Eliminating poverty – A way to get out of poverty into prosperity

By Gamini Jayasinghe

Poverty is the situation or experience of being poor not having enough money, goods and other possessions to have a comfortable life. Poor people are described in different terms, families, children etc. who are needy or in need, not having enough money to buy food, clothes etc. and needing and deserving help from others are regarded as being poor. Badly off is a British expression meaning less money than most people. In literature the word "penniless" is used to mean very poor. "Impoverished" is a formal word meaning poor used when referring to people who are now poor having not been so in the past.

Then there are poverty people are extremely poor and are suffering as a result of this. Destitute is having no money or possessions and often with nowhere to live, especially when there seems to be no possibility of the situation improving. Some one "down –at – heel" is poor and looks poor for example because his or her clothes and shoes are old and in a bad condition. They are also called the disadvantaged people of the population.

There are therefore poor people all over the world including our own country, Sri Lanka, and they belong to one of these categories.

Poverty Threshold or poverty line

Poverty line is used to differentiate the poor people from the rest of the population. The poverty threshold or poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country. The poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in the developing countries. As such some of those who are above the poverty line in developing countries are poor according to measurements in affluent countries.

The poverty line is usually used to determine the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year.

Absolute poverty

A measure of absolute poverty quantifies the number of people below a poverty threshold and this poverty threshold is independent of time and place. For the measure to be absolute the line must be the same in different countries and technological levels. Such an absolute measure should look only at the individual power to consume and it should be independent of any changes in income distribution. Such a measure is only possible when all consumed goods and services are counted and purchasing power parity exchange rates are used. The institution behind an absolute measure is that more survival takes essentially the same amount of resources across the world and that everybody should be subject to the same standards of meaningful comparisons of policies and progress are to be made. If everyone's real income in an economy increases and the income distribution does not change, the absolute poverty will decline.

Measuring poverty by an absolute threshold has the advantage of applying the same standard across different locations and time periods, making comparisons easier. However, it has the disadvantage because of the fact that absolute poverty threshold is arbitrary to some extent. For example a person in Nuwara Eliya requires warm clothes and those living in the arid zone require ways and means of keeping away from warmness. In some other areas what people need most is security, from terrorists in the North and from wild animals in forest areas.

The absolute poverty is sometimes used to mean extreme poverty. According to a UN declaration that resulted from the world summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 absolute poverty is "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation, health facilities, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to essential services"

Relative poverty

-rich and poor

According to the measure of relative poverty a person who is below the relative poverty threshold is regarded as poor. For example poverty line is drawn on the presumption that households with an accumulated income less than 50 of the median income are living in poverty.

According to an English thinker any person who is able to earn a living for himself with the sweat of his brow cannot be regarded as poor. The use of relativeness for measuring poverty may brand rich people as poor and poor people as rich. If the real income of everyone in an economy increases while income distribution stays the same then the rate of relative poverty will also stay the same.

For example if the median household in a wealthy neighbourhood earns one million a year then a household that earns one hundred thousand rupees would be considered as poor even though one hundred thousand rupees is quite sufficient to meet the annual expenses of the particular household. At the other end it may be that the median household in a very poor neighbourhood earns only 50% of what it needs to buy food. In spite of such a situation a person who earned the median income would not be considered poor on a relative poverty scale even though the person is clearly poor on an absolute poverty scale.

Income inequality

If a society gets a more equal income distribution the relative poverty will fall. Hence some argue that the relative poverty is misleading and that income inequality should be used instead. They point out that if the society is changed in a way to hurt the high earners more than the low earners then the relative poverty would decrease
Moderate poverty

Moderate poverty is a situation of household with a standard of living or level of income that is high enough to satisfy basic needs like food, water, clothing, shelter, basic education and health care but still significantly lower than that of the majority of the population under consideration.

Sri Lanka today and projected future

Sri Lanka with $ 81.29 billion gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP)$ 4,100 per capita real growth rate of 6.3% and labour force of 8.08 million possesses a favourable economy compared with the economies of other countries in the region. It is believed that if it was not for the heavy expenditure in the war Sri Lanka with its agricultural and natural resources would have reached the level of Singapore by now. The arable land area is 14% of the total land area. With all the riches with agriculture producing rice, sugar cane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices. Tea, Rubber, coconut, milk, eggs, hides, beef, and fish, industries processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities, telecommunications, insurance, banking, clothing, textiles cement, petroleum refining, natural resources including limestone, granite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay hydropower and export earnings of $6,442 billion f.o.b. from textiles and apparel, tea, and spices, diamonds, emeralds, rubber and coconut products, rubber manufactures and fish has yet to alleviate poverty which is hoped to he completed soon in keeping with the United Nation's targets

Safety nets

Safety nets comprise policy and programme instruments such as food subsidies, targeted income transfers, school feeding and small scale funds. They are designed to reduce poverty and to protect the income entitlements of vulnerable groups. Sri Lanka enjoys the most extensive social protection programme in South Asia and Samurdhi is the main safety programme implemented by the government. Safety nets are useful in preventing the poverty stricken persons falling from pan to hearth.

Safety ropes

Safety ropes are ways and means of helping the poor to cross the poverty line within a given period of time. In all the countries throughout the world there are people who remain poor throughout their lives not being able to make use of the talent, physical strength and other resources for want of assistance by way of capital, guidance, training etc. and encouragement.

Some persons who are capable of getting over the poverty line by doing some work or by starting a business remain as paupers and depend on others to earn a living by stealing or begging in spite of possessing physical strength and talents to do some job. Some of them succeed their parents and other elders in robbing, stealing, begging or illegal activities. Some others fall into the category of paupers consequent to mishaps or misfortunes making them blind or deaf or rendering disabled. All of them can be rehabilitated and provided with capital, assistance, guidance and encouragement to do something to earn a living and save something for the future. The ultimate goal of safety ropes is eradicating poverty.

Samurdhi Authority of Sri Lanka

The Samurdhi Authority of Sri Lanka has launched several programmes for community development and capacity building. "The Jathika Saviya Gam Pubudu Lively hood Development Programme" and "Jathika Saviya Gama Neguma Awareness Programme" etc. were continued in 2007. These programmes focused on rural development to upgrade the living standards of poor families and infra structure development at village level. The allocation for an Economic Infrastructure and Rural Development programme was Rs. 1,127 million in 2007.

However, it is a matter of concern as to whether these programmes are implemented in the manner envisaged by the policy makers and the planners. It is not a secret that at least some of the Samurdhi beneficiaries are selected at the whims and fancies of the village level officers and on the recommendations of certain politicians. Very often poverty and other qualifications are not the criteria for deciding on beneficiaries. The writer's view is that even the method followed in granting year 5 scholarships does not serve the purpose envisaged by the father of Education, Dr C.W.W Kannangara. The purpose envisaged by him was to pave the way for talented and intelligent sons and daughters of poor parents to get a chance to pursue a higher education. This is not to say that the clever and intelligent children from well-to-do families should not be encouraged. It should be done but not at the expense of underprivileged. Poverty eradication should be given top priority at all times.
