Low literacy, poverty still haunting tribal women, say experts

CITIES » VIJAYAWADA

GUNTUR, February 8, 2014

Updated: February 8, 2014 13:20 IST  

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TOPICS

social issue

minority group

poverty

education

Two-day seminar on ‘Status of Tribal Women in India’ begins

Even as the government has introduced several welfare schemes, laws and acts for uplift of Scheduled Tribes (STs), the status of tribal women continues to remain pathetic in remote villages.

Womenfolk and girls of primitive tribal groups are suffering with malnutrition, low literacy, poverty and lack of information on government activities and welfare schemes, said experts at the two-day seminar on ‘Status of Tribal Women in India – Issues, Challenges and Strategies for Empowerment’.

Faculty and students of Department of Sociology and Social Work of Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in association with UGC is organising the seminar on the university campus on February 7 and 8.

Tradition hit

Addressing the researchers, faculty and students after inaugurating the seminar on Friday, ANU Vice-Chancellor K. Viyyanna Rao said modern culture has driven tribes from their traditions and some dominated groups grabbed their lands violating laws. The tribes, particularly womenfolk, are suffering due to non-availability of transportation, medical, education, electricity and infrastructure in inaccessible villages, said Mr. Rao and opined that only political willpower can change the status of tribal women in India.

Deprived group

Sociology and Social Work department founder professor of ANU M. Lakshmipathi Raju, who was the key note speaker of the programme, said that STs are the most exploited and excluded group in the society.

Tribals are the worst sufferers in the ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation and some lakhs of tribes are displaced due to degradation of forests across the country.

Mr. Raju appealed to the NGOs and research scholars to take up studies on empowerment of tribal women in different aspects and submit a report to the Government of India.

Failure of machinery

Tribal Welfare Department General Manager (Hyderabad) Devara Vasu who attended the seminar said that many welfare schemes introduced by the government are not reaching the beneficiaries due to failure of official machinery. About 62 per cent of the infant mortality was recorded in tribal people due to superstitions and poor medical practices being followed in rural areas, he said. Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, B. Sambasiva Rao presided over the programme. Seminar coordinator M. Trimurthi Rao, ANU Rector Y.P. Rama Subbaiah, Registrar P. Raja Sekhar, OSD A.V. Dattatreya Rao, Sri Krishnadevaraya University sociology department professor Amarnath Das, Women Studies Director Ch. Swaroopa Rani, and M.S. Padmaja spoke.

Keywords: Tribal Women in India, Scheduled Tribes upliftment, poverty in tribal areas

Reference: 

THE HINDU NEWS

Only education can rid Muslims of poverty, says Harsh Mander

TOPICS

poverty

poverty

religion and belief

islam

social issue

development

social issues (general)

discrimination

social problems

education

CITIES » HYDERABAD

HYDERABAD, February 11, 2014

Updated: February 11, 2014 22:44 I

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The Muslim community faced problems of early dropouts, discrimination and the denial of participation in mixed schools, he said, while participating at a workshop on Muslim Children’s Issues and Right to Education here on Tuesday

A concerted and conscious effort was required to wean Muslim children away from workplaces to the educational stream. For this, both the government and the community had to come forward, said Harsh Mander, director of the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi.

“Unless the children are equipped to do better, they will never get out of the poverty trap,” he said, delivering the keynote address at a workshop on Muslim Children’s Issues and Right to Education here on Tuesday. The workshop was organised by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (Manuu) and child rights body ‘Save the Children’.

The Muslim community was faced with early dropout of children, discrimination and the denial of participation in mixed schools. Muslims, who constituted highest self-employed community, saw no point in studying further with discrimination at every level, leading to the community being excluded from the growing economy.

The community in Kashmir felt let down at the lack of uproar over the incidents of rape in the Valley vis-à-vis the outrage following the Delhi incident, Mr. Mander said.

He called for opening a large number of residential schools for child labour and street children, strong enforcement of Child Labour Act and conscious promotion of mixed education.

‘Rising discrimination’

State Minorities Commission chairman Abid Rasool Khan expressed concern over rising discrimination in matters connected with Muslims, pointing out how compounder posts remained unfilled in Unani medicine hospitals while those in Ayurvedic and Homeopathic ones were filled straightaway.

CSSEIP Director Prof. Kancha Ilaiah said child labour among Muslims was the highest in the country with situation in Ahmedabad being the worst.

He regretted the poor intake in the six residential schools set up for minorities in the State and said this made the situation vulnerable for child labour.

Manuu pro-vice chancellor, Dr. Khwaja M. Shahid, also spoke.

Keywords: Muslim, minority, education, backwardness, regressive, discrimination, mainstream, Harsh Mander, Kancha Illaiah, Abid Rasool Khan, child labour

Decline in below poverty line population: Govt

TOPICS

politics

government

social issue

poverty

The Government today said there is a noticeable decline in below poverty line population in the country between 2004 and 2012.

As per poverty estimates released by the Planning Commission, the percentage of population below poverty line in urban areas has declined from 25.5 per cent in 2004—05 to 13.7 per cent 2011—12, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Girija Vyas informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

There were a total of 531.20 lakh people below the poverty line in the country as per the 2011—12 data, she added.

The Ministry has been implementing Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, a centrally sponsored scheme, through state governments.

The scheme aimed at providing gainful employment to the urban unemployed and under—employed poor by encouraging setting up of self employment ventures by urban poor, skills training and through providing wage employment by utilising their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets.

Keywords: Below poverty line population, Planning Commission, Girija Vyas, Lok Sabha

Reference 

the hindu news

680 million Indians lack the means to meet their essential needs: report

NEWS » NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, February 20, 2014

Updated: February 20, 2014 04:41 IST

Keywords: McKinsey Global Institute survey, empowerment line, essential needs study

TOPICS

social issue

poverty

Proposing a new “empowerment line” that aims to measure the minimum economic cost for a household to fulfil eight most basic needs, a global research organisation has estimated that 680 million Indians, or 56 per cent of the population, lacks the means to meet their essential needs.

Health care, drinking water and sanitation between them account for nearly 40 per cent of the gap between their current status and the ‘empowerment line.’

In a new research report released on Wednesday, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the research arm of the consulting firm, created the new line by estimating the economic cost per capita to meet a minimum requirement of consumption of eight basic services — food, health care, education, sanitation, water, housing, fuel, and social security — and “others’ that included entertainment and clothing.

Using sector-specific norms for each parameter, this worked out to an average Rs. 1,544 per capita per month. MGI then estimated the value of government services reaching the household at Rs. 208 per capita per month. Adjusting for the State-delivered goods and services, the ‘empowerment line’ was set at Rs. 1,336 per month. In 2011-12, this left 56 per cent of the country below this line, nearly 1.5 times the number of people that India’s official poverty line classifies as poor.

The line was set 38 per cent higher for urban India than for rural India. Based on this benchmark, 171 million urban residents (or 44 per cent of the urban population) were below the line, compared with 509 million rural residents (or 61 per cent of the rural population), the report said.

“Every poverty line has its problems, and we are aware that there will be problems with this line too, Shirish Sankhe, director at McKinsey and co-author of the report, told The Hindu.

The additional consumption required to bring these 680 million above the line worked out to 4 per cent of GDP, the report said.

Deprivation score

Using census data, MGI also estimated the availability of basic services at the district level by compiling an Access Deprivation Score. Bihar had the highest level of deprivation with an ADS score of 62 per cent (the average resident lacked access to 62 per cent of services) followed by Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. Himachal Pradesh had the lowest access deprivation at 28 per cent followed by Punjab, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu among the big States  

Reference

HINDU NEWS

In light of custody conduct, SC commutes death sentence

TOPICS

crime

murder

crime, law and justice

judiciary (system of justice)

NEWS » NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, February 28, 2014

Updated: February 28, 2014 03:31 IST  

“The accused were poor. Being young, they had a yearning for quick money. This situation led to the nine murders”

Life imprisonment is the rule and the death penalty an exception. The death sentence must be imposed only in the gravest cases of extreme culpability, namely in the “rarest of rare” where the option of life imprisonment is “unquestionably foreclosed,” the Supreme Court reiterated on Thursday.

It commuted the death sentence awarded to four convicts for killing nine persons.

A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiva Kirti Singh said: “There is no manner of doubt that the appellants — Santosh Manohar Chavan, Amit Ashok Shinde, Yogesh Madhukar Chavan and Mahesh Dhanaji Shinde — have committed the murder of as many as nine innocent and unsuspecting victims who were led to believe that Shinde had magical powers to multiply money.”

Writing the judgment, Justice Gogoi said: “The deceased, after being killed, were robbed of the cash amounts they had brought with them for a ‘money shower’.”

The criminal acts of the accused were actuated by a greed for money and were the result of a carefully planned scheme. The crimes were committed over nearly two months in three different episodes. The assaults on some of the victims were merciless and gruesome. Some of the victims were young and hapless children.

At the same time, the Bench said, “all the four accused were young at the time of commission of the offence, 23-29 years. They belong to the economically, socially and educationally deprived section. They were living in acute poverty. It is possible that, being young, they had a yearning for quick money and it is these circumstances that led to the commission of the crimes. Materials have been laid before this court to show that while in custody, all the accused enrolled themselves in Yashahantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University and either completed the B.A. examination or are on the verge of acquiring the degree. At least three of the appellants have, at different points of time, participated in different programmes of Gandhian thoughts and have been awarded certificates. In prison, A-2 has written a book titled Resheemganth and A-3 has been associated with the work.”

Taking into consideration the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Bench commuted the death sentence, awarded by the trial court and confirmed by the Bombay High Court, to imprisonment for the rest of their lives subject to remissions, if any, “which will be strictly subject to the provisions of Sections 432 and 433-A of the Cr.PC.”

Keywords: death sentence, death sentence commutation, Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Shiva Kirti Singh

reference :hindu news

How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty

How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty

Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps).

Income Used to Compute Poverty Status (Money Income)

• Includes earnings, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, veterans' payments, survivor benefits, pension or retirement income, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, income from estates, trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support, assistance from outside the household, and other miscellaneous sources.
• Noncash benefits (such as food stamps and housing subsidies) do not count.
• Before taxes
• Excludes capital gains or losses.
• If a person lives with a family, add up the income of all family members. (Non-relatives, such as housemates, do not count.)

Measure of Need (Poverty Thresholds)
Poverty thresholds are the dollar amounts used to determine poverty status.

Each person or family is assigned one out of 48 possible poverty thresholds [XLS - 48k]

Thresholds vary according to:

• Size of the family
• Ages of the members

The same thresholds are used throughout the United States (do not vary geographically).

Updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Although the thresholds in some sense reflect families needs,

• They are intended for use as a statistical yardstick, not as a complete description of what people and families need to live.
• Many government aid programs use a different poverty measure, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines  , or multiples thereof.

Poverty thresholds were originally derived in 1963-1964, using:

• U.S. Department of Agriculture food budgets designed for families under economic stress.
• Data about what portion of their income families spent on food.

Computation
If total family income is less than the threshold appropriate for that family,

• The family is in poverty.
• All family members have the same poverty status.
• For individuals who do not live with family members, their own income is compared with the appropriate threshold.

If total family income equals or is greater than the threshold, the family (or unrelated individual) is not in poverty.

Example
Family A has five members: two children, their mother, father, and great-aunt.

Their threshold was $27,517 in 2011. (See poverty thresholds for 2011). [XLS - 48k]

Suppose the members' incomes in 2011 were:

Mother	$10,000
Father	8,000
Great-aunt	10,000
First Child	0
Second Child	0
Total Family Income	$28,000

Compare total family income with their family's threshold:

Income / Threshold = $28,000 / $27,517 = 1.02

Since their income was greater than their threshold, Family A is not "in poverty" according to the official definition.

The income divided by the threshold is called the Ratio of Income to Poverty.

-- Family A's ratio of income to poverty was 1.02.

The difference in dollars between family income and the family's poverty threshold is called the Income Deficit (for families in poverty) or Income Surplus (for families above poverty)

-- Family A’s income surplus was $483 (or $28,000 - $27,517).

People Whose Poverty Status Cannot Be Determined
Unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children):

• Income questions are asked of people age 15 and older.
• If someone is under age 15 and not living with a family member, we do not know their income.
• Since we cannot determine their poverty status, they are excluded from the "poverty universe" (table totals).

People in:

• Institutional group quarters (such as prisons or nursing homes)
• College dormitories
• Military barracks
• Living situations without conventional housing (and who are not in shelters)

Authority Behind Official Poverty Measure
The official measure of poverty was established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Statistical Policy Directive 14

To be used by federal agencies in their statistical work.

Government aid programs do not have to use the official poverty measure as eligibility criteria.

• Many government aid programs use a different poverty measure, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines  , or variants thereof.
• Each aid program may define eligibility differently.

Official poverty data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), formerly called the Annual Demographic Supplement or simply the "March Supplement."

How Poverty is Calculated in the American Community Survey [PDF - 11k]

History

The Development of the Orshansky Thresholds and Their Subsequent History as the Official U.S. Poverty Measure , by Gordon M. Fisher

Reference:

www.census.gov

Poverty

What is poverty?

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter.  However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money.

The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way:

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.

Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways.  Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action -- for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

In addition to a lack of money, poverty is about not being able to participate in recreational activities; not being able to send children on a day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being able to pay for medications for an illness.  These are all costs of being poor. Those people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter simply can’t consider these other expenses.  When people are excluded within a society, when they are not well educated and when they have a higher incidence of illness, there are negative consequences for society.  We all pay the price for poverty.  The increased cost on the health system, the justice system and other systems that provide supports to those living in poverty has an impact on our economy.

While much progress has been made in measuring and analyzing poverty, the World Bank Organization is doing more work to identify indicators for the other dimensions of poverty.  This work includes identifying social indicators to track education, health, access to services, vulnerability, and social exclusion. 

There is no one cause of poverty, and the results of it are different in every case. Poverty varies considerably depending on the situation. Feeling poor in Canada is different from living in poverty in Russia or Zimbabwe.  The differences between rich and poor within the borders of a country can also be great.

Despite the many definitions, one thing is certain; poverty is a complex societal issue. No matter how poverty is defined, it can be agreed that it is an issue that requires everyone’s attention.  It is important that all members of our society work together to provide the opportunities for all our members to reach their full potential. It helps all of us to help one another .

Reference:www2.gnb.ca