According to a recent government survey released on Friday, an average Indian spends just Rs.440 or less than $10 per month on food.
As per the survey, an Indian living in rural areas, however, spends even less only Rs.363, while his urban counterpart Rs.517 per month.
National Sample Survey Organisation`s (NSSO) report - Household Consumer Expenditure in India-2006-07 reported, "Average monthly per capita consumer expenditure was Rs.695 in rural India and Rs.1, 312 in urban India."
The findings of the NSSO, an agency of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, showed monthly per capita expenditure in rural India on food going up to Rs.363 in 2006-07 from Rs.333 in 2005-06.
In urban areas, an individual is found to be spending Rs.517 a month on food during the period under reference against Rs.468 in 2005-06.
Rajesh Jaiswal, an associate fellow at the policy think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pointed out, "The increase in expenditure is negligible, with monthly per capita consumer expenditure going up to Rs.695 from Rs.625 in 2005-06, out of which only Rs.363 is spent on food."
Jaiswal added, "It is an alarming situation, which will lead to severe malnutrition, and will subsequently weaken human resources. The government must reorient its policies."
According to the National Family Health Survey-2005-06, India`s 70% children aged six to 59 months are anaemic, which is primarily linked to poor nutrition.
The NSSO data showed a rural Indian spending just Rs.12 per month on fruit, while his urban counterpart Rs.28. The monthly expenditure on cereals and cereal substitutes by a rural and urban Indian stands respectively at Rs.115 and Rs.119.
NSSO survey results relate to July 2006 to June 2007, and findings are based on a randomly drawn sample, 63,729 households spread over 5,573 villages and 7,698 urban blocks countrywide.
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Posted On : 05 Nov 08
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