Describes the poverty alleviation programmes in the country. Discusses the factors which hamper the development of rural areas and questions the Sixth Plan strategy of classifying the rural poor as a single category of "rural population below the poverty line." Instead, the note suggests two categories - 1) extremely poor or resourceless, and 2) poor but with some resources - according to which anti-poverty programmes should be designed and implemented. The note also mentions some of the policy options which may help in achieving the objectives of alleviating rural poverty.