Redistribution of Consumer Expenditure through Taxation and Benefits and Level of Living-A Case Study of West Bengal

A series of studies on level of living on the basis of consumer expenditure data have so far been made in this country in the last decade and also during the recent past particularly after the announcement of the historic slogan 'garibi hotao' (remove poverty). Similar studies were also made in other countries. Recently, Mukherjee and others' have critically reviewed a number of estimates on disparities in level of living including their methods and coverages. Most of these studies suffer from one or the other drawback and do not give comparison of actual level of living.