1 in 7 Indians starve as per capita income rises to Rs 93,293
Synopsis
Statistics is a game of averages, but sometimes the average hides an ocean of reality. There is no better proof of this than India's per capita income, which currently stands at a reasonable Rs 93293, even as millions continue to starve across the nation.
Per capita income is arrived at by dividing an area's total income by its total population. In short, it tells us the average income earned per person in a given area in a year. According to the latest data released by the government, this average for India has risen 7.4% in 2015-16 to Rs 93,293, or roughly Rs 7,700 per month.
This is not a lot of money, to be sure. But is this money not enough to prevent starvation or acute poverty? Apparently not.
Here are some other averages, as given by the World Bank - 179.6 million Indians are defined as below the poverty line. This means they earn less than Rs 120 per day, or Rs 3600 per month, for a yearly per capita income of less than Rs 43,000 per year. This is 14% of the nation, give or take. One in seven citizens.
But for the rest, times are certainly improving. As the data on 'Provisional Estimates of Annual National Income and Quarterly Estimates of Gross Domestic Product 2015-16' notes: "The per capita income at current prices during 2015-16 is estimated to have attained a level of Rs 93,293 as compared to the First Revised Estimate for the year 2014-15 of Rs 86,879 showing a rise of 7.4%,"
The data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Such figures are a good sign, but they do highlight India's acute economic disparity. While it is true that a simple majority of Indians earn this amount, clearly the rich and super-rich have made significant gains over the years. One the other hand, the gap between the poor and the average continues to grow.
However, in real terms, short of capital wealth redistribution through force, there is no solution to this other than to increase the per capita income drastically over the years. With a per capita of Rs 93,293, the poor scrape by with Rs 43,000 per year, or 46% lower than the average. Perhaps someday when the per capita crosses 36,24,601 (the current per capita of the United States), the poor in India can live with Rs 16,67,316 - if inflation does not make that number meaningless by then.