How the policies of colonial government …

There are many important factors for the existence and increase in poverty.
One of the historical causes is the exploitative colonial rule over many centuries. The British rule in India for over two hundred years exploited all the resources of the country and did not believe in introducing development programmes. The colonial rulers destroyed traditional arts and crafts and their revenue policies were also regressive and also oppressive.
The indigenous industries like textiles were not encouraged and in fact the colonial policies led to the decay of the Indian textile industries. This led to an increase in unemployment of especially the migrant population.
Enough importance was not given to population control, education and health thus increasing poverty. The two-pronged effect of lack of development and exploitation of resources by the British caused very high levels of poverty which is still a very great challenge to India.