This book discusses critical policy issues that need to be addressed if India wishes to achieve
the SDG 1 based elusive goal of ending poverty in the country. In its nine chapters it takes
the readers through trends and estimates of poverty in India explains changes in the way it
has been measured over time and the factors that lead to persistence of poverty draws
attention to the fact that hunger is both a cause and an effect of poverty and has gender and
age dimensions too. The book revisits strategies that were successful in addressing poverty
emanating from situations of conflict presents a discussion on migration as a critical coping
mechanism among poor analyses the links between ill health and poverty as well as education
and poverty to draw attention to the policy imperatives that need attention. India's report
card on poverty remains dismal even though there is recognition of the importance of reducing
or eliminating or endingit at both national and global levels. Despite rapid economic growth
and improvement on a range of development indicators an unacceptably high proportion of
India's population continues to suffer poverty in multiple dimensions. SDG 1 or ending poverty
in all its forms everywhere cannot be achieved unless policies and poverty alleviation
programmes understand and address chronic poverty and its dynamics. This requires that we
estimate and understand the extent of poverty the factors that lead to people getting stuck in
it and the ways this can be addressed. It also requires understanding the dynamic nature of
poverty or the fact that many of those who are poor are able to move out of poverty as well as
the fact that many others who are not poor become impoverished. These are the issues that are
comprehensively examined and addressed in this book. In addition to students teachers and
researchers in the areas of development economic growth equity and welfare the book is also
of great interest to policy makers planners and non-government agencies who are concerned with
understanding and addressing poverty-related issues in the developing countries.
