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Policies to Address Chronic Poverty in India

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Book cover Chronic Poverty

Part of the book series: Rethinking International Development Series ((RID))

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Abstract

India has approximately 17% of the world’s population and nearly one-third of its poor. Not only is the scale of the problem an issue, but also its complexity. Poverty in India is characterised by class, caste, ethnicity, and regional differences. It is concentrated among certain ethnic groups and regions, and there is often a close link between the factors that cause and sustain poverty. A lack of basic education, poor health status, and assetlessness are just some of the factors contributing to multidimensional poverty. Measuring and examining long duration and multidimensional poverty necessitates a deep understanding of the socioeconomic and regional dynamics operating in India.

This paper draws liberally on ongoing research for the Chronic Poverty Research Centre India and the Indian Institute of Public Administration working paper series, and on a paper (Mehta and Satpathy, 2007) presented at a UNDP conference on poverty in Kuala Lumpur.

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© 2013 Aasha Kapur Mehta, Amita Shah, Trishna Satpathy, Shashanka Bhide and Anand Kumar

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Mehta, A.K., Shah, A., Satpathy, T., Bhide, S., Kumar, A. (2013). Policies to Address Chronic Poverty in India. In: Shepherd, A., Brunt, J. (eds) Chronic Poverty. Rethinking International Development Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137316707_11

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