Living Conditions and Consumption Standard of Rural Dalits: A Comparison across the States

Abstract

Comparison of living conditions and consumption standard of rural dalits shows considerable disparity across the states of India. In Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, most of the rural dalits have not only escaped poor living conditions, but about one-fourth of them have graduated to better living conditions characterized by pucca house, in-house provision of piped drinking water and flush latrine, use of LPG for cooking and electricity for lighting. In eastern India, most of the rural dalits are still languishing in poor living conditions characterized by mud house, no outlet for waste water, no in-house provision of drinking water and latrine, and no electricity for lighting. In rest of the states, situation is slightly better than eastern India, but nowhere near Punjab, Kerala, etc. This regional pattern is replicated in consumption level of non-durable goods and ownership of durable consumer goods by rural dalits. More than half of the observed inter-state variation in living conditions and consumption standard of rural dalits is explained by level of agricultural development and level of non-agricultural (urban) development across the states.