{"id":39536,"date":"2025-03-21T20:20:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=39536"},"modified":"2025-03-21T20:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:50:06","slug":"contradiction-high-per-capita-income-vs-poverty-levels-indian-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-03-2025\/contradiction-high-per-capita-income-vs-poverty-levels-indian-states","title":{"rendered":"Contradiction Between High Per Capita Income vs Poverty Levels in Indian States: SC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus<\/strong><strong>: GS2\/Issues Relating Poverty &amp; Hunger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, the Supreme Court of India Bench, led by Justice Surya Kant, raised concerns over contradiction in some <strong>states&#8217; claims of high per capita income<\/strong> while a significant portion of their population continues to live <strong>below the poverty line (BPL).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme Court&#8217;s Observations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The court expressed concern over the <strong>disparity between economic indicators and ground realities <\/strong>during a hearing on food security for migrant workers.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It questioned how states could claim high per capita income while reporting up to 70% of their population as BPL.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It emphasized that such contradictions undermine the credibility of development claims and highlight systemic issues in the distribution of resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The court also scrutinized the <strong>efficiency of subsidized ration schemes<\/strong>, questioning whether they genuinely reach the<strong> intended beneficiaries or serve as political tools.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SC reiterated that <strong>access to food is a fundamental right under Article 21<\/strong> of the Constitution, and ensuring food security for the poor is a constitutional obligation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Supreme Court noted that <strong>corruption and mismanagement<\/strong> in the <strong>Public Distribution System (PDS) <\/strong>exacerbate the problem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Per Capita Income in India<\/strong><br>&#8211; Per Capita Income (PCI) is the average income earned per person in a specific region over a given period. It is calculated as:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Per Capita Income in India\n\" width=\"350\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXfd-CgqJiccdLT8VQXU4Ih3PBjLMJ7cSZ9_oekjFeajXnbY-Beb0tX6cQTC4SXx6NY5Hq_0gjgtTKP5TJbRX01fwbob7T6RZXZSX05Nv49GLTPF2J-1AbXbQBSXJi0coYROVWS_OQ?key=BWGQjlhJMLe7lV-qLCQSBtQl\"><br>&#8211; In India, per capita income is estimated by the <strong>National Statistical Office (NSO)<\/strong> and <strong>reported annually in the Economic Survey.<\/strong><br><strong>Defining Poverty in India<\/strong><br>&#8211; Poverty is commonly defined as the lack of access to basic human needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, and education.<br>&#8211; The <strong>Tendulkar Committee (2009)<\/strong> and <strong>Rangarajan Committee (2014)<\/strong> provided different methodologies to estimate poverty.<br>1. <strong>Tendulkar Committee:<\/strong> It defined poverty based on expenditure on food and essential items.<br>2. <strong>Rangarajan Committee:<\/strong> It suggested a higher poverty line, increasing the estimated number of poor people. It recommended a new poverty line of \u20b9972 per capita per month in rural areas and \u20b91407 in urban areas for the year 2011-12.&nbsp;<br>&#8211; <strong>Poverty Statistics: <\/strong>According to<strong> NITI Aayog\u2019s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023:<\/strong><br>1. India\u2019s poverty rate declined from 29.17% (2013-14) to 11.28% (2023).<br>2. 415 million people were lifted out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.<br>3. Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh have the highest poverty rates.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reason For High Per-Capita Income &amp; High Poverty Level<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>While national data sets from institutions like <strong>NITI Aayog, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Ministry of Finance <\/strong>highlight various state-level economic indicators, some states consistently show high Per Capita Income but persistent poverty levels. These include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Wealth Concentration:<\/strong> A high per capita income often reflects urban prosperity and business hubs rather than equitable wealth distribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High Cost of Living:<\/strong> States with high Per Capita Income, such as Goa and Kerala, also have high living costs, making it difficult for lower-income groups to afford essentials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agricultural Distress:<\/strong> States like Punjab and Tamil Nadu have strong GDPs but suffer from agrarian crises, leaving rural populations in financial distress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Informal Sector Dominance:<\/strong> A large part of the workforce in high-PCI states works in informal sectors, earning low wages and lacking social security.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ineffective Welfare Implementation:<\/strong> Many government welfare schemes fail to reach intended beneficiaries due to:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Corruption and Mismanagement;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Outdated Data;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bureaucratic Inefficiencies;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Political Influence;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Targeted Welfare Schemes:<\/strong> Expanding direct cash transfers and food security initiatives for lower-income groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employment Reforms: <\/strong>Strengthening social security for informal workers and promoting skill-based employment opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decentralized Economic Growth &amp; Empowering Local Governance:<\/strong> Encouraging rural entrepreneurship to balance income levels across regions.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Decentralizing the implementation of welfare schemes can improve efficiency and accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Updating Data Systems:<\/strong> There is a pressing need to reform PDS using technology and ensure better beneficiary targeting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Taxation Policies:<\/strong> Imposing wealth taxes or progressive taxation to improve wealth redistribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Transparency:<\/strong> There is a need for independent audits, transparent data collection, and standardized poverty metrics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/claims-of-development-and-high-per-capita-income-contradict-high-bpl-population-supreme-court\/article69348727.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, the Supreme Court of India Bench, led by Justice Surya Kant, raised concerns over contradiction in some states&#8217; claims of high per capita income while a significant portion of their population continues to live below the poverty line (BPL).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39537,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536\/revisions\/39537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}