Publication: Poverty in India : The Challenge of Uttar Pradesh
Loading...
Date
2002-05-08
ISSN
Published
2002-05-08
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The report analyzes poverty incidence in India and in particular, in Uttar Pradesh (UP), and defines its poverty levels, trends, and vulnerability. While UP once appeared positioned to be the pace-setter for India's economic, and social development in light of its rich potential in human, and natural resources, economic growth faltered in the 1990s. UP fell behind India's better performing states, and, despite a recent acceleration in growth suggesting the state's performance has been arrested, problems still remain. The report documents poverty along a number of dimensions, i.e., material and human deprivation, where poverty, if measured in terms of material deprivation, is high, and progress at reducing it, has been uneven over the past two decades. Statistics regarding human deprivation, reveal averages, e.g., in literacy well below the all-India average, likewise in female literacy, while mortality rates indicate a much higher ratio than in the country as a whole. Chapter 2 reviews the causes of poverty, stipulating poverty is caused by a scarcity of private assets, where ineffective social programs prevail. Governance, and the policy challenges are examined in Chapter 3, addressing the need to transform UP's public sector, through administrative and civil services reforms to reduce fragmentation, with complementary reforms at the sector levels to improve regulation. To achieve economic growth, Chapter 4 provides recommendations that include improvements in the investment climate, accelerated growth in rural areas, and corrections in gender bias, while Chapter 5 stresses on improving the quality, and access to social services, and safety nets.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2002. Poverty in India : The Challenge of Uttar Pradesh. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13876 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication India - Living Conditions and Human Development in Uttar Pradesh : A Regional Perspective(Washington, DC, 2010-04)Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India, has 170 million inhabitants who represent 16.2 percent of India's population. Uttar Pradesh (UP) is classified as one of the 'lagging states of India' for its slow growth, low human development indicators and high concentration of the poor. UP occupies an important position in India because of its size and as a determinant of the country's overall progress. UP has continuously slipped behind India as a whole. Growth or the lack of it has a mirror image in poverty trends. In the 1970s, UP's poverty level was almost at the national average and actually came below the all-India level in 1977-78. Poverty climbed again in 1983. Since the 1990s, slow growth in industry and services has been responsible for UP's lag. The report is organized as: it starts with an assessment of trends in growth, poverty, and inequality presents in chapter one. It notes a slower reduction in poverty in urban areas and in the Western and Eastern regions. Chapter two presents a poverty profile, its non-income dimensions and silent features of the dynamics of poverty. Chapter three presents the underpinnings of growth and reduction in poverty, the report examines patterns of employment, wages and migration patterns in UP. Chapter four focuses on the latent potential of the agricultural sector. Chapters five and six examine trends, challenges and achievements in education and health indicators. Chapter seven addresses access to social assistance programs. Chapter eight presents possible solutions for improving delivery of services.Publication Monitoring Poverty in Uttar Pradesh : A Report on the Second Poverty and Social Monitoring Survey(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06)The report aims to provide a quick statistical update on changes in poverty and living conditions and access to services between the two periods of February and June 200, and 2002-2003, the two data points. At the same time, the Government of Uttar Pradesh requested the Bank's support for a preparation of a joint report with a wider and deeper scope of analysis focusing on determinants and changes in living conditions of the Uttar Pradesh population and assessing performance of current policies and programs with respect to their impacts on the poor. This report highlights income and poverty trends between 1993/94 and 2002/03, education trends between 1999/2000 and 2002/03, health trends in the late 1990s-early 2000), access to amenities trends between 1999/2000 and 2002/03, and government program trends between 1999/2000 and 2002/03.Publication Bulgaria : Poverty Assessment(Washington, DC, 2002-10-29)The sharp reduction in poverty in Bulgaria since the 1997 crisis highlights the role of effective economic stabilization policies and the social safety nets in improving the living conditions of the population. The nature of poverty in Bulgaria has changed since 1997, when poverty for many households was a transient phenomenon resulting from the immediate shock of hyperinflation and sharply increasing unemployment. Poverty in 2001 is more entrenched, concentrated among clearly defined groups. Most strikingly, poverty is highest among ethnic minorities, which comprise 60 percent of the poor. Roma are overrepresented among this group. this trend highlights the need for Bulgaria's poverty reduction strategy to focus on measures to address inclusion of ethnic minorities within society. Despite the improvements since 1997, there are indications of underlying fault lines which threaten the trend of rising living standards. In particular, if the high level of unemployment is maintained, or continued to increase, poverty will go up. While unemployed households have managed to stay out of poverty by relying on the safety net and private coping strategies, the close link between poverty and unemployment indicates that these trends are not sustainable. Similarly, the importance of the skills gap suggests that declining access to education will contribute to poverty over the long-term. The priority for the Government is to maintain its reform path and sustain the growth levels of the past five years. A combination of policies which address the underlying causes of unemployment, expand opportunities through building human capital, and protect the poor through well-targeted programs are the pillars of an effective anti-poverty strategy. Improvements in poverty monitoring and communication with the public are also key. Despite the improvements in living conditions since 1997, opinion surveys indicate that nearly three-quarters of the population think that they live in poverty. Addressing these perceptions and expectations is critical to maintain public trust in government institutions and the reform process.Publication Sustaining Gains in Poverty Reduction and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)This book reviews the experience of the Middle East and North Africa region with poverty and human development since the mid-1980s. It finds that poverty rates did not decline by much during this period while health and education indicators improved substantially. The stagnation of poverty rates is ascribed to the stagnation of the region's economies during this period while the improvement in human indicators is likely due to several factors including improvement in the delivery of public health and education services.Publication Armenia : Poverty Update(Washington, DC, 2002-12-09)The report updates the poverty situation in Armenia, largely based on the Integrated Living Conditions Survey conducted during 1998-99, and provides as well, the foundation for the preparation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The poverty profile identifies a widespread, and still deep poverty incidence, but while this poverty seems persistent, its depth and severity may be decreasing, and extreme poverty subsiding. Notwithstanding the fact that estimates point to a stabilization of the poverty profile, there are identified population groups facing particularly high poverty risk, i.e., very young children and the elderly, unemployed and adults not participating in the labor market, and people residing in high altitude and earthquake regions. Factors behind the persistence of poverty in Armenia are: low income and high inequality in its distribution; growth which did not generate sufficient employment opportunities; and, the impact of the Russian crisis during the period under review. Recommendations call for the implementation of regular integrated household surveys (quarterly), and, include the need to focus on generating more job opportunities, by creating an environment conducive to private sector development, i.e., small and medium scale enterprises; and, increase public spending on quality education, and health, while pursuing ongoing reforms, namely, in health management and finance.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Supporting Youth at Risk(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication World Development Report 1994(New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)World Development Report 1994, the seventeenth in this annual series, examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality of infrastructure services. In recent decades, developing countries have made substantial investments in infrastructure, achieving dramatic gains for households and producers by expanding their access to services such as safe water, sanitation, electric power, telecommunications, and transport. Even more infrastructure investment and expansion are needed in order to extend the reach of services - especially to people living in rural areas and to the poor. But as this report shows, the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital. Both quantity and quality improvements are essential to modernize and diversify production, help countries compete internationally, and accommodate rapid urbanization. The report identifies the basic cause of poor past performance as inadequate institutional incentives for improving the provision of infrastructure. To promote more efficient and responsive service delivery, incentives need to be changed through commercial management, competition, and user involvement. Several trends are helping to improve the performance of infrastructure. First, innovation in technology and in the regulatory management of markets makes more diversity possible in the supply of services. Second, an evaluation of the role of government is leading to a shift from direct government provision of services to increasing private sector provision and recent experience in many countries with public-private partnerships is highlighting new ways to increase efficiency and expand services. Third, increased concern about social and environmental sustainability has heightened public interest in infrastructure design and performance. This report includes the World Development Indicators, which offer selected social and economic statistics for 132 countries.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.