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INSTITUTE FOR RURAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT,MANDYA Return to our sponsors home pages Beautiful Silks Elephant Concepts |
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Income and basic needs in Mandya. Vikasana and Poverty Alleviation Existing project: Beedi makers. What we want to help Vikasana to do for poor rural women in Mandya |
Income and basic needs in this typical south Indian village:
What are the income figures? Indian statistics are sorely out of date and I’m working from stats between 4 and 18 years old. According to a study conducted in 1991-2, female literacy was 31% compared to the state average of 37%. Marriage age was 18.4 years compared to the state average of 19.4 years. Population density was 50% higher than in the state: 327 persons/sq km versus 234/sq km. 69% of land holdings were under 1 hectare, compared to 36% for the state. 36% of the land was irrigated, compared to 14% for the state. Total income from agriculture declined over a 20-year period. 84% of rural males and 26% of urban males worked in agriculture compared to state averages of 77% and 12%. However, the value of Indian rural production fell in real terms in the last 20 years - a massive 30% just between 2000 and 2004. At the beginning of that period, average consumption in Karnataka State for rural workers not directly employed in agriculture was a little over the all-India average: 481 Rupees a month (today’s exchange rate about AUD 14, 100 Rs = about $2.90). In terms of an average house, without running water, in the district, not including the cost of the land - Measurements 6m x 9m, with baked mud floors and made of unpainted cinder blocks. Energy - two solar powered lanterns with two roof mounted PV cells, with composting hand-made latrine and without running water. Price of house 82 500 rupees (a little under $2400), and of lighting 8000 rupees. According to World Bank figures, Development practitioners estimate that the income needed to move out of the poverty line is for a couple with two kids is roughly Rs36,000 per year (still well below €1 day per capita) Currently, the living standard of very poor families is Rs10,000 to Rs12,000 and less per year. For changes of such magnitude, strategies to scale up do not exist for Self help groups (SHGS). However, there are individual members who have innate entrepreneurial skills, who have shown enhanced income due to their own efforts and not necessarily due to the groups. Sources:
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