Impact of Poverty Alleviation Programmes on Socio-Economic Development of Rural Poor of Odisha- A Statistical Analysis

A huge amount of money has been spent through different agencies for poverty alleviation programmes in Odisha State during the period of Sixth Five Year to Tenth Five Year Plan to improve the economic condition of the poor people of the State. This paper hypothesised the impact of Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) implemented in Odisha over the last eight years. The study specified that the programme has a positive impact on the beneficiaries. The programme is not successful with regard to generation of employment as some activities created regular employment and some others created seasonal employment of the beneficiaries. It is obserbed that standard of consumption of food, clothing, education, health and other items etc., improved. It reveals that SGSY made an impact in developing the social awareness and living condition of the beneficiaries. The study also reveals that 43.86 per cent of the beneficiary households benefited in this programme as they increased their annual net income assets and savings etc. The incidence of poverty among the beneficiary households declined and the social empowerment of women improved significantly.