• Almost half the world- over 3 billion people live on less than $2.5 a day
• More than 80 % of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.
• Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight.
• According to UNICEF 22000 children die each day due to poverty.
• Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world.

and we can pile up many such pathetic situations faced by the folks all over the world by getting trapped in poverty. Poverty is a state in which a person or a community  lacks the financial resources( like the income level of people will be very low to meet the daily human needs) and essentials to lead a minimum standard of living. What could be more disadvantaging of a factor than ruining people’s life ? This also contributes as a loophole in the Indian economy. Development of a country has a lot to deal with the effect of poverty. It is interrelated to many problems of underdevelopment. Both the rural and the urban communities tend to face this issue but they can be different. In rural areas people may not have much access to education, health and many such factors but people are exposed to a healthier and natural environment whereas in urban places people are provided with adequate education and health but many of the problems caused by poverty are made worse by things like overcrowding, rising expenses, pollution, unhygienic conditions etc. There may be some serious economic decline due to poverty. Reduces productivity and economic output by about 1.3 % of GDP. Raises the costs of crime by 1.3% of GDP. Raises health expenditures and reduces the value of health by 1.2 %. This can also make the developing countries to hang back from emerging into a developed country.

Impact of poverty in the environment

In addition to the effects on economic development of a country, Poverty also has an adverse impact on the environment leading to pollution, such a lifestyle leads to unnecessary depletion of resources. It encompasses a combination of factors. The first reason is people hit by poverty create an unhealthy lifestyle around them because most of the houses of such people are located in the slum areas. The houses would be devoid of a proper drainage system and sewage disposal, lack of sanitation and would let all the effluents and filthy water on the road. Such waters would be flowing rapidly in between houses, which to a drastic level will pollute the environment.

Every house may not hold the service of individual toilets and there would be a common one among them, and that would increase the risks of infectious diseases because there would be lack of proper maintenance. People over there use flex banners for house roofing and have them as a sleeping mat but the fact is flex banners are made of poly vinyl chloride( they are made of plastics which do not degrade biologically and it causes a serious threat to the environment as it is not bio degradable. It may have serious effects on the health and can even cause cancer and infertility problems. There are high chances of polluting the water resources due to lack of knowledge and poor water management. Humans who are lesser educated live shorter lives than who are educated more, such intangible gaps are a huge loss for people and the country.

What could be the promising measures to alleviate poverty?

• Many people are pushed into such a state due to the lack of employment and education opportunities so it would be an important measure to generate such opportunities for the poor and to raise their productivity is the speedy development of infrastructure.
• Further for the mitigation of poverty growth of non farm employment in the rural areas holds a special importance. Non farm employment is created in marketing, transportation, handicrafts, dairying and forestry, food processing and other agricultural products.
• Educating a girl child is very prominent for the society. Educated girls can grow into skilled workers and get well paying jobs. Working women can earn and support the families and lead to sustainable development.
• The public distribution system should be strengthened to remove poverty. Poor section should get food grains at subsidized rates and in adequate quantity.
• Even a common man are not able to afford things these days due to the constant escalation of prices and just imagine the plight of the impoverished. Stability in prices helps to remove poverty. If the prices increases constantly the poor becomes poorer. So the Government should render the best to keep the prices under control.
• Development in agriculture can aid the eradication of poverty. Rapid rate of growth of agriculture production will help to remove urban as well as rural poverty. Agriculture should be mechanized and modernized.