Poverty and Hunger and their Implications for the Body Politic · UPPCS (Uttar Pradesh)

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies II:

Issues relating to poverty and hunger, their implication on body politic.

Absolute and relative poverty; income poverty and multidimensional poverty
Poverty line estimates: Alagh (1979), Lakdawala (1993), Tendulkar (2009) and Rangarajan (2014) committees
National Multidimensional Poverty Index of NITI Aayog (health, education and standard of living); the global MPI of UNDP and Oxford
Causes: low productivity in agriculture, unemployment, inequality of assets, social exclusion, health shocks
Inequality: Gini coefficient; household consumption expenditure surveys (2022-23 and later)
Rural and urban poverty; higher poverty among SCs and STs and in particular regions and states

Wage employment: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (100 days of work)
Self-employment and livelihoods: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (rural and urban)
Housing and basic services: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; social assistance pensions
Financial inclusion and insurance: Jan Dhan accounts, life and accident insurance schemes
Urban poor: Street Vendors Act, 2014 and PM SVANidhi loans; slum improvement

Food security: availability, access, utilisation and stability (FAO)
Forms of malnutrition: stunting, wasting, underweight, anaemia, hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiency), the double burden with obesity
Right to food: PUCL v Union of India (from 2001); National Food Security Act, 2013 (coverage of up to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population, Antyodaya Anna Yojana)
Public Distribution System and One Nation One Ration Card; free foodgrains under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
Nutrition programmes: ICDS, PM POSHAN, POSHAN Abhiyaan, fortification of rice
Storage losses and food wastage; role of the Food Corporation of India; millets for nutrition (International Year of Millets, 2023)
Global indices such as the Global Hunger Index and the debate over their methods
Sustainable Development Goals 1 (no poverty) and 2 (zero hunger)

Legitimacy of the State and trust in democratic institutions
Political participation of the poor: vote, clientelism and patronage
Welfare politics and the debate over freebies (S. Subramaniam Balaji, 2013)
Social unrest, migration and links between deprivation and extremism
Amartya Sen's argument that famines do not occur in functioning democracies; the capability approach
Intergenerational effects: malnourished children, lower human capital and lasting inequality

General Studies III: poverty, unemployment, social justice and inclusive growth; the Public Distribution System and food security.
General Studies I: poverty and developmental issues.
Prelims General Studies Paper I: Economic and Social Development: Poverty, Inclusion.