the intensity of poverty and hunger in India by appraising the indices like Global Hunger Index, Below Poverty Line Index and Multidimensional Poverty Index calculated by various global institutions. The Human Poverty Index (HPI) uses indicators of the most basic dimensions of deprivation of human life already reflected in the HDI like longevity or survival, knowledge and a decent standard of living. Hence this study studies the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which also reflects the HDI. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n12p147