1. Poverty Alleviation:
Indian Food Security Oriented
Approach
M.H. Suryanarayana
surya@igidr.ac.in

2. Outline of Presentation
• Food Security Oriented Strategy: A Policy
Motivation
Imperative
• Macro dimension: Estimates, Resource
Conceptua Imperatives & Choice of Development Strategies
lization • Micro dimension: Programmes for Poverty
Alleviation subject to Macro Constraints
• Development Puzzles and Policy Dilemmas
Evaluation
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3. Policy Imperative
• Colonial rule & consequences:
– Only Law & order & Tax collection
– No Development Expenditure
– Abysmal living conditions:
• Stagnant real income and food production (first five
decades of 20th Century)
• High illiteracy (84%); mortality rate (27.4 per 1000)
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4. Conceptualization
• Evolution constrained by information base
• Macro Perspective with micro foundations:
• Pre-Independence Era:
• (i) Naoroji (1901)„Poverty and Un-British Rural
India‟:
• Income generated insufficient to meet the
„necessary consumption‟ of the population
• (ii) National Planning Committee (1938):
Emphasis on multiple dimensions
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5. National Planning Committee (1938)
Ten-year Plan Targets for Multiple dimensions:
i. Balanced Diet of 2400-2800 kilo calories per adult
worker;
ii. Improvement in clothing from 15 yards to at least
30 yards per capita per annum;
iii. Housing: at least 10 square feet per capita;
iv. Liquidation of illiteracy;
v. Increase in life expectancy; and
vi. Access to adequate medical facilities.
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6. A Decade of Planning: Outcome Evaluation
• Income Distribution Committee (1962)
• Working Group on Poverty:
– Poverty line: Rs 20 per capita per month at 1960/61 prices.
– Provide for a balanced diet as per the Nutrition Advisory
Committee of the Indian Council of Medical research.
– Excluded expenditure on health & education to be provided
by the State.
– To get food to meet minimum energy requirements for an
active and healthy life and also minimum clothing and
shelter.
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7. Conceptualization: Post Independence era
• Official Indian definition of „Poor‟:
– “Those whose per capita consumption expenditure lies
below the midpoint of the monthly per capita
expenditure class having a per capita daily calorie
intake of 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 in
urban”
– Food (cereals) - a major source (85%) of calories;
hence, emphasis on food
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8. Food Energy Intake Method
Food
Energy
Intake
Min Calorie Intake
( 2400 Kcal.)
PL Household
Consumer
Expenditure
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9. Expert Group (1993):
• Endorsed the poverty norm anchored in a
minimum calorie requirement
• Distinguished between issues of under-nutrition
and measurement of poverty
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10. Incidence of Poverty (million): 1983-2004
251.96
244.03
220.92
76.34 80.80
70.94
1983 1993 2004
Rural Urban
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11. Conceptualization: New Millennium
• Economic Reform Era: Bleeding rural India
• Policy response: Expert Committees
• Poverty line:
– Delinked from the calorie norm
– Social perception of deprivation of basic needs
– Validates with reference to calorie norm
– Provides for a budget share of 54% for food
– Poverty estimate of 37% - a case for Right to
Food Act
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12. Policy Choices
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13. Composition of Rural Households
(1983)
10.31
6.57
40.72
Self Eemploy Ag
Self Empl NonAg
30.7 Agr Labour
Other Labour
Other Rural
11.7
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14. Composition of Rural Unemployment
(1983)
5.43
16.32
10.21
8.5
Self Eemploy Ag
Self Empl NonAg
Agr Labour
Other Labour
Other Rural
59.54
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15. Composition of Rural Poor Households
(1983)
6.17
5.99
32.04
Self Eemploy Ag
Self Empl NonAg
Agr Labour
45.59 Other Labour
10.29
Other Rural
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16. Incidence of Poverty across Households
Type (1983)
50
45.45
45
40
35
30.62
26.93 27.93
30
24.08
25
18.32
20
15
10
5
0
Self Eemploy Self Empl Agr Labour Other Labour Other Rural All
Ag NonAg
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17. Food Budget Share (%) (1972/73)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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18. Illiteracy (%) Across Expenditure Classes
(1983)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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19. Development Strategy
• Growth with Redistributive Justice:
– Planning production by physical controls
– Food insecure poor; hence, emphasis on food
production & income generation
• Three-pronged strategy:
– Macro: Increase food availability through
production (input subsidies for farmers) & imports
– Meso: Food distribution programmes (PDS)
(largely Urban sector to promote eco devt)
– Micro: Income generating programmes
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20. Strategy for Agricultural Growth
• Green Revolution:
– (i) Price support for output; (ii) input price subsidy; &
(iii) PDS
– Change in food grain production composition =>
increase in cost of calories
– Increase in regional disparities
– Increase in price dispersion worsened food security in
remote rural areas => inevitability of PDS
– Targeting Errors in income generating programmes
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21. Economic Reforms
• Adjustment with a Human Face
• Options for PDS reform – dismantle; mean-based
targeting; commodity-base targeting; food
stamps/cash transfers
• PDS evaluation – Targeting a Penalty on the Food
Insecure
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22. Identification for Targeting
• Universal vs. Targeted Programmes
• Universal: Self-selection of beneficiaries
• Targeted: Economic status of the beneficiary
– Targeted PDS with respect to
• (i) occupational;
• (ii) Household ; &
• (iii) Social characteristics
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23. BPL Census
• Purpose: Classify rural households into BPL & APL
categories
• Criterion:
– Census 1992: Income per household (RS 11000 / annum)
– Census 1997: Two-stage procedure
• 1st : Assets, durables & income
• 2nd: Consumer expenditure (Poverty line)
– Census 2002:
• Indicators of quality of life & scores
– Census 2009: Three Step procedure
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24. Development Puzzles &
Policy Dilemmas
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25. Headcount ratio (per cent)
19
51
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
- 52
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53
-5
4
55
-5
6
57
-5
8
59
-6
0
Source: World Bank (1997)
61
-6
2
63
-6
4
65
-6
6
67
-6
8
69
-7
0
71
-7
2
73
-7
4
Year
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75
-7
Fig. 1: Rural Poverty
6
77
-7
8
79
-8
0
81
-8
2
83
-8
4
85
-8
6
87
-8
8
89
-9
0
19
91
93
-9
4
25

26. Fig. 2: Monthly Per-Capita Consumer Expenditure by the Poorest Decile Groups and Total
30 Population: All-India Rural
25
20
Rs at 1960-61 prices
15
10
5
0
1983
1992
61-62
62-63
63-64
64-65
65-66
66-67
67-68
68-69
69-70
70-71
71-72
72-73
73-74
74-75
75-76
76-77
77-78
78-79
79-80
80-81
81-82
83-84
84-85
85-86
86-87
87-88
88-89
89-90
90-91
93-94
93-94
1960-61
Year
Poorest Decile Group (PDG) 2nd PDG 3rd PDG 4th PDG 5th PDG Total Rural
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27. Average MPCE in different States 2004-05
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28. Average MPCE in different States 2004-05
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29. Nutrition based Poverty Trap?
Macro evidence

30. Incidence of Calorie Deficiency (%)
Norms: 2400 Kcal (Rural); 2100 Kcal (Urban)
79.8
80 75.8
74.2
71.1 70.1
67.8
70 66.1 64.8 65.9
63.9 63.9
60.5
57.1 58.1 58.2
60
50
Rural
40 Urban
All India
30
20
10
0
1983 1987/88 1993/94 1999/00 2004/05
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31. Per Capita Calorie Intake by Deceile Group: All India Rural
4500
4000
3500
3000
Kcals per diem
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1972/73 1983 1993/94 1999/00 2004/05
Year
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IV V VI VII VIII IX X Norm 31

32. Per Capita Calorie Intake by Decile Group: All India Urban
4000
3500
3000
Kcals per diem
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1972/73 1983 1993/94 1999/00 2004/05
Year
Decile Group I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X Norm
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33. Measures of Health Status
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34. Infant Mortality Rate
90 85 (Deaths at age 0-11 months per 1,000 live births)
79
80 73
68
70
62
56 57
60
47 NFHS-1
50
42
NFHS-2
40 NFHS-3
30
20
10
0
Rural Urban All India
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NFHS-3, India, 2005-06
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35. Child Nutritional Status
60
(% children age under 3 years)
51
50 45
43
40
40
NFHS-2
30
23 NFHS-3
20
20
10
0
Stunted Wasted Underweight
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NFHS-3, India, 2005-06

36. Growth & Poverty Reduction:
At what Cost?
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