Chronic Poverty in India: lessons from recent research [DRAFT]

Abstract

This paper is a synthesis of both the recent literature on Indian urban poverty and to draw out the results of the research commissioned in the first phase of the CPRC carried out by Soloman Benjamin in Bangalore and K Lalita in Vijayawada. The paper is structured as follows: the first section provides a brief overview of chronic poverty; the next section provides an analysis of who are the chronic urban poor in the Indian context from the available literature; the next section gives a brief description of the methods used in this longitudinal and participatory research. The remaining sections provide the main themes that have emerged from these two studies namely: firstly the observation that the urban poor are active economic agents; secondly the importance of the importance of the household as both an asset and as an input; thirdly the gender dimensions of change; fourthly the importance of diversification; and finally the importance of other contextual factors and/or shocks.

Citation

Chronic Poverty in India: lessons from recent research [DRAFT], presented at Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, 7-9 April 2003. Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), Manchester, UK, 20 pp.

Chronic Poverty in India: lessons from recent research [DRAFT]

Published 1 January 2003