Poverty is one issue which the people and the Government have been struggling for years. It is a state wherein one is unable to earn enough wage to sustain himself and his family in terms of food, shelter, clothing and health. A person in poverty is not only deprived of health and productive standards of living but is incapable of harnessing all opportunities due to lack of sufficient resources.
If questioned, what is responsible for this serious issue? There is not a single reason to which we can solely blame on. One may cite numerous reasons and another may blame on a particular one. But the truth is that each and every element in our society equally contributes to what the State is today. All in all, poverty can be attributed to numerous factors each of which considerably contributes to this issue. Some of the chief causes of poverty in Manipur are lack of education, political shambles, lack of infrastructural growth, etc.
To alleviate poverty in Manipur, what we need to do is not sort out what are the causes and fix them (which will only shift one’s attention to the causes and not to the overall elimination of poverty whose cause is not just one), but to understand the theorem of poverty before such a step of alleviating it can be conducted. In a wider view, Poverty can be defined as a result of the inability of a society to participate in the process of economic “give and take”.
By education, it doesn’t mean educating the children so that they can grow up and acquire a secure job in future (I said this, since most people conceive that education is the art of reading and writing and then a government job only). By educating the masses, I meant to imply that one should be taught and should have applicable ideas in his or her own field so that they can gain the most of what they are good in. A farmer should have enough knowledge of his farm, the type of soil, suitable crop, seasons, etc. Likewise, a fisherman, dairy farmer, etc. should be well informed of what their trade is and how to gain maximum benefit from it.
Another big issue contributing to the State’s poverty is state’s failing administration rather politics. The states administration is and has always been considered the main cause to our poverty. It is often said that the rich remains rich and the poor, poor. It is true that politics plays a great role in bringing down the state to its state and we are also aware that we all are equally responsible for the same. Do you ever think of abstaining from what the “fighters for the crown” offer you in return for your valuable vote? Have you ever considered what, if we elect a more able not rich leader? No! We all run crazy after the green notes.
Infrastructure also has a great role in bringing down the level of poverty in a State. As for instance, we can quote the difference between America and Japan. America though with enough resources (mineral, land and other resources) unlike Japan (a Country low in resources) houses more poverty stricken people. The reason is that Japan is much advanced in infrastructure.
We can hardly see any growth of infrastructure in Manipur which we believe would highly bring about a positive change in the State’s wealth and thereby poverty. Again, who are we going to blame for the same, we ourselves or the states’ leader or the Government of India? Going down to the root of the problem will be an impossible task. We should therefore stop playing “blame game” but take up steps which will be of help.
Overall, poverty is a social issue which is prompted by numerous reasons of which we are well aware of. Unless we agree to ourselves being responsible for it and take up measures to eliminate it, poverty is going to be with us for long.
