Urban Poverty Vis-A-Vis Informal Sector

Indias population is around 1.21 billion (Census 2011) and rising; 836 million people are poor and 395 million earn their livelihood by working in the informal sector. Developing India and the poor struggling to survive is the common view of Indias urban cities. Poverty is multidimensional; a socio-economic phenomenon which defies any precise definition. Urban poverty has been differentiated by two broad complementary approaches i. e. economic and anthropological interpretations. Urban poor is basically engaged in the urban informal sector. The quest for better livelihood opportunities has led to large-scale migration and the mushrooming of slums in several Indian cities. Several governmental programmes are in progress to alleviate poverty. India now has that rare window of opportunity to improve the quality of life for its 1.2 billion citizens and lay the foundations for a truly prosperous futurea future that will impact the country and its people for generations to come. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. Franklin Roosevelt; bearing this in mind, India must march inclusively forward to realize its dream of DEVELOPED INDIA.