Social Exclusion and Poverty in India:The Case for a More Decentralised Approach

Objectives: The study is to highlight the disparities in the incidence of poverty across scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other castes in different states of India and further in different regions of large states.

Methods/Statistical analysis: The social groups that are considered are the Scheduled Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Others. The incidence of poverty is measured in terms of the Head Count Ratio (HCR). We have used the unit record data on consumer expenditure collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in 1983 (38th round) and 2011-12 (68th round, schedule Type 1). We have carried out the analysis at the state level and the National Sample Survey (NSS) region level.

Findings: The HCR at the all India level masks the diversity in the country. The state level estimates also obscure the intra state variations. We find that which population sub group suffers the most deprivation varies from state to state and from region to region. Even among the more developed states there are certain groups in certain regions which suffer from extreme poverty.

Application/Improvements: Policy interventions for poverty alleviations have to be targeted at specific groups in specific regions. A more decentralised and targeted approach is required to eliminate poverty since the social structure of population cannot be ignored.