Poverty Elimination

Poverty Elimination

Poverty is the condition of being poor. The one who has a very little money to buy one’s basic needs is considered to be a poor man. Poverty has been a serious problem in a developing country of the world like Nepal.

There are many cases of poverty. The one reason is one’s own laziness. Some people are lazy by nature. Their laziness makes them poorer and poorer. A man becomes poor if he belongs to a poor family. According to our law, the people enjoy paternal property. If the parents are poor, their sons and daughters are bound to be poor. The lack of education is another reason of poverty. Education is the basis of development. Educated people can work properly in the fields they are educated. It brings them financial gain. Hence, they can uplift their economic standard. Unemployment is also one reason of poverty. People are unemployed if there is no development of agriculture, industry, transport and communication. In Nepal, about 75% people are farmers. They cultivate the land of the landowners. In practice, they have no right to the land which they cultivate. They can be removed from the land at any time if the landowners are not pleased with them. The large part of the production goes to the landowners. The poor people in the villages are exploited by the rich. The rich charge high rate of interest for the loans taken by them hence the poor get poorer and poorer. The rich grows richer and richer. Hence, it invites the majority of poor. The most important reason of poverty is the government policy towards the poor. Ina country like Nepal where there is multi-party system, the rich people go to the power. They form the policy beneficial to their groups. Hence, the poor people are neglected. How can we eliminate poverty? This is an important question.

The state must ensure the basic needs of the people like housing, flooding, clothing, and health care. As majority of the people in Nepal live in the villages and majority of the people are formers, poverty elimination can be possible only with agrarian reforms. The tenants should be given right to the land which they cultivate. The ownership of the land must be given to the tenants who cultivate it. Then they can work with great enthusiasm thereby increasing the production. The farmers should be provided better seeds, chemical fertilizer in nominal cost. The government should provide irrigational facilities to the cultivable land. The important thing needed for poverty elimination is the establishment of industries. Industries provide employment opportunity. It solves the problem of unemployment. The government should pass the law in favor of the poor. The gap between the rich and poor should be minimized. It can be done by nationalizing the property of the rich and distributing to the poor. The infrastructural development like roads, communication plays a significant role for poverty elimination. The government should invest a lot of money for the development of these sectors. In Nepal, half of the population consists of women. They are un\educated. In practice, they are deprived of the opportunity to educate. Hence they are not competent enough to participate in the developmental activities. The discrimination between the men and women should be avoided. Employment opportunity should be provided. The government should provide unemployment allowance to those who are unemployed.

Nepal has started some programs to eliminate poverty. Each village development committee (V.D.C.) has been provided Rs. 5 lakhs every year to carry out the development works in the village. The educated unemployed are given loans. The farmers are given loans. Some amount of money is being spent for infrastructural development. But it is not enough. The plans and policies of the government must address the poor. The huge amount of money should be spent in the villages where majority of the people are poor

Nepal is the second poorest country of the world after Ethiopia. We have now multi-party system. The situation is getting worse and worse in this period. The people living below poverty line have increased to 52%. The ministers and government officials are charged being involved in bribery. The political commitments of the parties are not translated into practice. The people are losing faith towards the political parties. That is why; the government should be honest and responsible to the people. Then and there only, poverty can be eliminated.