Essay on Dog

Dog (200 words)

Dog is a well-known domestic animal. It is very faithful and loyal friend of man. Wild dogs become very dangerous however pet ones are very friendly. They perform their duties very faithfully that’s why liked so much by the man. People love its service very much. They are available in various types; some of them are grey hounds, bull dogs, blood hounds, lap dogs, etc. It is a flesh eater however can eat plant origin foods that’s why called as carnivore as well as omnivore. Its teeth are very sharp which help him in tearing meat. Some dogs have long tail however some have short tail.
Its thin and strong legs help in running very fast. Dogs are generally differ in their size, shape, height, weight, color and behavior. Dogs eat many things (mainly flesh) however a domestic and trained dog can drop flesh diet and live on veg diet. European and wild dogs are very fond of eating meat and survive on flesh. A tame dog can also eat ordinary bread, rice and milk. Dogs are useful in many fields such as guard, police, army, etc. Kids love to play with dogs in the playground. Domestic dogs live in family as a family member as they get attached heartily with everyone very soon because of its loyal jobs. Trained dogs become very loyal to their owners and do wonderful things.

Essay on Cow

Cow (200 words)

Cow is a domestic and very successful animal. It is of great importance for the people of Hindu religion. It is a most important pet animal kept by almost all people of Hindu religion. It is female animal who gives us milk daily two times, in the morning and evening. Some cow gives milk three times a day according to their diet and capacity. Cow is considered by the Hindu people as a mother and called as the Gau Mata. Hindu people respect cow very much and do worship. Cow milk is offered to God during pooja and katha. It is also used to do abhishek of the God and Goddess statue during festivals and pooja.
Cow milk is given high status in the society as it is very beneficial to us. She gives birth to a small calf after 12 months. She does not give any practice to her child to walk or run, he/she starts walking and running just after the birth. Her calf drinks her milk for some days or months and starts eating food like her. Cow is a very sacred animal for all Hindus. It is a big domestic animal having four legs, a tail, two ear, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, one head and a wide back.

Essay on Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (250 words)

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has talked about a new scheme called as Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat on 31^st of October 2015 (birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) in his speech. This is an initiative in the process to be launched in near future. It is an effort by the Indian government to strengthen the unity and harmony all over the country. It is a programme aimed to connect people to people all through the country. India is a country which is the best example of “Unity in Diversity”. This programme is also an initiative to improve the quality of unity in India. He also said in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme that Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme is to make India “One India Supreme India”.
This solid initiative of enhancing the peace and harmony need to uphold the law and order in order to maintain the same. In order to make this programme more effective, PM has requested the views, ideas and suggestions of common public on a government portal ‘MyGov.in’. He has also requested to suggest the structure, logo and ways to increase public participation in this programme. There are various creative minds hidden in the crowd who can give better suggestions to connect people of India to unity and harmony to make it Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. There is a plan to make it a specific and prestigious scheme to connect people in easy manner to achieve the main goal of enriching the culture of unity and harmony in the country.

Essay on Money

Money (200 words)

In such a costly and competitive society and world, no one of us can live without money. We need money to fulfil our basic needs of the life such as buying food, and other many basic necessities of life which are almost impossible to buy without money. People in the society who are rich and have property are looked as honourable and respectful person of the society however a poor person is seen as hatred without any good impression.
Money increases the position of the person in the society and gives good impression to him. All of us want to be rich by earning more money through good job or business in order to fulfil all the increasing demands of the modern age. However, only few people get this chance of completing their dreams of being a millionaire. So, money is the thing of great importance all through the life. Money is required by everyone whether he/she is rich or poor ad living in urban areas or rural areas. People in the urban areas are earning more money than the people living in backward or rural areas as the people of the urban areas have more access to the technologies and get more opportunity because of the easy sources.

Gender Inequality

Gender Inequality

We proud Indians of 21^st century rejoice in celebrations when a boy is born, and if it is a girl, a muted or no celebrations is the norm. Love for a male child is so much so that from the times immemorial we are killing our daughters at birth or before birth, and if, fortunately, she is not killed we find various ways to discriminate against her throughout her life. Though our religious beliefs make women a goddess but we fail to recognize her as a human being first; we worship goddesses but we exploit girls. We are a society of people with double-standards as far as our attitude towards women is concerned; our thoughts and preaching are different than our actions. Let’s try to understand the phenomenon of gender inequality and search for some solutions.

Definition and Concept of Gender Inequality

‘Gender’ is a socio-cultural term referring socially defined roles and behaviors assigned to ‘males’ and ‘females’ in a given society; whereas, the term ‘sex’ is a biological and physiological phenomenon which defines man and woman. In its social, historical and cultural aspects, gender is a function of power relationship between men and women where men are considered superior to women. Therefore, gender may be understood as a man-made concept, while ‘sex’ is natural or biological characteristics of human beings.
Gender Inequality, in simple words, may be defined as discrimination against women based on their sex. Women are traditionally considered by the society as weaker sex. She has been accorded a subordinate position to men. She is exploited, degraded, violated and discriminated both in our homes and in outside world. This peculiar type of discrimination against women is prevalent everywhere in the world and more so in Indian society.

Causes and Types of Gender Inequality in India

The root cause of gender inequality in Indian society lies in its patriarchy system. According to the famous sociologists Sylvia Walby, patriarchy is “a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women”. Women’s exploitation is an age old cultural phenomenon of Indian society. The system of patriarchy finds its validity and sanction in our religious beliefs, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or any other religion.
For instance, as per ancient Hindu law giver Manu: “Women are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, they must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son in old age or as widows. In no circumstances she should be allowed to assert herself independently”.
The above described position of women as per Manu is still the case in present modern day social structure. Barring few exceptions here and there, women have no power to take independent decisions either inside their homes or in outside world.
In Muslims also the situation is same and there too sanction for discrimination or subordination is provided by religious texts and Islamic traditions. Similarly in other religious beliefs also women are being discriminated against in one way or other.
The unfortunate part of gender inequality in our society is that the women too, through, continued socio-cultural conditioning, have accepted their subordinate position to men. And they are also part and parcel of same patriarchal system.
Extreme poverty and lack of education are also some of the reasons for women’s low status in society. Poverty and lack of education derives countless women to work in low paying domestic service, organized prostitution or as migrant laborers. Women are not only getting unequal pay for equal or more work but also they are being offered only low skill jobs for which lower wages are paid. This has become a major form of inequality on the basis of gender.
Educating girl child is still seen as a bad investment because she is bound to get married and leave her paternal home one day. Thus, without having good education women are found lacking in present day’s demanding job skills; whereas, each year’s High School and 10+2 standard results show that girls are always doing better than boys. This shows that parents are not spending much after 10+2 standard on girl child and that’s why they lack in job market.
Not only in education, in case of family food habits, it is the male child who gets all the nutritious and choicest foods while the girl child gets whatever is left behind after the male members have taken their meals or the food which is low in both quality and nutrition. And this becomes a major health issue in her later years. One of the main reasons for the high incidences of difficult births and anemia in women is the poor quality of food which a girl always gets either in her paternal home or in her in-laws as also is the excessive workload that they are made to bear from their early childhood.
So the inequality or discrimination against women is at various levels in the society, either in home or outside home.

Gender Inequality in India: Important Data

Global Indices:
Gender Inequality is also reflected in India’s poor ranking in various global gender indices.

• UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index- 2014: India’s ranking is 127 out of 152 countries in the List. This ranking is only above Afghanistan as far as SAARC countries are concerned.
• World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index- 2014: India’s ranks at 114 in the list of 142 countries of the world. This Index examines gender gap in four major areas:
• Economic participation and opportunity.
• Educational achievements.
• Health and life expectancy.
• Political empowerment.

India’s position on these indicators was as follows:

• Economic participation and opportunity: 134^th
• Educational achievements: 126^th
• Health and Life expectancy: 141^st
• Political empowerment: 15^th

These two important Global Indices show the sorry state of affairs in India as far as gender equality is concerned. Only in case of ‘Political Empowerment’ India is doing fine which is a welcome sign. But other indices are very poor and a lot need to be done to improve the same.

Gender Inequality Statistics

Gender inequality manifests in varied ways. And as far as India is concerned the major indicators are as follows:

• Female Foeticide
• Female Infanticide
• Child (0 to 6 age group) Sex Ratio: 919
• Sex Ratio: 943
• Female literacy:46%
• Maternal Mortality Rate: 178 deaths per 100000 live births.

These above mentioned indicators are some of the important indices which show the status of women in our country.
Female foeticide and female infanticide are most inhuman of acts. And it is a shame that in India these practices are prevailing at large scale.
The data shows that despite the law in place viz Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 sex selective abortion is still on the rise. One estimate done by MacPherson shows that more than 100000 illegal abortions are being performed every year in India mainly for the reason that the featus is of girl child.
Due to this, there is an alarming trend which has come to the notice in 2011 census report; the report shows Child Sex-Ratio (i.e sex-ratio of children between the age group 0 to 6) at 919 which is 8 points lesser than the 2001 data of 927. The data indicates that sex-selective abortion is increasing in our country.
As far as overall sex-ratio is concerned, it’s 943 in 2011 report as compared to 933 of 2001 which is 10 points increase. Though it is a good sign that overall sex ratio is increasing but it’s still tilted against females.
Female literacy is at 65.46% in 2011 as against 82.14% of male literacy. This gap indicates a wide gender disparity in India that Indians do not give enough importance to the education of girls.
All these indicators points towards the sorry state of affairs in India regarding gender justice and women’s human right. Though every year government starts various schemes and programs apart from existing ones for the benefit and empowerment of women but on the ground there are not enough visible changes. The change will appear only when the mind set of Indian society would change; when the society would start treating male and female on equal footing and when a girl would not be considered as a burden.

Legal and Constitutional Safeguards against Gender Inequality

Indian Constitution provides for positive efforts to eliminate gender inequality; the Preamble to the Constitution talks about goals of achieving social, economic and political justice to everyone and to provide equality of status and of opportunity to all its citizens. Further, women have equal right to vote in our political system. Article 15 of the Constitution provides for prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sex also apart from other grounds such as religion, race, caste or place of birth. Article 15(3) authorizes the Sate to make any special provision for women and children. Moreover, the Directive Principles of State Policy also provides various provisions which are for the benefit of women and provides safeguards against discrimination.
Other than these Constitutional safeguards, various protective Legislations have also been passed by the Parliament to eliminate exploitation of women and to give them equal status in society. For instance, the Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 was enacted to abolish and make punishable the inhuman custom of Sati; the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 to eliminate the practice of dowry; the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to give rightful status to married couples who marry inter-caste or inter-religion; Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Bill (introduced in Parliament in 1991, passed in 1994 to stop female infanticide and many more such Acts. Furthermore, the Parliament time to time brings out amendments to existing laws in order to give protection to women according to the changing needs of the society, for instance, Section 304-B was added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to make dowry-death or bride-burning a specific offence punishable with maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
So there are varied legislative safeguards and protection mechanisms for women but the ground reality is very different. Despite all these provisions women are still being treated as second rate citizens in our country; men are treating them as an object to fulfill their carnal desires; crimes against women are at alarming stage; the practice of dowry is still widely prevalent; female infanticide is a norm in our homes.

How we can Eliminate Gender Inequality

The list of legislations as well as types of discriminations or inequalities may go on but the real change will only come when the mentality of men will change; when the male species of human beings would start treating women as equal and not subordinate or weaker to them. In fact not only men but women also need to change their mindset as through cultural conditioning they have also become part of the same exploitative system of patriarchy and are playing a supportive role in furthering men’s agenda of dominating women.
Therefore, what is needed is the movement for Women’s empowerment where women can become economically independent and self-reliant; where they can fight their own fears and go out in the world fearless; where they can snatch their rights from the clutches of men and they don’t have to ask for them; where women have good education, good career, ownership of property and above all where they have freedom of choice and also the freedom to make their own decisions without the bondages of age old saying of Manu.
Let’s hope and wish that our participative democracy, in times to come, and with the efforts of both women and men, would be able to found solutions to the problem of gender inequality and would take us all towards our cherished dream of a truly modern society in both thought and action.

Homosexuality in India

India has a long tradition of tolerance for all kinds of beliefs, faiths, philosophies, orientations and ways of living. Though India is a deeply religious country but at the same time it is also a country which has accepted non- religious communities as well. In ancient India there was a place for all kinds of diverse cultures, arts and literatures; the society was very assimilative. At one place we have purely and strictly religious painting and sculptors like at Konark or at Jagganath Puri temples and at another place we have monuments like Khajuraho which is famous world over for its erotic arts and sculptors; this also includes sculptors with homosexual activities. This shows that not only all types of sexual orientations were there in ancient past but people were so tolerant and broad minded that paintings and sculptors depicting the same sex love-making were being freely created and displayed.

But our modern society somehow has become less tolerant towards anything which is not regular or common according to their collective perception; whether we study society’s behavior towards religious minorities such as Islam or Christianity or its behavior towards sexual minorities such as gays, lesbians or bisexuals. In all such cases, it can be found that people in minority are the target of the people in majority and harassment or discrimination against such minorities is widely prevalent.
Thus unlike ancient India, people with different sexual choices i. e. homosexuals are not treated equally in today’s society and their basic human rights are violated frequently.
Like food, shelter and water, sexual need is also one of the basic human needs without which life cannot be fully realized or enjoyed. Sexual orientations may differ from person to person. Though persons with non- regular sexual behavior are in minority but they are a reality. Non-regular sexual behavior may be understood as sexual preference and attraction not with opposite sex but with same sex persons.

What is Homosexuality?

It is natural tendency that persons of one gender are sexually or emotionally attracted towards persons with opposite gender i. e. males are attracted towards females and vice versa. But sometimes and in some cases this sexual or emotional attraction is not towards opposite sex rather it is towards the same sex persons. This same sex attraction or orientation is known as Homosexuality and persons with such orientation are called as Homosexuals. Homosexuals can be persons of both the sexes i.e. Gays (male-male) and Lesbians (female-female). Another term LGBT is also commonly used for persons with homosexual orientations; LGBT being abbreviation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans-genders.

Causes of Homosexuality

The reasons for such type of sexual behavior or choice are not yet fully known but several researches have been done and different experts have found different results or theories. The reasons may be biological, psychological or both.
Biological Reasons
Several scientists have concluded that one is born with a particular kind of sexual orientation and it is in the genes. Thus it is a natural phenomenon. But no conclusive proof is there that homosexual behavior is simply a biological thing. There may be a factor of genetics in determining one’s sexual choice but other factors might also be there.
Social and Psychological Factors
It is a fact that socio-cultural environment affects the development of a child in significant ways. One’s family, friends, society, and experiences decides how one views life, how one feels and how he or she acts. Thus psychological factors are also very important in determining one’s sexual preferences.
But it is true that not one single factor but combination of many things determines one’s sexual orientation. And whatever be the reason as it is natural for a person to decide what kind of food he/she wants to eat, what kind of living he/she wishes to have; similarly, it is also natural that with whom he/she wants to have sexual relationship either with opposite sex or with same sex.

Discrimination Against Homosexuals

Discriminations faced by homosexuals in our society are at various levels; beginning from within their homes to outside world as a whole. Their entire life is a struggle only because they are born with a particular sexual orientation which is different from others. In fact it is proved through various scientific or psychological studies that such behaviors are perfectly natural.
Our society is a very complex one; at one side we are most modern of societies of the world with all the liberal thoughts and beliefs but at on another level we are the most conservatives of societies of the world. We specially avoid facing so-called taboo social issues such as pre-marital sexual relationship, live-in relationship, inter-caste or inter-religion marriages etc. Homosexuality is also one of the most avoided or detested issues in our society. Even the mentioning of the terms Gays or Lesbians is a strict no-no. Thus, the society as whole has not accepted persons with different or so-called unnatural sexual behavior.
The discrimination against LGBT community persons is fairly common. And it begins from their own homes; their own family members treat it as a disease or perversion and accordingly treat them badly. In fact family members feel ashamed of in the society if any member of their family has such sexual orientation.
Outside of home, they experience all the more severe and hateful behavior of people, be it at work place, school, and colleges or at any other public place. Everywhere they become a target of obnoxious comments and sexually colored jokes. The problem is due to their appearances and way of walking or talking they are easily recognizable and become victim of such derogatory remarks etc. In our day to day life we pass jokes and messages ridiculing and making fun of LGBT people; even in our movies these people are presented in a very objectionable way just to invoke some kind of laughter among the audiences.
So overall general perception of the society is against such individuals and we are not ready to accept them as one among ourselves.

Laws in India and Homosexuality

India has a very dynamic and progressive Constitution which in a way is the backbone of this very vast and complex nation. The Indian Constitution provides rights and protections to each and every citizen of this country whether he is in majority or in minority. The Constitution treats everyone equally without any discrimination. It is the duty of the State to ensure that no one should be discriminated against.
LGBT community persons are in minority and they too have equal constitutional rights. But their right to equality and right to get equal treatment in the society are violated on regular basis. Not only society as whole but State machinery also treat them differently, especially police. They are regular victim of rights violations. They are deprived of their basic human right and right to life which includes right to enjoy life properly.
Section 377 of IPC and Rights of LGBT community:
One of the major lacuna or contentious legal provision in our laws is Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Section 377 of the IPC says:
Unnatural offences: “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section.
Thus the section makes any sexual activity against the order of the nature as criminal offence. Even voluntary act of such kind is punishable. Thus consent between two persons of same gender for such activity is immaterial.
Therefore, section 377 criminalizes homosexual activity and makes it punishable with as high punishment as life imprisonment.
This provision of IPC has become a major controversial point and topic of debate in recent times. People of LGBT community are trying from quite sometimes to convince and pressurize our law makers to decriminalize Section 377. In other words, LGBT social action groups are demanding that if two consenting adults of same sex are involved in homosexual activities, it should not be a criminal offence.
But when their plea was not responded by our legislatures, they went to the Court for appropriate and just solution to their grievances through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The said PIL was filed by a NGO namely Naz Foundation in Delhi High Court.
In the case Naz Foundation v Govt. of NCT of Delhi (2009 Delhi H C) passing a landmark judgment on 2nd July 2009, Delhi High Court declared Section 377 as illegal as far as it criminalizes same sex sexual activity between two consenting adults done in private. Thus, in effect Delhi High Court, in its historic decision upheld and secured the LGBT people’s right to sexuality.

The SC and LGBT Rights

The decision of Delhi High Court in Naz Foundation Case was further challenged in appeal at the Supreme Court of India.
The SC in a far reaching judgment quashed the decision of the Delhi High Court and reverted back to the earlier position i. e. once again made homosexual relationship as criminal offence. The decision came as a shock to the LGBT community and also to the liberal members of the society. The reasoning of the SC was that the Indian society is not yet fully mature to accept same sex relationships and if necessary changes are needed to decriminalize Section 377 of the IPC, it must be done by the Parliament and not by the SC.
Several legal and constitutional experts have criticized the decision as regressive and disappointing. Experts are of the view that the SC could have upheld the decision of Delhi High Court or could have advised the Parliament to make necessary changes in the IPC; but unfortunately the SC fell short of in fulfilling such expectations and securing basic human rights of sexual minorities.
Therefore as per the present scenario, LGBT community people are again feeling themselves insecure and discriminated against. If the SC had given an authoritative judgment on the issue, the matter would have been settled for all times. And it was also expected of the highest Court of the country that it would recognize the rights of LGBT people and would decriminalize the same sex relationship. But as many experts are pointing out, the SC has missed a historic opportunity to provide equal constitutional and human rights to LGBT people.
Now again the ball is in the hands of our law makers to amend the law and decriminalize the same sex relationship among consenting adults done in private sphere. Because now the only hope for LGBT people is country’s Parliament.

Suggestions:

India, in 21st century is trying to become a super power and the world leader; in fact it has all the potential to become one. But this potential would not be realized until and unless we as a society will not be able to freely accept and discuss so-called taboo issues such as homosexuality.
And for that to happen above all mentality of the people will have to be changed. The first step is sex education in schools and at homes. A child must feel comfortable to discuss his/her problems or issues related to sexual matters and even their sexual choices with their parents or teachers. And it is important that parents/teachers fully appreciate their wards’ situation and guide them accordingly. Therefore, not only children but grown-ups or adults need more education and sensitization as far as matters related to sex are concerned.
Law enforcement agencies such as police also need sensitization so that they will be able to appreciate the genuine concerns of LGBT people.
Similarly, our media and film fraternity are required to be more considerate while depicting such people in their shows and films respectively. In fact they can play a very important role in imparting knowledge and disseminating true information about LGBT people and their sexual choices so that society could get a real picture of their situation and conditions.
Apart from all these, the most important single step in eliminating the stigma over LGBT people is to decriminalize section 377 of the IPC so that they could have a normal regular life like others and avail their basic human rights without harassment or discrimination. Hopefully our law makers would soon listen to their rightful plea and make necessary changes in the law.

Poverty in India

What is Poverty
Poverty can be defined as a condition wherein a person is unable to fulfill the basic necessities for the sustenance of life. These basic necessities include- food, clothing and shelter. Poverty is a condition which drives out the essence of a decent standard of living for the people? Poverty becomes a vicious trap which gradually ends up entailing all the members of a family. Extreme poverty eventually leads to death. Poverty in India is defined keeping in mind all the dimensions of economy, semi-economy and the definitions which are devise according to international conventions. India judges poverty levels on the basis of both consumption and income. Consumption is measured on account of the money that is spent by a household on essential goods and income is calculated according to the income earned by a particular household. Another important concept that needs to be mentioned here is the concept of the poverty line. This poverty line acts a benchmark for the measurement of poverty in India vis- a-vis other nations. A poverty line can be defined as the estimated minimum level of income that a family needs to be able to secure the basic necessities of life. As of 2014, the poverty line is set at Rs 32 per day in rural areas and Rs 47 in towns and cities.

Causes of Poverty in India

According to the international economist Ragnar Nurske, “a country is poor because it is poor” pointing towards the unfortunate reality that poverty is a vicious trap. This trap consists of the low level of savings which reduce the scope of investments which then leads to a low level of income.
A major reason of the existing poverty in India is the weather condition of the country. The non-conducive climate reduces the capacities of people to work in the farms. Floods, famines, earthquake and cyclones disrupt the production. Population is another factor which contributes to the menace. Population growth reduces the per capita income.
Further, larger the size of a family, lower is the per capita income. Unequal distribution of land and assets is another problem which deters the concentration of lands in the hands of the farmers equally.

Impact of Poverty

It needs to be taken into account that although the economy has shown some visible signs of progress in the last two decades, this progress been uneven across various sectors or areas. The growth rates are higher in Gujarat and Delhi as compared to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Nearly half of the population doesn’t have proper shelter, access to a decent sanitation system, villages do not have a nearby water source, and villages also do not have a secondary school and lack of proper roads. Some sections of the society like the Dalits are not even included in the poverty list maintained by the concerned authorities assigned by the government. They’re groups that are marginalized in the society.

Government Schemes to Eradicate Poverty

Government efforts to alleviate poverty in India cannot be overlooked while discussing poverty. It needs to be brought to the forefront that whatever marginal drops that has been observed in the poverty ratios have taken place due to the government initiatives aimed at uplifting people from poverty. Though, a lot still needs to be done as far as the corruption levels are concerned.
PDS– the PDS distributes subsidized food and non-food items to the poor. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene, through a network of public distribution shops established in several states across the country. But, the grains provided by the PDS are not enough to satisfy the consumption needs of a family. Under PDS scheme, each family below the poverty line is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every month, while a household above the poverty line is entitled to 15 kg of food grain on a monthly basis.  Being the most important system, the system is not without its flaws. Leakages and diversions of grains from the PDS are high. Only 41% of the grains released by the government reach the poor. The alternative against the PDS that has been suggested is that of a cash transfer along with food support, but this will not fulfill the need of the buffer food stocks.
MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)–  This aim guarantees the right to work and ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Employment generation under this act has been higher as compared to other schemes.
RSBY (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana)- This is a health insurance for the poor. It provides for cashless insurance for hospitalization in public as well as private hospitals. Every below poverty line family holding a yellow ration card pays 30 rupees registration fee to get a biometric-enabled smart card containing their fingerprints and photographs.
Conclusion
Most of the schemes are clouded with implementation challenges. Programs are plagued by leakages on subsidies that limit its impact on the poor. These programs need to be centralized under one organization so that leakages can be prevented at multiple levels.