Data miracle?: Rural Gujarat "improves" its position in govt's "fresh" survey results

A new set of data of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 has contradicted the income data released by it previously. They surprisingly go to suggest that Gujarat’s rural story may not as grim as it seemed. While the earlier data still remain on the SECC site (click HERE), showing that just about 5.19 per cent of households have highest earning members earning more than Rs 10,000, the fresh data revises this percentage to 9.57 per cent (click HERE).
It is not known as to why, even after releasing the new set of data, till Thursday afternoon, the earlier data, which seemed flawed, have still not been removed from the SECC site.
There is no official explanation why two set of data remain on the SECC site, even though it was clear to any cursory observer that the previous data did not seem reliable and the figures did not match. In fact, if the previous data were to be believed, Gujarat farmers’ incomes were one of the worst in India, which is not the case with the new set of data. It has shifted to become a little above average performer.
The new set of data on the SECC site may have drastically upgraded the percentage of the top-earners of the rural Gujarat households vis-à-vis other states (click HERE for Counterview story based on earlier data). Yet, the fact remains that with the revised data there are eight out of 21 major states with households having highest earning members earning more than Rs 10,000.

Thus, the “revised” set of data put up on SECC site show that Himachal Pradesh has 24.36 per cent such households, followed by Jammu & Kashmir (18.03), Punjab (17.5 per cent), Haryana (16.28 per cent), Uttarakhand (14.72 per cent), Kerala (12.35 per cent), Maharashtra (11.05 per cent), and Rajasthan (9.61 per cent).
Then, the fresh data show that there are 21.76 per cent rural households in Gujarat whose highest earning member earns between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. This is lower than six other states (Punjab 24.89 per cent, Haryana 24.68 per cent, Karnataka 22.27 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 22.15 per cent, Bihar 22.14 per cent), and Uttarakhand (21.86 per cent).
The all-India average here is 17.18 per cent. The previous figure for Gujarat was 11.5 per cent – suggesting here again, with the “revised” data, Gujarat has “improved” its position.
However, there is little to cheer in the lowest income group, of less than Rs 5,000. The revised data suggest that Gujarat’s position has gone down somewhat. Ironically, if the earlier data had suggested that Gujarat had just 45 per cent of rural Gujarat’s households, whose top earning members earned less than Rs 5,000, in the new set of data revise this to 68.56 per cent!

Under the earlier data there were only two states, Telangana (40.02 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (29.26 per cent), who ranked better than Gujarat (45 per cent). But now there are five other such states – Himachal Pradesh (53.48 per cent), Punjab (57.56 per cent), Haryana (58.96 per cent), Uttarakhand (63.41 per cent), and Jammu & Kashmir (67.45 per cent), followed by Gujarat with 68.56 such households.

Screenshot SECC website showing the data released previously

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

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."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

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.

Search This Blog