ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY ACROSS SOCIAL GROUPS IN KERALA VARDHAN M S, Independent Researcher, Ahmadabad
Abstract Using NSSO 38th and 61st rounds, the paper tries to examine the trend and pattern of consumption expenditure across social groups in Kerala. The analysis of consumption expenditure among various social groups in Kerala as well as India shows that the differences in consumption expenditure among social groups were more pronounced in Kerala than all-India. It is found that the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is seemed to be lower than the general population both in Kerala and India except for the urban Kerala for the 61st round. The analysis average monthly consumption expenditure among various social groups reveals that the fruits of growth are confined to certain sections of the society. Key words: Inequality, consumption, rural-urban differences. INTRODUCTION Consumption to a great extent contributes to human development. It enlarges the capabilities and enriches the life of people without adversely affecting the well-being of others. However, wide disparities in consumption standards between regions and classes exist. Kerala, the southernmost state in India, is widely acclaimed for its unique pattern of social development. The present study tries to examine the trends and pattern of consumption expenditure across different social groups in Kerala. DATA SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY The present study is entirely based on secondary data culled from the consumption expenditure survey reports of the National Sample Survey during two quinquennial rounds of surveys, the 38th and 61st rounds. The trends and pattern of consumption expenditure among social groups in Kerala was identified through the distribution of social groups by monthly 20
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
per capita consumption expenditure, the distribution of average monthly consumption for food and non-food and rural-urban differences in monthly per capita consumption expenditure. CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY IN KERALA In the following section we are going to explore the consumption expenditure pattern of various social groups in Kerala and also compare it with All-India consumption pattern. The average monthly per capita consumption expenditure among various social groups is presented in Table 1. Table 1 Average monthly per capita consumption expenditure in rural areas
All India
Kerala
Year
SC
ST
All
1983
94.31
87.15
112.31
2004-05
356.9
320.4
420.1
1983
105.07
NA
145.24
2004-05
602.5
414.4
810.4
Source: 38th and 61st NSSO Reports As per the NSSO data for 38th and 61st rounds, the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes seems to be lower than the General population both for rural Kerala and India. The percentage of increase of General population over Scheduled Castes has recorded 19 per cent and 28 per cent over scheduled Tribes in rural India during 1983. But the percentage of increase of General population over Scheduled Castes shows a slight decline of about 2 per cent and over Scheduled Tribes shows a slight improvement of about 3 per cent during 2004-05. Thus the percentage difference was more in between General population and Scheduled Tribes than Scheduled Castes. The difference between Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in respect of average monthly per capita consumption expenditure is low when compared with the General population. In the case of Kerala, the percentage increase of General population over Scheduled Caste has recorded 38 per cent, which is more than double of All-India figure in 1983 and it declined to 34.5 per
21
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
cent in 2004-05. More than 95 per cent increase was registered by General population when compared with Scheduled Tribes consumption expenditure. The difference in consumption expenditure between the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is more than the All-India figure. Thus from the table, it can be seen that the differences in consumption expenditure among social groups is more rigorous in Kerala when compared with All-India.
Table 2 Average monthly per consumption expenditure in urban areas
All India
Kerala
Year
SC
ST
All
1983
128.95
133.11
165.8
2004-05
766.1
866.2
1062.9
1983
133.99
NA
178.31
2004-05
840.2
1684.1
1434.3
Source: 38th and 61st NSSO Reports As in the case of rural India the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is lower than the General population in urban India in both periods. Kerala also shows similar trend in 38th round of NSSO but in 2004-05 the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Scheduled Tribes is more than General population, a percentage increase of more than 17 percent over General population. When we compare the consumption expenditure of Scheduled Caste to Scheduled Tribes, it shows that average monthly consumption expenditure of Scheduled Caste is only half of the Scheduled Tribes that is, 840.2 as against 1684.1. In urban India, the percentage increase in General population over Scheduled Caste has increased from 28 percent in 1983 to 38 percent in 2004-05 but in the case of Scheduled Tribes, it decreased from 24 per cent to 22 per cent. As in the case of rural India, the differences in consumption expenditure among various social groups are more rigorous than urban India.
22
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
Table 3 Percentage of expenditure on food to total consumer expenditure
All India
Kerala
Year 1983
Rural SC 67.8
All 65.6
Urban SC 62.1
ST 70.1
ST 62.9
All 59.1
2004-05
57.3
58.9
55.1
48.1
46.5
42.5
1983
66.5
____
61.7
63.1
____
58.9
2004-05
52.1
52.2
44.9
50.8
41.4
39.9
Source: 38th and 61st NSSO Reports The percentage of expenditure on food for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is higher than the same for general population both in the rural and urban population in India. The proportion of food expenditure is found declining for different social groups in India. The percentage decline in food expenditure was more pronounced in urban areas than in rural areas. In the case of various social groups more declines are recorded by the general population followed by Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes in rural as well as urban areas. In Kerala as observed at the national level the percentage of expenditure on food for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is higher than the same for general population in both rural and urban areas. In Kerala for the rural sector for Scheduled Castes the percentage expenditure on food showed a decline of 21 per cent from 66.51 to 52.1 and for the urban sector it declined by 19 per cent from 63.1 to 50.8 per cent. That means the percentage decline was more in rural areas than the urban areas. The data for Scheduled Tribes in Kerala for 1983 is not available and therefore comparison is not possible. In the case of general population, the percentage decline was more in urban areas than the rural areas. It shows a decline of 32 per cent from 58.9 to 39.9 per cent as against the decline 27 from 61.7 per cent to 44.9 per cent in rural areas during the period under review.
23
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
Table 4 Percentage of expenditure on cereals to total consumer expenditure
All India
Kerala
Year 1983
Rural SC 36.7
All 32.2
Urban SC 24.1
ST 41.1
ST 25.8
All 19.2
2004-05
20.6
22.8
18.1
13.2
12.9
10.1
1983
28.9
____
24.2
24.5
____
19.3
2004-05
14.4
12.7
11
12.9
5.9
8.4
Source: 38th and 61st NSSO Reports The percentage of expenditure on cereals for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is higher than the same for general population both in rural and urban India during 1983 and 2004-05. Scheduled Tribes recorded the highest per cent of 41 per cent as against 32.2 of general and 36.7 of Scheduled Caste in rural areas and Scheduled Tribes recorded 25.8 against 19.24 for general and 24.1 for Scheduled Castes in urban India during 1983. The percentage of increase of Scheduled Tribes over general population has recorded 27 per cent in rural India and 34 per cent in urban India. Rural India recorded highest per cent of 22 per cent for Scheduled Tribes followed by 20.6 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 18.1 per cent for general during 2004-05. That means around 26 per cent more for Scheduled Tribes than the general population. Urban India recorded highest per cent of 13.2 for Scheduled Caste followed by 12.9 per cent for Scheduled Tribes and 10.1 for general population. Scheduled Caste recorded 14 per cent of expenditure on cereals more than general population in rural India during 2004-05. But it recorded more than 30 per cent increase in urban India during the same period. As regards Kerala, there is no record of percentage expenditure on cereals for Scheduled Tribes population is not available for 1983. Percentage of expenditure on cereals for Scheduled Caste has recorded higher than the general category in both rural and urban Kerala for 1983 and 2004-05. Scheduled Caste recorded the highest 14.4 per cent followed by 12.7 for Scheduled Tribes and 11 per cent for general population in rural Kerala and 12.9 per cent followed by 8.4 per cent for general population and 5.9 per cent for Scheduled Tribes in urban Kerala is the lowest of 5.9 much below than 12.9 for Scheduled Caste and 8.4 for in
24
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
urban Kerala. It is the lowest ever recorded percent of expenditure on cereals to total consumption expenditure among various social groups from 1983 to 2004-05. Table 5 Percentage of expenditure on cereals to total consumer expenditure
All India
Kerala
Year 1983
Rural SC 32.9
All 34.4
Urban SC 37.9
ST 29.9
ST 37.1
All 41.3
2004-05
42.7
41.1
44.9
51.9
53.5
57.5
1983
33.5
____
38.4
36.9
____
41.1
2004-05
48
47.9
55.1
49.2
58.6
60.6
Source: 38th and 61st NSSO Reports The proportion of non-food expenditure is found increasing for various social groups. Scheduled Tribes recorded the lowest per cent of expenditure on non-food to total consumption expenditure of 29.9 per cent and behind 32.9 per cent of Scheduled Castes and 34.4 per cent of general population in rural India and 37.1 per cent behind 37.9 per cent of Scheduled Castes and 41.3 per cent of general population in urban India during 1983. This trend follows in rural India during 2004-05. But Scheduled Tribes recorded 53.5 per cent ahead of 51.9 per cent of Scheduled Castes and below 57.5 per cent of general population in urban India during the same period. In Kerala Scheduled Tribes recorded 58.6 per cent, that is nearly 2 per cent below than general category of 60.6 per cent and significantly much higher than 49.2 per cent recorded for Scheduled Castes in the urban area during 2004-05. In rural Kerala, the Scheduled Tribes remains the bottom with 47.9 per cent as against 48 per cent of Scheduled Castes and 59.5 per cent of general population during 2004-05. The percentage of increase for general and Scheduled Castes in rural India recorded 30 per cent and Scheduled Tribes recorded 37 per cent. In urban India the percent increase recorded 44 per cent for Scheduled Tribes followed by 40 per cent for general and 37 per cent for Scheduled Caste. In Kerala, general and Scheduled Castes recorded 43 per cent in rural areas. In urban Kerala recorded increase of 47 per cent for general and 33 per cent for Scheduled Castes. The percent increase of Scheduled
25
ECOSENTIMENTS JOURNAL, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 2013
Tribes for the period 1983 to 2004-05 could not be calculated due to the non-availability of required data for 1983.
CONCLUSION The proportion of food expenditure is found declining and for non-food expenditure shows an increasing trend among various social groups both in India and Kerala. The analysis of consumption expenditure among various social groups in Kerala as well as India shows that the differences in consumption expenditure among social groups were more pronounced in Kerala than all-India. It is found that the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is seemed to be lower than the general population both in Kerala and India except for the urban Kerala for the 61 st round. The analysis of average monthly consumption expenditure among various social groups reveals that the fruits of growth are confined to certain sections of the society. Thus Kerala presented a paradox within the paradox in terms of its acute marginalisation of its backward communities in the midst of high human development achievements. REFERENCES 1. Cellinkutty, Mathew (2003): ‘Consumption Expenditure of Scheduled Caste Households of Kerala: A Study of Idukki District’, PhD thesis submitted to the Cochin University of Science and Technology. 2. Chandran, Deepa (2012): ‘A Paradox within a Paradox: Emerging Signs of Change in the Unappealing Tribal Scenario in Kerala’, India, Developing Country Studies, Vol.2, No.6, pp.1-11. 3. Geetha, K T (2011): ‘Consumption patterns among selected rural and urban households in Coimbatore City’, Zenith International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol.1, Issue 2, pp.46-61.
26