Poverty had ever been a major point of concern for India.

Authored by Akhileshwar Srivastava | 12 May 2018 | In Poverty

Poverty had ever been a major point of concern for India. According to a survey conducted by State run NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ENTERPRISES, 25% of Indian population or 236 million people earn less than ₹ 20.00 per day and these are mostly working in informal labor sector.

Governments in India have always expressed their concern and are keen to improve the position. Various schemes have been drawn by central as well as state governments to help them bring above poverty line. In fact 5th five year plan aimed at removing poverty from India but this hardly worked. The main reason for failure of the schemes are - illiteracy and corruption. The system is corrupt and illiteracy adds fire to fuel.

Now to remove or at least minimize the poverty level, the first emphasis should be on eradication of illiteracy, which is a global phenomena. According to a survey conducted world wide 900 million people can not read or write, 57 million school age children are not in schools and 774 million adults are illiterate.

Reasons for this state of affairs are attributed to be-

1 - Lack of local schools-Schools are located at far off places where parents find it difficult to send their children.
2 - Poor infra structure.
3 - Female exclusion-Particularly in rural areas girls are deprived of even primary education, although it is improving in India.
4 - High cost of quality education- In India, a bill has been passed

which provides right of education but it does not appear working.This requires immediate attention of all concerned. Illiteracy is a big reason of poverty and vice-versa. Right of education exists in India but it can not work without right of food. Child labor is banned but it very well exists. A child is forced to work to feed himself and his family and he has to forgo his education. This goal can not be achieved by Governments alone. We must play our roles,however small it may be.

A question may arise that-
Does education really plays a very vital role in improving the quality of human lives or eradication of poverty?
yes it does.

According to some estimates-

1. 1.19 million dollars can be saved to the global economy, if illiteracy could be eradicated.
2. 171 million fewer people would live in poverty if all children acquire basic reading skill. A 12% reduction in global poverty.
3. 7 million cases of HIV/AIDS could be prevented if all children complete their primary education.
4. Children born to literate mothers are 50% more likely to survive past 5 years old.