Gujarat growth rate story busted: Cultivators' net earning less than national average, say NSSO data

In an important revelation, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), India's most authoritative data collection centre amidst decadal censuses, has said that Gujarat farmers' net income from cultivation is lower than 11 other major states out of a total of 21. The figures, released this month, say, the average net income per household from cultivation was Rs 2,933 per month during the agricultural year July 2012 to June 2013, which was not just drastically lower than some of the agriculturally advanced states like Punjab and Haryana, but also so-called backward states Assam, Chhattigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The data have been come amidst huge claims of Gujarat being a “success story” for other states to emulate with agricultural growth rate of around 9 per cent per annum over the last one decade as against a little over 3 per in the decade preceding it. The figures, culled out following the NSSO's 70th round of survey carried out over one year period, from January 2013 to December 2013, are part the latest NSSO report, “Key Indicators of Situation of Agricultural Households in India”.
According to the survey, as against the net receipt from cultivation per agricultural household of Rs 2,933 in Gujarat, the national average during the corresponding period was Rs 3,081. The highest monthly net receipts from cultivation per household was in Punjab (Rs 10,862), thrice that of Gujarat, followed by Haryana (Rs 7,867), Karnataka (Rs 4,930), and Telangana (Rs 4,227).
That even some of the poorer states fared better than Gujarat should be a matter of concern for state policy makers – net receipt from cultivation was Rs 4,211 in Assam, Rs 4,016 in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 3,347 in Chhattisgarh, and Rs 3,138 in Rajasthan. There is no explanation in the NSSO report about the reason behind poor net income of cultivators in Gujarat.
A breakup provided by the NSSO suggests that 58.4 per cent of agricultural households in Gujarat are directly depend on cultivation, and the next important earning source is agricultural labour (26.7 per cent). This is followed by nine per cent depending on livestock to make two ends meet, and just 3.7 per cent involved in rural enterprise as the main source of income.
While livestock does not earn rural households as much cultivation does, incomes from this source in Gujarat are higher than other states. Comparative data suggest that as against Rs 1,930 earned on an average in Gujarat from livestock, the income from this source is averaged at a poor Rs 763 in the nation as a whole. Gujarat farmers' earnings from this source, in fact, is worse than just one state, Haryana, Rs 2,645. Even Punjab lags behind Gujarat with Rs 1,658.
This has been made possible, apparently, on account of Gujarat's strong position in the milk cooperatives begun with the powerful Amul experiment decades ago. While the agricultural households in Gujarat dependent on cultivation – 58.4 per cent of 39,30,500 – are lower than the the national average of 63.5 per cent, interestingly, the state's farmers dependent on livestock (9 per cent) are one of the highest in the country – next only Haryana (9.1 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (10.2 per cent).
The NSSO figures also reveal that Gujarat's 26.7 per cent of agricultural households are dependent on wage labour for survival is higher than the national average of 22 per cent, and this is lower six out of 21 major states – Rajasthan (33.4 per cent), Punjab (31.9 per cent), Kerala (29.9 per cent), Tamil Nadu (29.3 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (28 per cent), and West Bengal (26.8 per cent). Average wages per agricultural household per month in Gujarat come to Rs 2,683, as against the national average of Rs 2,071.
While this may be suggesting marginalisation with a higher number of cultivators shifting to wage labour, on one hand, and animal husbandry, on the other, it seems that much fewer households are shifting to non-agricultural rural enterprises as the source of earning. Gujarat's about 3.7 per cent of the total rural households are involved in non-agricultural rural enterprises as against the national average of 4.7 per cent, with Kerala leading with 13.4 per cent.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog