Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger - Essay Example

MDG 1 - Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Name Course Tutor Date MDG 1 - Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Introduction As people we are charged with responsibility to make sure we uplift the life of those who are struggling. People have to have allowed ourselves be distressed by the various struggles from poverty and hunger, education, gender and women empowerment, child mortality, maternal health, diseases, environmental and global partnership that 2.8 billion individuals go through every day owing to insufficient funds (Noeleen, 2005, p.9). Experts think that that people not only need to become conscious of the problems across the globe, but to respond and use all possible solutions to tackle these challenges absolutely. In this 21st century, the most extensively debated issues all over the globe is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2000 in a meeting bringing together 153 member countries of United Nations, the leaders approved to a significant document called the Millennium Declaration (Noeleen, 2005, p.10). This Declaration required that countries set its visions higher and plan for eight defined goals which were to be realized by 2015. One of these goals was to eradicate poverty and hunger. Based on this, this essay will assess the state of India in relation to MDGs. Poverty and hunger in India The United Nations reports that the India has a widespread level of poverty, with this country being approximated to host one of the poorest people in the world, in particular number three in the world. World Bank report of 2010 state that 32.8% of the entire population of India falls under the global poverty line, US$ 1.25 a day (World Bank, 2010). However, whilst South Asia has improved in poverty reduction, it has not performed well in hunger reduction. In 1990, the population of up to 27% in that region was malnourished; the figure however came down by 2010/12 to 18 per cent (United Nations 2013). At this percentage, the standard of halving a number of individuals facing hunger is still is yet to meet the set goals. With fastest growing economy and moderate income poverty reduction pace, India’s successes on the issues of human and social development are rapid and to some extend outstanding. Poverty Development Goals Report of 2011 claimed that in the next four years, up to 320 million individuals in both India and China are anticipated to be liberated from of extreme poverty, whilst poverty rate in India is predicted to go down to 21% in 2015 (Subramanian, et al, 2011, p.336). This report also indicated it is only in India among Southern Asian countries where rate of poverty is predicted to drop from 50% in the 1990s to nearly 21% in 2015. It is on line the poverty will be cut by half to meet the target. The United Nations claim that India’s health situation is another concern for increase in the level of poverty (Pruess, Kay, Fewtrell, & Bertram, 2002). AIDS epidemic in the rural areas of India has highly affected the labor force. Migration also encourages poverty. Due to high population in certain regions, some people are forced to move elsewhere in search for job opportunities and also land to cultivate. Some research claims that there is a negative effect of India rural urban-migration on farming. It is through farming that a country can elevate hunger and poverty among its citizens. Food security and political situation in India Subramanian et al (2011, p.336) claim that the matter of food security over the past and currently has been a political concern in India. Sometimes it is a matter of blame game between the past regime and the current one. Politicians use it as a campaign tools against their opponents. India is just a few months to the general election that is scheduled in 2014 and political parties are lining their strategies to show or declare their pledge to food security. In a nation where widespread malnutrition has been considered natural for a very long time this acts a breakthrough of all sorts. The mere talk however, is not normally corresponded by recognizing of this issue, leave alone action. In line with MDGs, the bill concerning National Food Security was tabled Parliament in 2011 in relation to electoral pledges made by the governing coalition of India, the United Progressive Alliance (Daniel, Carl & Jesse, 2012, p26). This bill was to be voted for in the last Parliamentary session together with several of amendments with regard to the parliamentary committee report. Opposition parties, though, endlessly interrupted the parliamentary proceedings from one issue to another. The blame can be attributed the ruling coalition and the opposition for the failure to elevate poverty. On the side of the government, the failure is because of the lack of inclusivity in the development agenda (Pruess et al, 2002, p.541). rather than enabling individuals to get basic needs like food, water, sanitation and health care, the administration is encouraging ‘non-inclusive development’ and has look to offer basic services by means subsidies with the related challenges of corruption and inefficacies. One of the sectors that offer quality employment is the service industry but up to only 13% of the Indian workforce (Daniel, Carl, & Jesse, 2012, p.31). The remainder of 87% is taken to the informal and agricultural sectors with uncertain and low income. Lindert (2011) argues that even though the government of India has created a well defined climate change plan, the concentration so far in executing the program is limited to funds and technology paying no attention to crucial issues like equity, good governance and institutional capacity. Poverty and hunger and Economic situation in India Poverty levels in India can be explained by means of Global Hunger Index (Sinha, 2009). It reveals the reality of a wide range of poverty and therefore, hunger in India. The growth of economy does not automatically reduce poverty unless various parameters are set to mitigate. India scores badly with regard to index in reference to its economic status since poor people are barred from the normal development and economy. Even though the planning commission reports that poverty levels in India went down to 22% in 2013 there is still increasing inequalities in terms of wealth and income. The gap between the rich and the poor The shapes of socio‐economic growth in India will remain of focus until 2015 when the MDGs comes to an end. Even though the number of poor people falling between 2004/05 and 2011/12, the gap between them and the rich has gone up in both rural and urban areas in nearly 35 years. The increase in the gap between the poor and the rich in rural place has surprised several economists, even as the government expands welfare plans in the villages. The corporate sector in industry is broadly praised as in terms of world emerging market, with big multinational companies such as Tata group and Reliance Industries (Pruess et al, 2002, p.539). However, opponents warn that much of this success from market-based policies established in 1991 also results to vast affluence inequality in India with a yearly per capita income of approximately $1,000. Obviously, an Indian economic policy which led to high growth of GDP for this period has in is yet get down to the poor. Rather, it looks to be promoting the already rich sections more. The connection between hunger and population growth Noeleen (2005, p.10) postulate that the main cause of poverty in India is its high population growth, though demographers normally concur that this may be just a symptom as opposed to basis of poverty. Even though the issue with growth of population as key aspects underlying food scarcities is currently compared to the past, it may not be completely discarded. It influences local food production, perhaps more harmfull than its impacts at a highly combined level. Fast population growth stimulated by higher fertility need and poor executing of required sizes of the family can result to land sub-division. Adjusting from macro level to micro level of reproduction there is substantial proof that reproductive of production patterns –short birth intervals, number of siblings, wantedness of the child and maternal age contribute considerably to the prevalence of undernourishment in both children and the mother (Grown, 2005, p.86)). Whilst industry and services have grown-up by figure reflecting double-digit, agriculture rate of growth has fallen from 4.8 percent to 2 percent. Nearly 60 percent of the population relies on agriculture while the agriculture contribution to the GDP is approximately 18% (United Nations, 2013). The labor surplus in agriculture has led several individuals not have get employment. Farmers are considered a large vote block and apply the votes to oppose redistribution of land for high-income projects of industrial nature. The presence of a substantial parallel economy in relation to black money hidden in the form of foreign aid has also resulted to the modest pace of alleviation of poverty in India. India and Millennium Development Goals on hunger India is a South Asian country and a signatory to the MDGs. It is considered the seventh largest country and the second most heavily populated nation with more than 1.3 billion people (World Bank 2010). Due to its market-oriented economy and reforms it has grown to become the tenth-largest in the world with regard to nominal GDP and the third largest with regards to purchasing power parity based on fast growing economy, India is regarded a newly industrialized country. Though, it continues to undergo the concerns of poverty. From the 1950s, Indian government and NGOs have established numerous programs to ease poverty, as well as subsidizing basic needs like food and other several necessities, enhanced loans access, enhancing agricultural methods and support of prices, and promoting family planning and education (Haines & Cassells, 2004, p.397). These forms of measures have assisted in eliminating hunger, cut total poverty levels by over half, and malnutrition and illiteracy reduction. Poverty eradication in India is usually only taken to be a long-standing goal. However, significant long-term mitigation to hunger is based on the poverty alleviation, since poverty results to hunger. Grown (2005, p.84) contends that Global hunger is a dreadful indication of global poverty. If effort is just directed at offering food, or enhancing production or distribution of food, then the main root cause that leads to hunger, dependency and poverty is here to stay. And therefore while constant resources and effort are managed to alleviate hunger by means of these technical steps, the political sources need political solutions too. Relieving of poverty is anticipated to make a good progress in the next few years compared to the past, as a drip impact of the rising middle class (Lindert, 2011). Increasing focus on the education, reservation of government employments, increasing women empowerment and economically weaker society segments, are also projected to contribute to poverty mitigation. It is mistaken to state that every program aimed at poverty reduction have not yielded fruits. The population growth of middle class people demonstrates that economic affluence has certainly been very remarkable in India, although the allocation of wealth is not all equal. From 1990 to 2005, the population shares in the developing countries living below US$1/day and halves malnutrition (United Nations 2013). Progress towards realizing MDGs has been bumpy. The economic and financial crisis in the recent years has intensified the issue of reducing poverty even more by causing slow growth in several low and middle-income areas in India. Other than resulting to hunger and famine, poverty makes individuals susceptible to problems like the economic crisis, climate change and natural catastrophes. To mitigate poverty, nations and their development associates have to improve job-rich growth, ease susceptibility to hunger, and enhance access to essential services and opportunities (Palma, Ortiz, Alvarez-Dardet & Ruiz, 2009, p.1790). India must also aim liberate the millions of citizens still struggling to get basic services. How MDG has improved India Haines & Cassells (2004, p.396) claim that even though India has been struggling with high population growth, it has managed to put various measures such as improving agriculture, starting new companies and family planning in order to mitigate the level of poverty. As India improves its status with economic liberalization it has created a high platform for development. The past five years India have demonstrated what it could realize with market based development policies in the improvement of the economy so as to elevate the poverty level in line with the MDGs (World Bank 2010). This is a potential growth in the last few years also have revealed the degree to which poor people stand to achieve from increasing the level of growth. Reforms in India that began in MDGs maintain the pledge of significant upgrading of the living standards of the poor populations. Over this period of time, the inward-based driven industrialization strategy in India has led to poverty reduction and growth in 2011/2012 as reported by the Indian planning committee (United Nations 2013). Conclusion India has shown positive trends in particular social indicators like poverty. However, pace has been reported to be slow in areas desiring complete changes, such as provision of basic needs. To solve this problem India needs to fasten the expansion of capacity building, public investments, local resource mobilization and development assistance. The country should also present a structure for intensification governance, promoting the private sector, improving human rights, and involving civil society. References Daniel C.T, Carl, TE & Jesse, OT. (2012). Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change. New York: Oxford University Press, p.25-33. Grown, C. (2005). Answering the Skeptics: Achieving Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals. Development, 48(3), 82–86. Haines, A. & Cassells, A. (2004). Can the millennium goals be attained? British Medical Journal, 329(7462), pp. 394–399. Lindert, K. (2011). Brazil: Bolsa Familia Program – Scaling up Cash Transfers for the Poor. Brazil: BolsaFamilia Program. Retrieved 18th Sept. 2013 from www.mfdr.org/sourcebooks Palma, M., Ortiz, R., Alvarez-Dardet, C., & Ruiz, M. (2009). Policy determinants affecting the hunger millennium development goal. Social Science & Medicine, 68, 1788 – 1792. Pruess, A., D. Kay, L. Fewtrell, & Bertram, J. (2002). Estimating the burden of disease from water, sanitation, and hygiene at a global level, Environmental Health Perspectives, 110(5), pp. 537–42; cited in Editors’ Introduction, Environment and Urbanization, 2003, 15(2), p. 5. Noeleen, H. (2005). Making the Links: Women's Rights and Empowerment Are Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Gender and Development, Vol. 13, No. 1, Millennium Development Goals (March 2005), pp. 9-12. Sinha, K. (2009). India tops world hunger chart. The Times of India. Subramanian, S, Joseph, N, Toru, M & David P. (2011). Do We Have the Right Models for Scaling Up Health Services to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals? BMC Health Services Research, 11(336), 34-78. United Nations. (2013). United Nations Millennium Declaration. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml World Bank. (2010). World Development Report 2009/2010: Attacking Poverty. N.Y., Oxford University Press Inc. Read More

The United Nations claim that India’s health situation is another concern for increase in the level of poverty (Pruess, Kay, Fewtrell, & Bertram, 2002). AIDS epidemic in the rural areas of India has highly affected the labor force. Migration also encourages poverty. Due to high population in certain regions, some people are forced to move elsewhere in search for job opportunities and also land to cultivate. Some research claims that there is a negative effect of India rural urban-migration on farming.

It is through farming that a country can elevate hunger and poverty among its citizens. Food security and political situation in India Subramanian et al (2011, p.336) claim that the matter of food security over the past and currently has been a political concern in India. Sometimes it is a matter of blame game between the past regime and the current one. Politicians use it as a campaign tools against their opponents. India is just a few months to the general election that is scheduled in 2014 and political parties are lining their strategies to show or declare their pledge to food security.

In a nation where widespread malnutrition has been considered natural for a very long time this acts a breakthrough of all sorts. The mere talk however, is not normally corresponded by recognizing of this issue, leave alone action. In line with MDGs, the bill concerning National Food Security was tabled Parliament in 2011 in relation to electoral pledges made by the governing coalition of India, the United Progressive Alliance (Daniel, Carl & Jesse, 2012, p26). This bill was to be voted for in the last Parliamentary session together with several of amendments with regard to the parliamentary committee report.

Opposition parties, though, endlessly interrupted the parliamentary proceedings from one issue to another. The blame can be attributed the ruling coalition and the opposition for the failure to elevate poverty. On the side of the government, the failure is because of the lack of inclusivity in the development agenda (Pruess et al, 2002, p.541). rather than enabling individuals to get basic needs like food, water, sanitation and health care, the administration is encouraging ‘non-inclusive development’ and has look to offer basic services by means subsidies with the related challenges of corruption and inefficacies.

One of the sectors that offer quality employment is the service industry but up to only 13% of the Indian workforce (Daniel, Carl, & Jesse, 2012, p.31). The remainder of 87% is taken to the informal and agricultural sectors with uncertain and low income. Lindert (2011) argues that even though the government of India has created a well defined climate change plan, the concentration so far in executing the program is limited to funds and technology paying no attention to crucial issues like equity, good governance and institutional capacity.

Poverty and hunger and Economic situation in India Poverty levels in India can be explained by means of Global Hunger Index (Sinha, 2009). It reveals the reality of a wide range of poverty and therefore, hunger in India. The growth of economy does not automatically reduce poverty unless various parameters are set to mitigate. India scores badly with regard to index in reference to its economic status since poor people are barred from the normal development and economy. Even though the planning commission reports that poverty levels in India went down to 22% in 2013 there is still increasing inequalities in terms of wealth and income.

The gap between the rich and the poor The shapes of socio‐economic growth in India will remain of focus until 2015 when the MDGs comes to an end. Even though the number of poor people falling between 2004/05 and 2011/12, the gap between them and the rich has gone up in both rural and urban areas in nearly 35 years. The increase in the gap between the poor and the rich in rural place has surprised several economists, even as the government expands welfare plans in the villages.

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