Pratap lost his young son due to a pothole accident some years ago. He decided to turn his pain into a purpose and now social media users are calling him a hero without a cape. For the last three years. Pratap has been filling up potholes in the city to ensure that no one else suffers the same fate. Pratap also starts planting trees in the city as he believes that environment is not simply for use by human beings but needs to be respected and valued. For this, he takes inspiration from a very famous movement in the Uttarakhand region which aimed to conserve forests. He also starts helping the poor in the community and observes that these poor people believe that they will continue to remain poor. Such beliefs have been passed on from one generation to another. He decides to change these beliefs by developing an advertisement in which he shows a pressure cooker that saves fuel and hence can help save money.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Culture of poverty
Option (1) Poverty cycle — Incorrect. The poverty cycle explains why poverty continues among the same sections of society: poverty begets poverty. Low income and lack of resources lead to poor health and nutrition and to lack of education and skills; these lead to few jobs, which keep the income low, and the falling motivation makes things worse. It is a chain of economic and living conditions, not a belief held by the poor.
Option (2) Culture of poverty — Correct. According to this view, it is not the individual but a belief system, a way of life and values in which the person is brought up that cause poverty. This belief system convinces the person that she/he will continue to remain poor, and the belief is carried over from one generation of the poor to the next. The poor in Pratap’s community believe they will always remain poor, and the belief has passed from one generation to another.
Option (3) Absolute poverty — Incorrect. Absolute poverty is the condition in which a person cannot meet even the basic needs of life, such as enough food, clothing and shelter. It is judged against a fixed minimum standard of living, so it describes how poor a person is, not a belief the poor hold about themselves.
Option (4) Relative poverty — Incorrect. Relative poverty means having much less than most other people in one’s own society: a person may meet the basic needs and still be poor when compared with the usual standard of living around her or him. It is a measure of economic position, not a belief system.
Note: The idea of the culture of poverty was there in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2022, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Major Causes of Poverty … Apart from these causes, other factors responsible for poverty have been mentioned below.
“Major Causes of Poverty … The poverty cycle is another important cause of poverty that explains why poverty tends to continue among the same sections of society. Poverty begets poverty.…” |