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Poverty among SC and ST rural households in Bundelkhand
It is generally said that a high proportion of SC/ST households is a determinant of poverty and this proportion is used as an indicator in some methods of determining 'backwardness' of a district. However, this indicator cannot be used blindly. The 2002 BPL Survey reported that nearly 50% of the households in Jalandhar belonged to SC groups. Yet poverty level in the district was lower than in any Bundelkhand district.
Nevertheless, it is a fact that generally SC and ST households are poorer than households belonging to other social categories. This is clearly reflected in 2002 BPL Survey data for Banda SC households and Panna ST households, when compared with data for all rural households in these districts, as shown in the table below.
2002 BPL survey data on SC and ST and all rural households (RHHs) of select districts, on select indicators
| % RHHs with |
Banda SC households |
Banda all households |
Panna ST households |
Panna all households |
| Average income <Rs 1500 per month |
87 |
72 |
94 |
88 |
| Nil operational holdings |
46 |
30 |
36 |
26 |
| No house |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| No pucca house |
NA |
88 |
NA |
94 |
| Less than one square meal a day for major part of year |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
| Not enough food throughout the year |
78 |
64 |
95 |
87 |
| No literate adult |
41 |
28 |
80 |
45 |
| Bonded labourers |
2 |
2 |
8 |
5 |
| Children not going to school and working |
20 |
15 |
43 |
30 |
| Children working |
53 |
48 |
59 |
60 |
| Causal labour as main source of livelihood |
42 |
25 |
71 |
52 |
| Subsistence farming as main source of livelihood |
43 |
57 |
21 |
35 |
| Debt |
57 |
49 |
90 |
83 |
| Casual labour migrants |
20 |
14 |
48 |
37 |
| Seasonal employment migrants |
32 |
24 |
15 |
12 |
| Migrants for any reason |
78 |
71 |
75 |
62 |
Percentages derived from absolute figures and rounded off to nearest integer. NA= Not available
On virtually every parameter, SC and ST households are much worse off than the population as a whole. The largest variation is under the parameter of adult literacy. Very high incidence of illiteracy among adults (80% in case of Panna ST households) severely cripples their capacity to explore alternative livelihood opportunities. A vicious circle of poverty is thus perpetuated. The poorest lack adequate education and because they lack adequate education, they continue to be poor. Of note also is the incidence of bonded labour in Panna ST households. (As noted in 2002 BPL Survey Data, actual incidence of bonded labour is likely to be higher).
| Estimation of Poverty | 2002 BPL Survey Data | SC/ST Poverty | |
