BHUBANESWAR: Despite a plethora of welfare schemes and diversion of maximum funds to panchayats to strengthen village economy, rural Odisha continues to face financial hardship with the state registering the third-lowest average monthly per capita household consumption expenditure (MPCE) in the country.
While a family living in rural parts of the state spends Rs 112 per day against the national average of Rs 137, the daily household expenditure of a family in urban region stood at Rs 194 as compared to the all India average of Rs 233.
As per the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24, the rural MPCE rose from Rs 2,950 in 2022-23 to Rs 3,357 in 2023-24 but remained significantly lower than the national average of Rs 4,122. The rural MPCE in Odisha is next to Chhattisgarh (Rs 2,739) and Jharkhand (Rs 2,946) and lower than that of Bihar (Rs 3,670), Assam (Rs 3,793), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 3,481), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 3,441) and West Bengal (Rs 3,620)
In contrast, urban Odisha witnessed a more pronounced improvement in consumption expenditure. The MPCE for urban areas increased from Rs 5,187 in 2022-23 to Rs 5,825 in 2023-24, indicating the rising spending capacity of people in towns and cities as compared to villages. The national average was Rs 6,996.
The data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday reflects a persistent disparity between rural and urban consumption patterns and the economic inequality across classes of people which has only widened over the years. There is a marginal change in the cost difference between the rural and urban household consumption expenditure in last one year. While the rural-urban MPCE difference was 76 per cent in 2022-23, it was 73 per cent in 2023-24.
The only silver lining is the three per cent growth in achieving the national average. The rural MPCE of Odisha was 78 per cent of the national average in 2022-23 which rose to 81.6 per cent. Similarly, the urban MPCE went up to 83 per cent of national average in 2023-24 from 80 per cent a year back.
Economists stressed that there is a pressing need for policy interventions to uplift rural communities to ensure balanced development across the state. Secretary of Orissa Economics Association Amarendra Das attributed the low MPCE to lack of employment and lower farmers’ income.
“The income of farmers is the major driver in the rural economy. In Odisha, it is one of the lowest in the country. Efforts to enhance rural livelihoods and boost agricultural productivity through the recently launched cash transfer schemes like Subhadra and input subsidy are expected to play a critical role in addressing the disparities,” he said.
