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From: yogi sikand <ysikand@yahoo.com> Date: Tue Sep 20, 2005 Subject: Relative Economic and Social Deprivation in India: Muslims, Dalits and Tribals Relative Economic and Social Deprivation in India Abusaleh Shariff National Council of Applied Economic Research Human Development Programme Area 11, I. P. Estate, New Delhi - 110 002 Phone: (W) 3379433 ?® 2722371 Fax: (W) 3370164 ?® 2722371 email: ashariff@... Relative Economic and Social Deprivation in India Abusaleh Shariff Introduction The declaration of Indian Republic as a secular state, after independence, explains the religious and ethnic diversity imbibed in its socio-cultural and political ethos since time immemorial. The caste, religious and regional differentials in economic, social and political spheres in India have a historical basis and are deeply influenced by the feudal relationships which have persisted for centuries. Indian socio-economic fabric is more complex than ordinarily believed because of various layers and segmentations the society is divided and sub-divided into, due to factors unique to India. Compared with many other parts of the world, India as a whole is a less developed economy and society. In spite of many forces to the contrary it is a democracy in the making which is reassuring. In India, the per capita GNP in 1995 was only $ 340 (ppp$1,400) as compared to USA with $26,980, Switzerland with $40,630 (ppp$25,860), Indonesia with $980 (ppp$3,800) and China with $620 (ppp$2,920). The Human Development Index value was only 0.446 and it ranked 138 among the 175 countries of the world in 1997. A large majority of people in India suffer from abject poverty. Poverty has two dimensions: an absolute and a relative dimension. India has over 330 million people belonging to all faiths, religions and regions who live a miserable life of absolute poverty suffering from extreme degree of human deprivation. In spite of falling levels of poverty in terms of proportion, the absolute number is hovering around 300 million since independence. Those belonging to this head count have command over resources which can barely replenish the energy / calories needed for human survival on a daily basis. If one expands the definition of poverty to incorporate the human development parameters, the population so classified will be much more. Given this massive, absolute dimension of poverty aspects of relative poverty gets obscure. Nonetheless, there are two essential reasons for understanding relative poverty profile. Firstly, reduction in relative poverty is a pre-condition in alleviating absolute poverty in any society. Secondly, it is important for any government to track the variations in relative poverty gap between various types of population groups so as to ensure equity in opportunity as a mechanism of poverty alleviation. While studying relative differentials another statistical fact needs consideration. The actual gap in a measurement has to be understood in association with the level at which differentials occur. For example, a 10 percentage point difference at say a 50 per cent overall level of literacy is too serious an issue to be ignored by planners and policymakers compared with 80 per cent literacy rate. Similarly, a 50 to 100 per cent differential in the incidence or prevalence rate at less than 10 per cent of over all occurrence should be a matter of deep concern, a case in point, for example, of metric level education in India. Thus far a study of relative deprivation in India and its many states was difficult to perform due to want of data. Although the Indian Censuses and NSSO Surveys do collect data on selected human development parameters they are not made available even to academicians for reasons best know to the respective departments and key politicians. However, of late a few independent data sources have come into existence which help in both estimating and redefining the parameters of poverty in its absolute and relative dimensions. A survey of 33,000 nationally representative rural sample, conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 1994 provides data on household income and a range of human development parameters which can be cross-classified according to a number of population groups. These data have been used to estimate levels of poverty according to selected population groups. In the following, I present a discussion of the relative position in economic, educational and health areas according to `poverty line classification??™ and according to caste and religion for rural India, the two of the eight population groups analysed in the main report . I also draw upon the 16 state level reports and 28 village studies which have been completed by the NCAER during 1995-98. Income and Levels of Living Household income and selected levels of living parameters according to poverty line categorization are in Table 1. The last 16 per cent of population classified as `Lower Segment Below the Poverty Line??™ have reported an annual income of Rs 6,950 and a per capita income of Rs. 1,095; compare this with those classified as `Upper Segment Above the Poverty Line??™ (about 20 per cent of population) with income as high as Rs. 58,100 and 11,396 respectively. Thus the poorest of the poor have access to only about 10 to 12 per cent level of income of the rich. This high disparity in levels of income among the overall population can be summarised in the Gini Ratio which is 0.43 for all India. More alarming fact however is the absolute level of income of the bottom 16 per cent who have per capita per day access to only Rs 3, next about 20 per cent have an access to Rs. 5.5 per day per capita. Being the land owners, the richer households draw incomes largely from agriculture followed by salaried jobs. The share of income from salaries increases 4 ??“ 5 folds for those above the poverty line and in absolute terms the difference is much more. Those below the poverty line draw their income largely from agricultural and non-agricultural wage labour. There is also a high incidence of non-working adult male population among the poor. This points to a high incidence of unemployment among those below the poverty line. The female WPRs are fairly uniform across population groups. Excepting for the utilization of the public distribution system (PDS) access to basic needs such as housing, electricity, tap water and toilets are very low for those below the poverty line. A startling finding is the relationship between the incidence of Poverty Head Count and Capability Poverty. While the last two categories are all poor and the remaining are all above the poverty line the percentage of households showing capability poverty declines only marginally from a high of 58 per cent to 42 per cent. This is an issue worth debating about in the course of this seminar. Table 1 Income, Asset and Material Wellbeing of Households According to Poverty Criteria Lower Segment Below Upper Segment Below Lower Segment Above Upper Segment Above All Household Income(Rs.) 6950 12379 22138 58100 25653 Per Capita Income(Rs.) 1095 2026 3931 11396 4485 Work Participation Rate MaleFemale 45.116.8 48.817.8 53.720.2 56.916.4 51.918.4 Source of Income: AgricultureArtisanshipSalaried 38.86.24.4 38.57.46.5 48.36.115.1 64.62.620.4 55.04.516.5 Land Holding / Reporting Household (acres) 2.4 2.6 3.9 7.6 4.5 %ge Kutcha Houses 70.8 68.8 53.0 37.3 55.4 %ge Electric Connections 27.7 30.6 44.8 60.7 42.9 %ge Protected Water 67.0 69.9 72.9 75.6 72.0 %ge Piped Water 22.7 21.6 25.4 28.1 24.8 %ge Having Toilet 9.6 9.9 14.4 26.2 15.3 %ge Using PDS 30.1 29.5 37.1 30.6 33.2 Poverty Head Count % 100 100 -- -- 39.0 Capability Poverty % 58.2 56.3 50.9 42.3 52.0 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. The above key indicators according to caste and religion are in Table 2. One would find a very high incidence of poverty among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes followed by the Muslims compared with the all India average. The percentage of population below the poverty line is about 50 for the SCs and STs and 43 for Muslims compared with 39 for the whole population (32 per cent among the Hindus excluding SCs and STs). If the household and per capita income are considered a scenario emerges where the SCs, the STs and the Muslims can be considered as the economically deprived population groups. The respective incomes are 32 per cent, 24 per cent and 11 per cent lower than the national average. The income differentials widen when the per capita income is considered mainly because of relatively larger family size among the poorer groups. This brings to the fore the lack of access to productive assets, employment and wage stability for the Scheduled groups and the Muslims. Land is the most preferred and valued asset across India and the SCs and Muslims are relatively more deprived in terms of land ownership across India. Hindus as a whole have a relative advantage of owning land in larger proportion and in larger size class, for example, while one-fifth of Hindus own five acres or more of land, only one-tenth of Muslims belong to this category. This points to the need for creating new instruments which may provide an alternative for land as the main source of security among the rural households. Agriculture is the main source of income among the STs and all Hindus; all Hindus and SCs also receive relatively higher share of income from salaried positions. Agricultural wage is an important source of income to the SCs and STs and artisanship for Muslims. The proportion of income derived from agriculture and allied activities among the Muslims is much lower than the Hindus; whereas their share of income is disproportionately large from artisan and industrial work. This at the outset appears a positive feature, but in fact it is not. In rural areas stable and higher level of income is derived from land and agriculture matched only by those with salaried regular income. The work participation rate among the Muslims is the least both for males and females suggesting relatively higher unemployment rate. WPR among the Muslim women is as low as 10 per cent compared with an all India average of 18. Access to selected basic needs are below the national average for the SCs, the STs and the Muslims, particularly in electricity and piped water supply. Muslims particularly have lower PDS utilization compared with all other castes and religious categories. Table 2 Income, Asset and Material Wellbeing of Households According to Caste and Religion Scheduled Tribe Scheduled Caste Hindus Muslims All Household Income(Rs.) 19556 17465 25713 22807 25653 Per Capita Income(Rs.) 3504 3237 4514 3678 4485 Work Participation Rate MaleFemale 51.627.7 52.823.0 52.319.3 48.09.6 51.918.4 Source of Income: AgricultureArtisanshipSalaried 55.62.714.8 37.75.715.2 56.14.316.4 44.18.314.7 55.04.516.5 Land Holding/ Reporting Household (acres) 4.3 2.8 4.6 3.6 4.5 %ge Kutcha Houses 74.0 66.6 55.2 65.9 55.4 %ge Electric 29.7 30.7 43.2 30.0 42.9 %ge Protected Water 61.6 72.8 71.1 78.1 72.0 %ge Piped Water 17.2 22.6 25.3 19.4 24.8 %ge Having Toilet 12.2 8.3 13.2 26.7 15.3 %ge Using PDS 37.5 32.1 34.1 21.8 33.2 Poverty Head Count 51.0 50.0 39 43.0 39.0 Capability Poverty % 68.0 60.0 -- 56.0 52.0 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. Note: Hindus includes the SCs and the STs. Literacy and Schooling Literacy, school enrolment, type of schools and cost of schooling are presented in Tables 4 and 5. It is clear that both literacy and enrolment rates increase substantially as levels of poverty decline. The relative improvements in these rates are similar both for literacy and enrolment. The discontinuation on the other hand increases a little before declining steeply among the richer households. The contrast is in respect of percentage of population above 17 years of age who have passed matriculation. The richer households have disproportionately large advantage over the poorer households. This is one aspect which needs substantial attention by the participants of this seminar. Persisting gender disparity in literacy and enrolment rates is a matter of concern as well. It has been found that relatively larger proportion of children belonging to better offs go the private schools and the annual household expenditure is also higher although as a proportion to household income the expenditures will be relatively low for the richer. Thus the pinch of educating children is felt more by those who are living below poverty line. Table 3 Levels of Literacy and Schooling According to Poverty Criteria Lower Segment Below Upper Segment Below Lower Segment Above Upper Segment Above All Literacy Rate 7+ age TotalMaleFemale 43.555.531.1 45.957.833.1 54.466.640.7 67.178.453.7 53.565.640.1 Enrolment Rate TotalMaleFemale 61.169.152.6 64.370.557.2 75.781.069.7 83.886.680.4 71.477.164.8 Discontinuation Rate (Average for 6-14 years) TotalMaleFemale 6.1---- 7.2---- 6.4---- 3.6---- 6.04.87.6 %ge Matriculates 17+ years Total 4.5 5.4 8.7 13.9 8.6 Per cent Students aged 6-14 years in Private Schools TotalMaleFemale 7.68.76.1 8.19.56.0 9.310.08.2 14.916.313.0 9.810.88.3 Annual Household Expenditure on Schooling Govt. SchoolsAiled Schools 450487 492541 540675 680936 539665 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. The SCs and STs are least literate in India, followed by the Muslims compared with rest of population (Table 4). Only about 40 per cent of SCs and STs and 50 per cent of Muslims are literate compared with about 54 per cent over all average (60 per cent for Hindus excluding SCs and STs). Literacy is a stock measure and it changes slowly over time. But a matter of concern is that the enrolment rate among the Muslims is only 62 per cent almost at parity with the SCs and STs as compared with about 72 per cent for all India and 77 per cent for Hindus (other than SCs and STs). The enrolment is a flow variable and can be improved within a relatively shorter period of time. But a larger inter-group disparity in enrolment compared with the disparity in levels of literacy suggests that enrolment rate in elementary schooling among the Muslims has been falling in the immediate past especially so in case of females. This also suggest that some sections of the Muslims are unable to utilize the schooling and educational opportunities provided by the respective state governments. While there is considerable difference in terms of level of literacy, the gender differentials measured in terms of the female-male ratios are marginal between communities. Table 4 Levels of Literacy and Schooling According to Caste and Religion Scheduled Tribe Scheduled Caste Hindus Muslims All Literacy Rate 7+ age TotalMaleFemale 39.351.426.0 41.553.428.2 53.365.939.2 49.959.538.0 53.565.640.1 Enrolment Rate TotalMaleFemale 60.367.651.5 62.569.654.7 72.078.165.1 61.666.256.6 71.477.164.8 Discontinuation Rate (Average for 6-14 years) TotalMaleFemale 7.26.68.0 7.05.78.8 5.9---- 6.96.47.7 6.04.87.6 %ge Matriculates 15+ years Total 4.9 4.9 8.5 5.9 8.6 Per cent Students aged 6-14 years in Private Schools TotalMaleFemale 3.23.82.3 5.86.94.2 9.310.47.7 13.314.411.9 9.810.88.3 Annual Household Expenditure on Schooling Govt. SchoolsAiled Schools 397664 450544 531671 515542 539665 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. Another important fact to highlight is the onset of private schooling across India, more so in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Muslims send their children relatively more to the private elementary schools compared with all other communities. There appears to be some sort of resentment on the part of Muslims to send their children to government schools. Since, schooling and education is a state subject important policy initiatives have to be taken by the states to set right this anomaly in providing equal opportunities and appropriate education at least at the primary and elementary levels. National efforts should be initiated to find out as to why the Muslims children are being withdrawn from the publicly provided free schooling in India. Allowing this trend to continue is also likely to affect female education among the Muslims much more. Considering education as one of the main parameter of human development, clearly the SCs, the STs and the Muslims lag in most of the output indicators such as the literacy, enrolment, discontinuation and percentage of population (aged 17+ years) completing matriculation. A relatively greater dependence on private schooling of Muslims, which is disproportionately expensive, and especially given the low economic conditions, seems to be due to compulsions emerging out of inappropriate education. There is an urgent need to take a serious note of the above facts to design appropriate public policy interventions and implement them in due earnest taking help from multi-national agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank if needed. Health and Demography The short duration morbidity is negatively related with levels of living, whereas, major morbidity is positively related. The lower incidence of major morbidity among the poor is likely to be due to low diagnosis on the one hand and selectivity caused by high deaths as a result of such morbidity. The infant mortality rate is also substantially higher among those below the poverty line. A considerably higher incidence of physical disability is found among the poorer households for children 5-12 years old. Severe degree of malnutrition especially in younger ages is considerably high among the poor. The crude birth rate among the poor is significantly large for households reporting below poverty level incomes. It seems high fertility is a direct response to high degree of insecurity faced by the poor due to lack of a durable source of income, lack of immovable assets and saving portfolio. As expected contraceptive practice improves by levels of income. The poverty levels are also positively related to utilization of health care services such as institutional deliveries and immunizations. Table 5 Health Care Utilization According to Poverty Criteria Lower Segment Below Upper Segment Below Lower Segment Above Upper Segment Above All Short Duration Morbidity ('000) 125 128 120 117 122 Major Morbidity (Per 4183 4216 4615 5231 4578 %ge receiving ANC Care 10.7 10.2 9.3 9.6 9.8 %ge Delivery Attended Trained Person 32.4 35.2 43.7 53.1 40.0 %ge Children Immunized (All 8 doses) 40.8 45.4 52.0 54.6 48.5 Disabilities: 0-4 years/lakh5-12 years/lakh 18362861 22583521 20452823 20002195 20422896 Sever Malnutrition 0-4 years %5-12 years% 38.130.6 38.230.0 37.328.2 33.827.3 37.229.0 Crude Birth Rate 45 41 28 21 32 Total Fertility Rate 6.4 5.5 3.6 2.7 4.3 Infant Mortality Rate* 88 95 83 70 84 Contraception 33 34 37 39 36 % Spacing Methods 4.6 5.2 5.5 7.7 5.6 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. Besides, high fertility rates among the Muslims, the SCs and the STs, overall a birth rate of 32 per thousand population for rural India as a whole should be a cause of concern. The mortality and morbidity rates are relatively high among the SCs and STs and low among the Muslims. The physical disability rates are relatively higher among all the three communities focused in this presentation. The contraceptive practice is low for Muslims followed by the Scheduled groups. However, a dynamic look at the changes in all these factors over time suggests that relative differentials in fertility, mortality and family planning practice are declining over the past four decades and the differentials found recently are the lowest. In fact the rate of increase in contraception has begun to be more than the general population among the Muslims an evidence emerging from intensive studies on contraception. Muslims prefer to use spacing methods relatively more than all other communities which is cause for optimism for the programme implementations. This scenario suggests that Muslims have begun to accept family planning measures in large numbers in the preceding two decades or so. Research has also conclusively proved that an improvement in human development parameters depress fertility and mortality and improve choice based contraception.. Thus there is a great prospect that various states in India enter the third and fourth level of demographic transition in the early first decade of the next century and Muslims will be not lacking in contributing to this important achievement. While it is encouraging that the population group differentials are narrowing down in demographic parameters, the utilization of government provided health care services is relatively low among the SCs, STs and especially the Muslims. For example the number of deliveries conducted under the care of trained professionals such as the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives and the child immunization rates among the Muslims are low. There is thus an urgent need that Muslims come forward in a big way to harness the benefits of public programmes. Table 6 Health Care Utilization According to Caste and Religion Scheduled Tribe Scheduled Caste Hindus Muslims All Short Duration Morbidity ('000) 130 124 123 106 122 Major Morbidity (Per Lakh) 3377 4527 4503 4441 4578 %ge receiving ANC Care 5.7 11.6 9.9 8.0 9.8 %ge Delivery Attended Trained Person 31.9 37.6 40.5 31.5 40.0 %ge Children Immunized (All 8 doses) 39.5 42.6 49.7 34.5 48.5 Disabilities: 0-4 years/lakh5-12 years/lakh 18812406 20583325 19832771 24093792 20422896 Sever Malnutrition 0-4 years %5-12 years% 38.030.2 40.330.3 37.428.7 37.733.5 37.229.0 Crude Birth Rate 35 35 32 39 32 Total Fertility Rate 4.4 4.7 4.2 5.8 4.3 Infant Mortality Rate 98 99 86 75 84 Contraception 34 31 36 25 36 % Spacing Methods 4.4 4.7 4.9 8.2 5.6 Source: INDIA: Human Development Report of the 1990s, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999. Hope for the Future On the whole compared with the dominant Hindus, the SCs, the STs and Muslims seem to be characteristically marginalised due to social and physical distancing from the social, economic and political nucleus. They also have low personal esteem. The process and mechanisms of exclusion could take mundane and subtle routes that often go unnoticed. Most of the downtrodden are illiterate, maintain endogamous social relations, work as wage labour and artisans. They have a high (age) dependency due to high fertility and, low economic dependency ratio because almost every one has to work including children. Low employment and wage stability, relatively more nuclear and fractured families, high mortality and low health care utilization. Their participation in public programmes and utilization of publicly provided goods and services is substantially lower than the population as a whole. They have been unable to find adequate proportion of positions in the government machinery, and in public and political policy making. The reasons for relative backwardness of the SCs, STs and Muslims is only partly due to historical reasons. All these communities have a poor asset base especially in terms of ownership of immovable assets, such as cultivable land. Partly, the reasons for relative backwardness are social - the relative bargaining power in the local social and political system has always been low. Rural to urban migration of the SCs and Muslims since Independence may have also contributed to this state of affair. Concurrently the particular and unique problems emerging from the caste system and multi-religious population composition were not accorded adequate attention in public debates, public allocations and program implementation, notwithstanding the reservations for the SCs, the STs and OBCs. Most programmes aimed at alleviating the problems of poor and minorities are symbolic and un-sustainable due to want for implementation and adequate public commitment. There should be public efforts to create enduring opportunities, and carefully conceived affirmative actions, at least in the short run, to alleviate the relative backwardness especially in the areas of education, employment and training, productive credit and political participation. Ensuring that India remains a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, diverse and dynamic society is imperative both for national integrity and strength. While these attributes are India's strength a reformed legal system should evolve which can penalize vested interests that misuse these characteristics regardless of whether they be individuals, communities or the political parties. There has been considerable progress in this direction, but much has to be done. The Indian legal system has not been fully harnessed to address these issues. It is essential that the Indian policy clearly distinguish between the religious minorities and ethnic minorities. The forces of globalization and a new deal world economic order can create opportunities to overcome many a crisis faced by the downtrodden only if the fruits of new economic order are accessible to all and fairly distributed. The economic forces of liberalization and globalization should essentially be the most secular forces sweeping India in the recent past. Yet, however, the peculiar way of adaptation of these forces may not entirely be free from subjective decision making, thus excluding selected population groups and regions from accessing the ensuing benefits. The present day private and to some extent the corporate sector seem to still rely on traditional social systems which needs to change. Promoting mainstream participation of the SCs, STs and Muslims in social, economic and political spheres should be one of the important objectives of the state governments. This will imbibe the feeling of propriety and ownership which brings along with it responsibility to save, protect and promote. In this regard it is essential to conceptualize programmes and to generate a sense of agency and trusteeship among all but more so among the community leadership irrespective of religion and caste. Participation in secular education is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Education should impart values emphasizing the multi - cultural nature of Indian society, tolerance and mutual respect of basic human values rather than propagation of procedures, rituals and unconformable historical events. Choice based education system should be evolved in which different religions and communities should have opportunities to choose their language of instruction and topics of interest. Importance in providing education and schooling in English should be reviewed, along with priority in computer literacy. This re-emphasis in education is in the interest of all the future generations in India. There are certain responsibilities that the respective comminutes should share. These comminutes should be sensitive to local issues and should identify first with the local population and then to the larger population identities of states, nation and international communities. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments do not automatically address these issues. Yet they provide a good platform. The hitherto marginalized communities should participate in large numbers in the Panchayati Raj system and the urban local self-governments. The respective communities which often suffer from urban middle class stereotype should come out of it as soon as possible. Besides, there is a need to recognize diversity within communities, including those in the minority communities. Creating homogeneity is not the answer. Locate where community lives and integrate. Ensure gender equity and enable female participation in market activities. These should be effected both in the intra-household as well as community context. There should be institutions and structures that encourage individuals and community to realize the benefits of social services provided by the government. It needs social mobilization not necessarily of the communities alone. The SCs, STs and Muslims should come out in a large way to realize the benefits provided by a large number of public programmes. Special programmes for the downtrodden are yet not fully implemented. Pressure groups and lobbying may help improve programme implementation. Administrative, rather than delimited boundaries for electoral purposes, should be used for planning. Special trade fares and display of unique skill that the Indian SCs, STs and Muslims have deserves special encouragement. Private and corporate sectors should open avenues for employment for all communities based on the principles of efficiency and competition. APPENDIX TABLE Table A1 Percentage Distribution of Households by Poverty Groups in States (Rural India) ----------------------------------------------------- Region / Lower Upper Lower Upper State Segment Segment Segment Segment Below Below Above Above ----------------------------------------------------- NORTH Haryana 10.1 13.0 48.7 28.2 Himachal Pradesh 18.5 20.1 37.9 23.4 Punjab 13.6 14.6 47.7 24.1 UPPER CENTRAL Bihar 17.1 22.2 41.4 19.3 Uttar Pradesh 18.8 20.6 40.2 20.3 LOWER CENTRAL Madhya Pradesh 14.9 18.6 45.3 21.1 Orissa 23.8 23.5 33.4 17.5 Rajasthan 18.2 21.3 40.3 20.2 EAST North-Eastern Rg. 13.5 15.5 41.8 29.1 West Bengal 23.7 29.3 30.3 16.7 WEST Gujarat 15.1 17.5 48.8 18.6 Maharashtra 13.1 15.5 50.3 21.2 SOUTH Andhra Pradesh 7.4 9.9 56.7 26.0 Karnataka 16.3 18.8 45.1 19.8 Kerala 11.8 14.2 50.5 23.5 Tamil Nadu 13.0 14.6 45.3 27.1 ----------------------------------------------------- RURAL INDIA 15.9 18.8 43.8 21.6 ----------------------------------------------------- Table A2 Percentage Distribution of Households by Poverty Groups in Social Groups -----------------------------------------------------Social Lower Upper Lower Upper Groups Segment Segment Segment Segment Below Below Above Above ----------------------------------------------------- CASTE STs 20.2 24.3 41.6 14.0 SCs 22.1 23.6 42.4 12.0 Other Hindus 12.6 15.6 44.8 27.0 RELIGIONS Hindus Muslims 17.5 23.7 42.6 16.3 Christians 12.9 11.8 46.7 28.7 Other Minorities 18.9 18.0 42.8 20.3 ----------------------------------------------------- ALL GROUPS 15.9 18.8 43.8 21.6 ----------------------------------------------------- |
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