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Kathmandu Sunday September 17, 2000 Aswin 01, 2057.
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Current state of poverty in Nepal
By Suman K Sharma
Poverty in Nepal is chronic and widespread with roughly half of the
population living below the poverty line. Based on the Human Development Report 2000,
Nepal is ranked 144 in the Human Development Index value (HDI) which is below all its
South Asian neighbours except for Bangladesh. Large segments of the poor are hard-core
poor barely eking out a subsistence living on fragile, vulnerable ecosystems and large
areas of the country lack even the most basic infrastructure which is reflected by low
economic and indicators at the district level. There are wide variations based on
rural-urban divide, geography, ethnic group and occupational caste.
The Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) conducted by the Central Bureau
Statistics (CBS) provides the most recent estimate of poverty both at the national and
regional levels using household consumption expenditure data. Using the NLSS data, the NPC
estimated that about 42 percent of the population is living blow the poverty line. The
poverty line was estimated to be NRs. 4,404 on the basis of a daily per capita calorie
requirement of 2124, average price level prevailing in 1995/96 for this food basket, and a
factor to account for non-food expenditures. When a different poverty line is used, the
poverty estimates naturally tend to vary. Irrespective of the definitions used, it is seen
that at present roughly about half of the population of Nepal is living under the poverty
line.
Large disparities are seen in poverty incidence across various geographical
regions. NLSS data indicate that 44 percent of the rural households and 23 percent of the
urban households were estimated to live below the poverty line. Given that close to 88
percent of the total population resides in rural areas of Nepal, poverty is much more
severe in rural areas compared to the urban areas. When we look at poverty incidence by
ecological zones, it does not vary much between the Hill and Terai zones but is much
higher in the Mountain zone. Distribution of poverty incidence across the five development
regions indicates that households in the eastern and central development regions are less
poor than those compared to other development regions. Further, the rural poor in the
remote western part of the country are generally poorer than those from the other rural
areas.
The HDI value for Nepal for 2000 (based on 1998 data) is 0.474 indicating a
low level of human development even by South Asian standards. All countries in South Asia
are better placed than Nepal in terms of HDI value, except Bangladesh with an HDI value of
0.461. Various social and economic indicators have been improving since the collection of
such indicators was started roughly four decades ago. However, as the country started with
very low values for such indicators and the progress in most of the cases has been at a
relatively low pace the current situation is characterised by low levels of socio-economic
indicators even by South Asian standards. Almost two-thirds of the adult population cannot
read or write, less than half the population have access to safe drinking water, the
country has the highest infant mortality rate (98 per thousand) in South Asia, and about
half the children below five years of age are underweight. Also, data indicate that low
achievements in respect of human development tend to go together with low levels of income
and consumption. The poor have the lowest level of achievements in literacy, health and
access to health care. They also tend to have a higher rate of fertility, caused in part
by lower awareness about contraception, which tends to aggravate their poverty in terms of
income, education and health.
As in the case of income poverty, large disparities are seen in social
indicators across regions and socio-economic groups. For instance, people in rural areas
are twice as more likely to be illiterate than those in urban areas. Illiteracy rates are
the highest among the lower caste groups as well as among the disadvantaged groups. The
other social indicators such as access to health, education, safe drinking water are lower
in rural areas as compared to those in urban areas. Further, these indicators are the
lowest in the remote areas (mostly western, mid-western and far western hill and mountain
districts) and for the disadvantaged groups.
In the context of Nepal, the social exclusion aspect of poverty is manifested
mainly through gender-based exclusion and caste/ethnicity based exclusion. The
exclusion-led discrimination against women covers domains of physical survival, health and
educational opportunities, ownership of assets, mobility, overall cultural status, etc.
Another major component of social exclusion is based on caste and ethnicity. For example,
poverty incidence is higher among the people belonging to the lower caste groups, ethnic
minorities such as the Limbus, Tamangs, Magars, Tharus, Musahars, etc, and tribal groups
such as the Chepangs, Raute, etc. The lowest caste groups are severely deprived of
opportunities in all dimensions of life - cultural, social, political and economic.
Significant disparities in human development indicators are visible between the lowest
caste groups and upper caste groups. The lowest caste groups have a literacy rate of only
18 percent compared to 47 percent for the upper caste groups, a life expectancy of only 51
years compared to 57 years for the upper caste groups, an infant mortality rate of 118
compared to 85 among the upper caste groups, and almost 15 times higher absolute poverty
than at the national level. The situation of women belonging to the lowest caste groups is
even more disturbing, for example as reflected by a very low, only 7 percent, of literacy
rate among them in addition to a very poor level of other social indicators. The other
hard high group of poor consists of the Dalits who are comprised of the lower occupational
castes such as Kami (blacksmith), Damai (tailor), Sarki (shoemaker) etc. Among the Dalits,
the Dalit women are at an even more disadvantaged position mainly because of their low
status within their own groups.
To sum up, poverty in Nepal has the following characteristics: (a) As
measured by consumption based measures roughly half of the population lives below the
poverty line (b) Rural poverty measured by poverty incidence is twice as high as urban
poverty. Given that 88 percent of the population reside in rural areas, poverty in Nepal
has a mostly rural face (c) Poverty incidence is the highest in remote, backward hills and
mountain districts (d) Poverty incidence across various ethnic groups varies significantly
- those at the bottom are occupational caste groups, ethnic minorities, and indigenous
tribes (e) Poverty is more prevalent in women than men as a result of the lower access to
and control of resources of women compared to that of men. Women work substantially longer
hours in non-paying work than their male counterparts in rural areas but because of the
lack of control of resources and the low position of women in society even within the
household the situation of women is much weaker.
(The author teaches at the Central Department
of Economics, Tribhuvan University and works
as a researcher at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies)
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