Part B (Q5): Discuss the various poverty reduction initiatives in India.

Since independence, the Government of India has launched numerous initiatives to combat poverty, broadly categorized into wage employment, self-employment, and food security/social welfare schemes.

1. Wage Employment Programmes

These aim to provide guaranteed wage employment to unskilled laborers, acting as a critical safety net during agricultural lean seasons.

• MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005): The flagship program. It legally guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It also builds rural infrastructure (water conservation, roads).

2. Self-Employment and Livelihood Programmes

These aim to help the poor create sustainable micro-enterprises.

• NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) / Aajeevika: Focuses on mobilizing rural poor women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs). It provides them with seed money, connects them to formal banking for credit, and offers training to start small businesses.
• NULM (National Urban Livelihood Mission): The urban equivalent, focusing on organizing urban poor, providing skill training, and supporting street vendors.
• PMEGP (Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme): Provides credit-linked subsidies to set up micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector.

3. Food Security and Direct Benefit Transfers

• National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013: Legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive highly subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
• PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi): Provides direct income support of ₹6,000 per year to vulnerable landholding farmer families.

4. Basic Amenities and Infrastructure

Poverty reduction also requires improving living standards to free up disposable income and improve health.

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY): Aimed at providing "Housing for All" by providing subsidies for constructing houses for the poor.
• Swachh Bharat Mission: Construction of toilets to eliminate open defecation, drastically improving public health and reducing disease-related poverty.