Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India-Policy Perspectives

The ultimate objective of development planning is human development or increased social welfare and well being of the people. Development process therefore needs to continuously strive for broad-based improvement in the standard of living and quality of life of the people, Henceforth the basic objective of the plan process happens to be focusing on educational, public health including hygiene, sanitation and ensuring safe drinking water as the priority components followed by, women empowerment and poverty alleviation programmes through employment generation.The millennium development goals set during the millennium summits held in New York, September 2000 has framed eight specific goals to eradicate poverty and hunger to strengthen the qualitative improvement of the people in general. The thrust of the goals needless to say to improve the quality in population of every country so as to have qualitatively improved human resources of the country. Therefore, the review of poverty alleviation programmes are having at most prominence in the countries where the poverty and vicious circle of poverty is a road block to the Economic Growth. The objectives of the present paper is to review the policy perspectives of PAP (Poverty Alleviation Programmes) and to analyze various programmes and its policy back-drops from first to eleventh plan onwards. As the Government of India and the respective state governments facing financial constraints, the public expenditure on education, public health considerably increased along with poverty alleviation programmes. The poverty alleviation programmes, recycles the overall standard of living of the people. As these programmmes ensure a minimum income and ensures a lively hood, in turn PAP ensures better health, better education to their children. Hence the income generation through employment gives minimum hopes to take care of the future generation in respect of their education, public health including adaption of family planning and other developmental aspects in growing economies.