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Poverty is rampant and wide spread, making low general standard of living even after six decades of development efforts in India. It is a low income developing economy, facing the twin formidable problems of unemployment and poverty. It suffers from over population which shows no signs of containment. Population explosion has thrown to winds the gains of development plans and the policy-makers are baffled by the prospects of further increase in population. Apart from low level of per capita income, factors affecting physical quality of life index are also reflective of poverty in India.

Poverty reduction and eradication remains crucial goal of economic policy in India by estimation of poverty since long. In the pre-Independence period Dadabhai Naoroji sought to measure poverty with varied data to describe the consequences of colonial rule in India. His book “Poverty of colonial rule in India” drew attention to the enormous drain on wealth caused by colonial policy and was the formulation to many intellectual arguments for independence. Subsequently during the freedom struggle, the Congress party, the Planning Commission and many eminent scholars have worked on the issue.

This book explains and examines the challenges and strategies of poverty reduction and eradication in India. Various papers were submitted for discussion in the Annual Conference of IEA, containing policy and programmes, which have been included in this book.