Book review: Poverty, Chronic Poverty and Poverty Dynamics: Policy Implications by Aasha Kapur Mehta, Shashank Bhide, Anand Kumar and Amita Shah
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| Author | Dolly Arora |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120906584 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Poverty, Chronic Poverty and Poverty Dynamics: Policy Implications
by Aasha Kapur Mehta, Shashank Bhide, Anand Kumar and Amita
Shah (Eds.), Singapore: Springer, 2018, XXIX, 254 pp., EU 114.39
(Hardcover); `1176 (Kindle edition in India). ISBN: 978-981-13-0676-1;
eBook ISBN: 978-981-13-0677-8 .
Ending poverty in all its forms assumed the first place among the seventeen
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations (UN) and
it remains central to the accomplishment of many other SDGs too. In India,
poverty alleviation has been at the centre stage of the political and policy dis-
course since the 1970s. Planning Commission worked on scheme centric poverty
alleviation strategies and programmes for support to the poor for long. Statistical
exercises sought to generate data on poverty levels and methodological struggles
to arrive at the appropriate measures of poverty continued over the years. However,
poverty persists, and the poor continue to suffer multiple deprivations including
health, education, sustainable livelihood, shelter, food and water. Hunger and
death due to poverty have often shamed the country. NITI Aayog, which replaced
the Planning Commission, has been entrusted with the overall responsibility for
implementation of SDGs, primarily, poverty elimination and effectiveness of
schemes meant for the poor. In this scenario, it becomes a challenge to understand
how poverty persists despite multiple schemes for its elimination, how and when
it is interrupted, and how new individuals and groups are dragged into poverty
situations. The dynamics of poverty present a challenging area of study, and the
book under review seeks to engage with that.
Being the last of more than seventy publications, including fifteen working
papers, brought out by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) that worked
on these issues for more than a decade, the book is a much-awaited addition to
poverty literature in India. Located in the Indian context, it endeavours to provide
an understanding of poverty from multiple vantage points. The book examines the
contexts and processes that affect the entry into poverty, shape the prospects of
exit from poverty or ensure its stubbornness and persistence in the case of many
individuals and groups.
The book offers useful insights into the interface of poverty and varied socio-
economic contexts that prevail in India. It covers a vast range of issues, analyses
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
66(1) 133–148, 2020
© 2020 IIPA
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DOI: 10.1177/0019556120906584
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