Q. What are the Indian government’s schemes launched for poverty alleviation after the United Nation’s Declaration of ‘Sustainable Development Goals – 2015’? Briefly describe.
UPSC Sociology 2025 Paper 2
Model Answer:
Post-2015 schemes align with SDGs, moving beyond mere income generation to Amartya Sen’s capability approach. They target poverty not just as economic deprivation, but as a structural phenomenon deeply entrenched in India’s caste-class nexus.
Societal Impact of Post-2015 Schemes
Feminization of Poverty
PM Ujjwala (LPG) and Jal Jeevan Mission (water) address the patriarchal burden of care work, enhancing women’s capabilities by restructuring gendered resource distribution.
Informalization of Labor
PM Shram Yogi Maandhan offers pensions to unorganized workers, acting as a safety net for those Jan Breman characterizes as precarious “wage-hunters and gatherers.”
Institutional Integration
The expanded PM Jan Dhan Yojana helps emancipate the rural poor from traditional, exploitative patron-client dependencies (remnants of the Jajmani system).
Despite successes like PM-KISAN, structural issues remain. Jean Drèze argues these schemes provide relief but bypass fundamental agrarian inequalities like land ownership. Furthermore, Reetika Khera notes that techno-utopian delivery often creates “exclusion errors,” disproportionately impacting marginalized Dalits and Adivasis.
Conclusion
Post-2015 poverty alleviation represents a shift towards “New Welfarism.” Rather than relying on broad rights-based frameworks, the Indian state focuses on the targeted provision of essential private goods, striving to build human capital and mitigate historical multidimensional inequalities.
