How the under-privileged in India went through the boom and crisis periods

Using available data for the 2004-05 to 2011-12 period, which will also form a base for the data that will be released soon, we look at the condition of SCs and STs in that period

The condition of dalits and tribals in India has always been a matter of debate for one clear reason — there is no substantial progress in the lives of communities that suffered due to inequality, and inequality of opportunities further crippled their chances to improve, to an extent. 

Accurate data on the comparative conditions of scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) with the general populace are not available. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in India is coming up with surveys in the coming months, and they will throw some light on the situation of various social groups in India in recent times. 

Using available data for the period 2004-05 to 2011-12, here is an attempt to look at the condition of SCs and STs in that period. This will form a base for the data that will be released soon. 

We look at four different parameters: Spending on consumption, which is the nearest proxy for income, measured in monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE); prevalence of higher education; ownership of land; and nature of urban work. 

While SCs in rural areas improved their consumption spending (incomes) faster than those in urban, or than STs, the latter remained better than the general populace when it comes to land ownership in villages. 

While the share of regular wage/salary earners in STs improved faster than that in SCs in India, SCs performed better in reaching and completing higher education. 

Among states, SCs in southern states performed better when it comes to improvement in spending and education in the 2004-05 to 2011-12 period (reference period). Tribals in most states covered up the backlog in attaining graduation, but still lagged substantially from the national average. 

In terms of MPCE in rural areas, that for scheduled castes rose 160 per cent in the seven sample states (see chart), in line with growth in national average of MPCE (all groups). 

SCs in southern states not only spent faster than those in northern states in the reference period, but they also spent more than the national average. 

However, the average rural MPCE for SCs rose from Rs 475 per month to Rs 1,252 per month in nominal terms in the seven-year period, lower than the national average, which rose from Rs 559 to Rs 1,430 per month per person. 

SCs in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh started from a higher base of more than Rs 630 per month spent per person in rural areas, most probably owing to string demand for agricultural labour in the former, while the presence of industrial belts in the latter. In 2011-12, they topped among the sample states with Rs 1,785 and Rs 1,660 spent per month in villages. 

Spending by SCs residing in cities grew faster than spending by an average Indian. While the urban SC consumption grew by 170 per cent, the latter grew by 150 per cent. 

The MPCE for urban SCs in Karnataka was higher than the national average. This shows that in 2011-12, rural SCs were able to spend more than the national rural average compared to their urban counterparts. 

From rural SCs in two states out of seven in the sample spending more than the national average in 2004-05, the number went up to four in 2011-12. In cities, SCs spent less than the national average in 2004-05, but only urban SCs in Karnataka were able to spend more than national average in 2011-12.  

However, the situation of STs in India is different. The tribal populace is concentrated mostly in parts of India other than the southern states. Neither in 2004-05 nor in 2011-12 was the spending of tribals higher than the national average for any of the eight states in the sample (see chart). 

This shows that in terms of consumption spending, hence incomes, rural SCs have done better than urban SCs, who in turn have done better than rural and urban STs in India. 

Among rural tribals, those in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha raised their consumption spend faster in seven years. The consumption spend of rural tribals in Odisha, as low as Rs 284 per month in 2004-05, rose to Rs 792 per month per person in 2011-12. 

In cities, tribals in Jharkhand raised their consumption spend at the fastest rate, but this was from a very low base. Madhya Pradesh and Odisha featured in faster growth in urban spending by tribal populace as well, as the duo did in the rural. Odisha had the lowest urban MPCE for STs in 2004-05, and it remained the lowest in 2011-12 as well. 

Now, looking at being able to complete higher education, SCs and STs have remained behind the national average, which includes OBCs and the general category along with SCs and STs. 

Among the population at the all-India level, there were 6.9 per cent graduates (69 in a sample of 1,000) in 2004-05, a proportion that rose to 8.2 per cent in 2011-12. Among the SC population, the proportion of graduates grew from a low of 2.3 per cent to 3.7 per cent, bridging the gap between SCs and the average in seven years. 

Similarly, the proportion of graduates among STs rose from a still lower 1.9 per cent to 3.1 per cent. Though the growth in higher education among the under-privileged groups was faster than average, there is still a lot of catching up, a part of which would probably be visible in the survey that would be released within the next two to three months. 

Among states for SCs, the southern states have again performed better in the seven-year reference period. SCs in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and undivided Andhra Pradesh doubled the proportion of graduates within themselves. For STs, those in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam rose their higher education mobility the fastest. 

Now from education, which develops social capital, let us move to ownership of physical capital. The division of land among dividing nuclear families is visible among all social groups. The proportion of SC households owning less than one acre land worsened from 75 per cent to 78 per cent from 2004-05 to 2011-12. In the same period, the proportion of low landholding households in India in general rose from 58.3 per cent to 63.4 per cent. 

The situation was similar for the seven states in the sample, but for SCs in Karnataka and Punjab, whose land ownership improved in the seven years. In Andhra Pradesh, it did not worsen for SCs. 

Tribals, though better placed than SCs — purely in terms of land holding — saw their condition worsening over time. STs are communities with land holding from times immemorial, but they have suffered displacement due to development activities over the past decades. But the impact of both migration and displacement is visible in the data. 

The proportion of STs with land holding of less than one acre increased from 46.4 per cent in 2004-05 to 52.7 per cent in 2011-12. Only Gujarat was successful in improving the situation for tribals on this count. 

SCs in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and West Bengal had low land ownership to national average, while STs overall had a better land holding than the average. 

And while migration shifts a household from a village to city, it is pertinent to look at what proportion of urban dwellers in the underprivileged groups gets a job that has a regular wage, or a salaried job. 

In 2004-05, the proportion of SCs and STs with a regular wage/salaried job was 41-42 per cent, the same as the national average. But in 2011-12, while the proportion of regular wage earners among SCs improved to 44 per cent, and that among STs improved to 46.5 per cent, that among the general populace remained more or less unchanged. 

This happened since the proportion of regular wage earners among OBCs remained lower than the national average over the seven-year period.