The results of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census conducted in 2011 across the country present a grim picture of poverty and deprivation in rural India. It was an exclusionary census which left out about 40 per cent of the country’s 17.91 crore rural households on the basis of certain parameters like ownership of a motor vehicle or income above Rs 10,000. Of the remaining households, 8.69 crore, which account for more than half of the total population, belong to the deprived category. This is much more than what had been estimated till now with random surveys and poverty line exercises. The monthly income of the head of three out of four households is less than Rs 5,000. A majority of the households are landless and most depend on casual manual labour for livelihood. Only a minority called themselves cultivators. Just about 14 per cent have non-farm jobs in the government or the private sector. In fact, only less than 3.5 per cent of rural households have graduates.
The situation is worse when it comes to traditionally less developed areas of the country, like the eastern and central states. The figures are also much more grim in the case of weaker sections like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and households headed by women. Only about 4 per cent of rural SC and ST households are employed in government despite decades of reservation. The figures are much lower in the case of the private sector. While the statistics are depressing, the first and foremost message they give out is that the development strategies of the last many decades have not had as much impact on rural India as has been claimed. This had been suspected by many but now there is proof in terms of figures. What they unflatteringly reveal is that high growth rates have passed up the poorest regions and sections in the country. There are some aspirational signs like the fairly high level of mobile phone penetration but that does not improve the overall picture.
The data revealed by the nationwide survey is not just for information and debate. The previous government which commissioned the census had said that the results would help governments at the Centre and in the states to formulate appropriate strategies and tailor them to the needs revealed by the census. This needs to be done now. This, however, should be based on the complete picture presented by the census, which is still not available with the government withholding the caste-wise data collected in the census. There is no reason to keep the data classified.