Poverty test - 8

1:Self Help Group members usually belong to one neighbourhood.
2:Self Help Group is a small group of 15 to 20 people formed to mutually help each other.
3:Banks supports SHGs by means of bank linkage programme.

The 'poorest of the poor' are those who are systematically denied equal access to their family resources in rural areas. They include women, girl children and elderly people.

The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) was set up in 1950, with the idea of having a permanent survey organization to collect data on various facets of the economy. In order to assist in socio-economic planning and policy making, NSSO conducts nationwide sample surveys known as National Sample Survey (NSS). The NSS is a continuing survey in the sense that it is carried out in the form of successive “rounds”, each round usually of a year's duration covering several topics of current interest. The surveys are conducted through household interviews, using a random sample of households covering practically the entire geographical area of the country. 

The factors which are considered to calculate poverty line are:

• Level of food requirement
• Medical requirement
• Clothing requirement

• The Public Distribution System in Tamil Nadu reduced poverty due to its coverage as well as pricing. Each family, whether below the poverty line or not, is entitled to 20 kg of rice at Re. 1 a kg. 
  
• To reduce poverty in Andhra Pradesh, white cards are issued to the households falling below the poverty line, to provide the subsidised rice. Thus number of people below poverty line declined during 1990's increasing white cards distribution.

A cultivator with a land holding of 1 hectare or less than 2.5 acres is known as medium farmer. According to the government law, these farmers are not poor.

• Income differences has been found to be very high which creates poverty.
• Unequal distribution of land among people also increases poverty.
• Poverty also increased as effective land reform implementation have not taken place.

Land reform constitutes the measures to improve the economic con­dition of agricultural tenants in West Bengal. It aims at the redis­tribution of land-ownership in favour of the culti­vating class.