{"id":341805,"date":"2025-07-01T20:15:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T14:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=341805"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:15:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T14:45:55","slug":"thali-index-questions-indias-poverty-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/thali-index-questions-indias-poverty-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"Thali index questions India\u2019s poverty decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: The post Thali index questions India\u2019s poverty decline has been created, based on the article \u201cThe thali index<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express<\/strong>\u201d on 1st July 2025<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper<\/strong>2-<\/strong> population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues And GS Paper 3<\/strong>-food security<\/p>\n

Context<\/strong>: The release of the 2023\u201324 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey by the National Statistics Office triggered widespread discussion on India\u2019s poverty levels. Reports by SBI and the World Bank suggested sharp poverty decline, prompting debate on poverty metrics, standard of living, and the future of subsidies.<\/p>\n

For detailed information on India<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s poverty reduction has significantly slowed down<\/strong> read this article here <\/a><\/p>\n

Official Poverty Estimates and Their Limitations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Recent Estimates Suggest Sharp Decline: <\/strong>The SBI report<\/strong> estimated rural poverty at 4.86%<\/em> and urban poverty at 4.09%<\/em> in FY24. The World Bank report<\/strong> was even more optimistic, stating rural extreme poverty<\/em> at 2.8%<\/em> and urban at 1.1%<\/em> in 2022\u201323.<\/li>\n
  2. Political and Analytical Responses: <\/strong>Government supporters claimed these figures reflect policy success. Critics questioned comparability with 2011\u201312 due to changes in survey methods<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. Neglect of Standard of Living: <\/strong>Both sides overlooked whether these numbers actually reflect an improved standard of living<\/strong> or whether the current methodology is capable of measuring it meaningfully.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    From Calorie Intake to Thali Consumption<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Calorie-Based Poverty Norm: <\/strong>India\u2019s official poverty line is based on minimum calorie intake<\/strong>, treating food as a source of energy needed for survival and work.<\/li>\n
    2. Cultural and Nutritional Context: <\/strong>An alternate view treats food as nutrition and satisfaction<\/strong>, shaped by culture. The thali<\/strong>\u2014a balanced meal of rice\/roti, lentils, vegetables, and possibly dairy or meat\u2014symbolizes this.<\/li>\n
    3. Thali as Consumption Metric: <\/strong>The thali is a culturally accepted, balanced unit<\/strong> of food. Measuring affordability of thalis offers a relatable and realistic way to assess standard of living through food<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Thali-Based Assessment Findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. High Food Deprivation Levels: <\/strong>Using Crisil\u2019s \u20b930 cost for a vegetarian thali and food expenditure data (including PDS and free welfare items), it was found that 40% of rural Indians<\/strong> and 10% of urban residents<\/strong> couldn\u2019t afford two thalis a day<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
      2. Gap Between Poverty and Food Access:?<\/strong>These findings show higher food deprivation<\/strong> than poverty rates from SBI and the World Bank. This is because actual food expenditure<\/strong>, not total consumption, better reflects the real standard of living.<\/li>\n
      3. Essential Non-Food Costs: <\/strong>Spending on housing, transport, health, education, and communication is unavoidable. Hence, food becomes the residual<\/strong>, making thali-based analysis more realistic.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Policy Implications and Subsidy Reform<\/strong><\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. Improved Poverty Indicator: <\/strong>The thali index<\/strong> ties poverty to actual food consumed<\/strong> and aligns with calorie-based methods, offering a more grounded metric.<\/li>\n
        2. Need for Rational Subsidy Use: <\/strong>Low poverty estimates led some to suggest subsidy removal. But thali data indicates subsidies must be rationalised, not removed<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        3. Better Targeting of Food Subsidies: <\/strong>In rural areas, the 70th percentile receives nearly the same food subsidy<\/strong> as the 5th, despite being able to afford twice as many thalis<\/strong>. Subsidies should be reduced for the better-off<\/strong> and enhanced for the deprived<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Discuss<\/strong> how the thali-based approach provides a more realistic measure of standard of living compared to traditional poverty estimates in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Source: The post Thali index questions India\u2019s poverty decline has been created, based on the article \u201cThe thali index\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 1st July 2025 UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2- population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues And GS Paper 3-food security Context: The release of the 2023\u201324 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey… Continue reading Thali index questions India\u2019s poverty decline<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[212,10500,8131],"class_list":["post-341805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","tag-social-issues","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}