Social Security for the Poor 1

The world is in the grip of the globalization phenomenon. While billionaires are increasing in thousands there are billions of poor who cannot afford two square meals a day let alone the necessities of civilized life. This series of articles are intended to throw up some ideas before the entire world leaders to think and act to ensure a form of social security for the really poor.

In the 20th Century many countries of the world over the years got independence form foreign rule and opted for democracy. As an illustration we have India which adopted a constitution declaring the country to be a Sovereign Democratic Republic guaranteeing to all its citizens equality of opportunity, and justice, economic and social.

India has a population of 1.13 billion. It occupies only 2.5% of the world's land area, but supports over 15% of the world's population. Almost 40% of Indians are younger than 15 years of age. About 70% of the people live in more than 550,000 villages, and the remainder in more than 200 towns and cities. India adds almost the total population of Australia or Sri Lanka every year.The vast majority of Indians, nearly 74%, live in villages of less than 5,000 people
India is said to be the home of one third of the world's poor; official estimates range from 26 to 50 percent of the more than one billion population. About 87 percent of the poorest households do not have access to credit.

Since its independence, the issue of poverty within India has remained a prevalent concern. According to the common definition of poverty, when a person finds it difficult to meet the minimum requirement of acceptable living standards, he or she is considered poor.

Millions of people in India are unable to meet these basic standards, and according to government estimates, in 2007 there were nearly 220.1 million people living below the poverty line. Nearly 21.1% of the entire rural population and 15% of the urban population of India exists in this difficult physical and financial predicament.