Poverty concerns in developing countries like India are enormous and complex. Nothing can substitute the commitment for poverty elimination and no single approach is sufficient enough to achieving this commitment. India being the single largest concentration of poor, there is need for rapid and extensive poverty reduction initiatives. Development initiatives are often diverse in their goals and adopt different livelihood strategies to address the aspirations of poor. Centrality of assets and social capital play significant role in well-being.

Despite stated commitments to poverty reduction, the immediate focus of development assistance has long been on resources and facilities or on structures that provide services. There are however critical issues to address beyond the immediate objectives. Lets examine some of them.

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