Why poverty exists in India.

Major reasons for poverty in India are:
(i) The low level of economic development under the British colonial administration. The policies of the colonial government ruined traditional handicrafts and discouraged the development of industries like textiles. The low rate of growth persisted until the 1980s. This resulted in fewer job opportunities and a low growth rate of incomes. This was accompanied by a high growth rate of the population. The two combined to make the growth rate of per capita income very low.

(ii) Lack of job opportunities: Lack of job opportunities compelled many people to work as rickshaw pullers, vendors, construction workers, domestic servants, etc. With irregular small incomes, these people could not afford expensive housing. They started living in slums on the outskirts of the cities.
(iii) Huge income inequalities: One of the major reasons for this is the unequal distribution of land and other resources. Major policy initiatives like land reforms that aimed at the redistribution of assets in rural areas have not been implemented properly by most of the state governments.

(iv) Lack of land resources has been one of the major causes of poverty in India.

(v) A high level of indebtedness among small farmers is also a major cause of poverty in our country. Since poor farmers hardly have any savings, they borrow. Unable to repay because of poverty, they become victims of indebtedness.