Public Intervention for Poverty Alleviation An Overview

MUCH before poverty alleviation was put on the development agenda of the developing countries and multilateral and international aid agencies, leaders of the independence movement in India had accorded it the status of one of the primary national objectives. There are various reasons for India's commitment to poverty eradication. The most important among these is the nature of the national struggle which led to independence. The mainstream political movement in India was profoundly influenced by the Gandhian approach which emphasised the need to uplift the social and economic status of the poorest of the poor, or 'antyodaya'. Emphasis on an egalitarian social order was reflected in the policy documents which were produced by