WUNRN
India - Women's Empowerment -
Urban-Rural Divide
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70.7 |
2011 -70.5 |
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http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/india-growth-story-marred-disturbing-inequity -
Link to Full Text.
Full Article Includes Data & Charts.
INDIA GROWTH RATE MARRED BY GLARING INEQUALITIES - WOMEN
68th Round of National Sample Survey makes it amply clear that the wave
of economic growth has not percolated down from the 0.003 per cent of
population of ruling elite (as per Income Tax records, only 42,800 persons have
taxable Income more than Rs 1 crore in India). 99.996 per cent population is
spending between just Rs 25.90 and Rs 37.36 per capita per day (average MPCE)
in rural and urban areas respectively
by Sachin Kumar Jain
India's much-vaunted economic growth story is a little hard to digest if one were to closely scrutinise the results emanating from the 68th round survey of the National Sample Survey Office. The survey carried out during July 2011-June 2012 reveals some alarming facts about how little money people have to spend on food, nutrition and health. If our society is truly growing economically, as claimed, and the state is withdrawing from its role in very basic social and essential sectors like education, health, transportation and nutrition, one would assume that expenditure on these services would have increased. But data shows expenditure on food has decreased proportionately over a period of time; at the same time overall expenditure is also not showing any impact of economic growth. This report gives a statistical base to the assumption that economic growth has maintained huge inequality in per capita expenditure on very essential needs such as food, health and education. The level of inequity is very-very high on in the context of per capita expenditure on education and health.
On education, the bottom 5 per cent population in rural India is spending just Rs 7.54 per month whereas top 5 per cent in urban India is spending a 120 times higher amount of Rs 908.12 per month. This disparity is one of the reasons why the largest section of the society, the poor, is denied Right to Education with quality. The spending difference on medical expenditure in these two categories is 40 times. Just to inform you on expenditure levels for availing conveyance services, the top 5 per cent population in urban India spends 116 times more than the bottom 5 per cent rural population. Even today, the average Indian is struggling hard to get right to quality education and basic health services and because of uneven growth they not able to spend on it. It also indicates that withdrawal of the state from essential sectors is really causing distress in almost every segment of society.
Emerging pointers
The per capita per day expenditure in rural India on cereals is a meagre Rs 5 and in urban areas it is Rs 5.80. Persons living in rural areas spend just Rs 1.31 on pulses and pulse products and for those in urban areas, this expenditure goes up to Rs 1.70 per day. Would it indicate a telling effect on the nutritional intake of the rural population? The apprehensions could be valid and alarming, particularly if these expenditures were traced to the lowest 5 per cent population of the country.
Why are the poor sections of the society still struggling with their basic needs? Why are they bound to spend the biggest part of their income on food and health services and even then must they live with hunger as their income does not allow them to feed their stomach to the full? ........
Full Article Includes Data & Charts.