learning from consumption patterns

The Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys, of the National Sample Survey are the primary source of data on various indicators of level of living of different segments of the population at national and State levels. NSS surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure with a large sample size of households have been conducted quinquennially from the 27th round (between October 1972 and September 1973) onwards. The NSS 68th round survey, carried out during July 2011 and June 2012, was the ninth quinquennial survey in the series, covering subjects of, Household Consumer Expenditure, Employment 

and Unemployment.

Based on the central sample data, the results of the quinquennial surveys of Consumer Expenditure are brought out by the NSS in a number of reports. The study of consumption from the Public Distribution System is restricted to four items distributed through Public Distribution System throughout the Country, namely, rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene.

The PDS share in rice consumption in 2011-12 was about 27.9 per cent in the rural sector and about 19.6 per cent in the urban sector. The share of the PDS in wheat consumption was about 17.3 per cent in the rural sector and about 10.1 per cent in the urban. PDS purchases accounted for 15.8 per cent of consumption of sugar in the rural sector, and for 10.3 per cent in the urban sector. For kerosene, on the other hand, the contribution of the PDS purchase was 80.8 per cent in the rural areas and 58.1 per cent in the urban. 

At the all-India level, the proportion of households reporting PDS purchase of rice during a 30- day period was 46 per cent in the rural sector and about 23 per cent in the urban sector. The major States with relatively high incidence of the PDS purchase of rice in the rural sector were Tamil Nadu (89 per cent households), Andhra Pradesh (87 per cent), Kerala (78 per cent) and Karnataka (75 per cent).

In the urban sector, among predominantly wheat-consuming States, Madhya Pradesh (23 per cent) had the highest incidence of PDS purchase. The contribution of the PDS purchases was highest in Maharashtra (30 per cent), followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (18 per cent) among the predominantly wheat-consuming State in the rural sector. In the urban sector, among States where wheat is an important cereal food, the PDS share in consumption was relatively high in Madhya Pradesh (14 per cent).

Antyodaya cards were possessed by an estimated five per cent of rural and two per cent of urban households, Below Poverty line cards by 38 per cent rural and 16 per cent urban households, and other ration cards by 42 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban households, while 14 per cent rural and 33 per cent urban households did not have ration cards. Across the different household types in the rural India, the incidence of possession of the Antyodaya ration card was highest for ‘casual labour in agriculture’ and ‘casual labour in non-agriculture’. The incidence was lowest for the ‘regular wage/salaried’.

BPl cards were possessed by 56 per cent of households of the ‘casual labour in agriculture’ category, followed by 41 per cent of the ‘casual labour in non-agriculture’ households. Only 24 per cent of the ‘regular wage/salaried’ households possessed BPl cards. The use of ‘other’ cards (ie other than Antyodaya and BPl) was most common among self-employed in agriculture and ‘regular wage/salaried’ households (both 52 per cent) and least among ‘casual labour in agriculture’. Among the different household types in the urban India. The proportion possessing Antyodaya cards varied from one to five per cent, with the highest (five per cent) observed in the ‘casual labour’ households. In the urban areas BPl cards were possessed by 33 per cent of households of the ‘casual labour’ category, followed by the ‘self-employed’ (17 per cent).

At the national level, the average Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure of the households with ‘Antyodaya’ card (`1093, rural, and `1647, urban) was the least among all the four kinds of households in both sectors. Followed by the households with BPl card (`1257, rural, and `1723, urban). In urban areas, households not possessing any ration card mostly belonged to the higher MPCE classes. Thus, the average MPCE for households not possessing any ration card was very high. On the other hand, in rural areas, it was the other way round, with average MPCE of such households lower than all-India 

average MPCE.

In rural areas, the percentage of households possessing Antyodaya cards exceeded five per cent or more in nine out of 17 major States. The percentage was highest (10 per cent) in Uttar Pradesh, followed closely by Karnataka (8 per cent) and Assam (7 per cent). The lowest percentages of the households possessing Antyodaya cards was seen in Kerala and Punjab (one per cent), followed by Haryana (two per cent). In the urban areas, incidence of possession of Antyodaya cards was only one to three per cent in all the major States except Chhattisgarh (four per cent).