Poverty : A never ending crisis.

"Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere." The above quote by Kofi Anan throws light about poverty and the failing human approach. Deprivations and impoverishment are prevalent not because someone is finding it difficult to fend for himself/herself but it is largely because the people who have enough to spend never ever think of sharing their resources and easing the burden of needy as they have no understanding as to what it means to be living under hardships. The irony is some influential educated people are only good enough for degrees they hold but not for anything else because if their upbringing failed to teach them basic human qualities then certainly their education has failed and it is futile to expect anything from them. It would not be wrong to say that empathy and compassion have lost its space in the fast moving contemporary world. 

There is a concept in Economics which expounds a theory of rich getting richer and poor getting poorer in an economy. However, the growth of the economy as well as the GDP is evaluated on the basis of total transactional value in the nation because GDP is more or less associated with number total goods sold and number of the goods purchased and the consequences of profit/loss emanating therein, regardless of the fact that which category of persons buy them. Therefore, the gap between the rich and poor is getting widened instead of getting lessened and just because growth of the economy is stable that never means that there is an end to misery and poverty. Rich gets richer because they focus more on multiplying their wealth and poor gets poorer because they do not get proper opportunities to earn and are also exploited by the cunning persons. There are plethora of reasons viz political, social, commercial etc which are the causes of such divide.

Relying solely on the Govt. to eradicate poverty is not the viable solution but it would be better if each of us who can contribute in some way or the other, come forward and do the needful. Collective responsibility and community support can help in bringing a paradigm shift in the quality of lives of the destitute and they would not feel helpless. It is rather unfortunate that many a times educated people do not shy away from bargaining with the small scale farmers who sell vegetables or fruits by the roadside and saving few pennies is a massive achievement for them. In that case it is not the seller who is poor rather the buyer has a deplorable mentality and if the buyer pays less and gets more, then it is undisputed that he will be adjudged as poor as a human being. Poverty is an economical concept but apart from that poor mindset is also a kind of poverty that exists even with the sophisticated class which is entirely psychological in nature. It is up to us to do our duty in whatever manner we can do for the betterment, upliftment and development of those who are earning with dignity but still live under the state of penury.