Urban inequality on the rise in many states

This was made apparent in the latest data available with the Planning Commission

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Urban parts of a third of the states saw the highest inequality in 2011-12 since 1973-74, show data from the Planning Commission.

Data obtained by Business Standard through an application under the the Right to Information Act showed urban inequality at the all-India level with a Gini coefficient of 0.37 in 2011-12. In 2004-05, the index was 0.35. The level was the highest since 1973-74, when the coefficient was 0.3. The coefficient is a statistical measure, on a scale of zero to one; zero represents perfect equality and one shows perfect inequality.

“The primary cause for this is migration to urban parts,” said Dipankar Gupta, sociologist and professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

Inequality in India is officially measured on consumption expenditure surveys conducted by the National Sample  Survey Office. It is  not  based  on income distribution.

As many as nine states saw their widest rich-poor gap in their urban parts since 1973-74. These were Assam, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, besides Delhi. Four saw an inequality more than the national average: Karnataka (0.41), Kerala (0.39), Haryana (0.38) and West Bengal (0.38). The Gini coefficient in Haryana was 0.35 in 2004-05 and below 0.3 in 1999-00 and 1993-94. It was around  0.3 in 1973-74, 1977-78 and 1983.

In Delhi, almost completely urban, the index was 0.37, up from 0.32 in 2004-05. The highest rise was in Uttar Pradesh, where it rose from 0.34 in 2004-05 to 0.40 in 2011-12. It was between 0.29 and 0.33 in 1973-74, 1977-78, 1983, 1993-94 and 1999-00.

“These states offer jobs to unskilled labour and poor people come in larger numbers to urban parts, more than the qualified ones,” Gupta added. Experts said the rapid pace of urbanisation, along with unevenness in the development pattern in these states, are also a reason for the rise in inequality. Three of these states (Haryana, Maharashtra and Kerala) were classified as “relatively developed” on a development index formed by the Raghuram Rajan panel.

“As people are moving to urban areas, the kind of development to accommodate this population is not happening, which results in inequality in such areas,” said Tanveer Fazal, a sociologist who teaches at Jamia Milia Islamia here.

In Maharashtra, urban inequality was the highest ever but rural inequality was at an all-time low of 0.25.

Fazal said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, for providing employment in rural areas, was a good way of providing opportunities in villages. “Studies suggest migration to cities has come down in parts where it is implemented well,” he said.