Gujarat model? Half of Indian states' households have higher purchasing power

By Rajiv Shah

In what many may consider as another “expose” of the Gujarat development model sought to be sold across the country during the Lok Sabha elections, the latest National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report, “Level and Pattern of Consumer Expenditure, 2011-12”, released in February 2014, has revealed that the average spending capacity of Gujarat households, as reflected in monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE), is lower than 11 out of 20 major states in the rural areas and nine out of 20 major states in the urban areas.

The figures suggest that at the MPCE of Rs 1,536, spending capacity of Gujarat’s rural households is lower than Andhra Pradesh (Rs 1,754), Haryana (Rs 2,176), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 2,034), Jammu & Kashmir (Rs 1,743), Karnataka (Rs 1,561), Kerala (2,669), Maharashtra (Rs 1,619), Punjab (Rs 2,345), Rajasthan (Rs 1,598), Tamil Nadu (Rs 1,693), and Uttarakhand (Rs 1,726). The all-India average for the rural areas, on account of even lower spending capacity in poorer states, is lower than Gujarat’s – Rs 1,430.
As for the urban areas, things are not quite different, with Gujarat ranking at No 10th with the households’ average spending capacity, reflected in MPCE, being Rs 2581. This is less than that of Andhra Pradesh (Rs 2,685), Haryana (3,817), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 3,259), Karnataka (Rs 3,026), Kerala (Rs 3,408), Maharashtra (Rs 3,189), Punjab (Rs 2,794), Tamil Nadu (Rs 2,622) and West Bengal (Rs 2,591). As for the all-India average, despite lower purchasing power in the poorer states, the urban MPCE higher than Gujarat’s -- Rs 2,630.

What is particularly appalling is that, with lower purchasing power, Gujarat’s households are forced to spend a higher percentage of their earnings on foodgrains. Thus, the figures show that, in rural Gujarat, on an average, 55 per cent of the spending go into foodgrains consumption, which means that they are forced to spend considerably less on non-foodgrains, including education, health, consumer durables, and entertainment.
The states whose households spend higher percentage than Gujarat in the rural areas on foodgrains, significantly, are mainly five poorer states -- Assam (61 per cent), Bihar (59 per cent), Jharkhand (58 per cent), Odisha (57 per cent), and West Bengal (58 per cent). The all-India average percentage of spending on foodgrains is 53 per cent – lower than Gujarat’s.
Things are, in fact, worse in urban areas, whose Gujarat households on an average spend 45 per cent of their spending on foodgrains. The states whose urban area households spend more than Gujarat are just three -- Assam (48 per cent), Bihar (51 per cent), and Jharkhand (47 per cent), with Rajasthan and Odisha equaling Gujarat (45 per cent). The all-India average on this score is 43 per cent, less than that of Gujarat.
Coming to the cereals – which are the main source of nutrition in the absence of non-vegetarian food – the data show that Gujarat’s just eight per cent of the rural spending go into expenditure on cereals, as against the all-India average of 11 per cent. The situation is not very different for the urban areas, where just six per cent of the spending goes in for cereals, as against the all-India average of seven per cent.

In the absence of non-vegetarian food, on which Gujarat’s households just spend about Rs 24 per capita in rural areas and Rs 30 in urban areas (as against the all-India average of Rs 68 and 96 respectively), they are forced to spend a higher sum on milk and milk products – Rs 196 in rural areas (all-India average Rs 115) and Rs 267 in urban areas (all-India average Rs 184). As for fruits and vegetables, the spending is nearer to the all-India average.
Even more interesting is the fact that, NSSO data suggest, Gujarat’s rural as well as urban population is forced to spend a higher amount on cheaper cereals. To quote from the report, in the country as a whole, “rice and wheat together accounted for as much as 97 per cent of all cereal consumption in urban areas, and for 94 per cent in rural areas.”
To quote, “In rural India, the share of cereals other than rice and wheat was 3 per cent or less in all major States except Gujarat (32 per cent), Karnataka (27 per cent), Maharashtra (20 per cent), Rajasthan (19 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (6 per cent). In urban India cereals other than rice and wheat accounted for 3 per cent or less of total cereal consumption in all but 3 major States – Karnataka (18 per cent), Gujarat (9 per cent) and Maharashtra (8 per cent).”

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

Search This Blog