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Saturday, January 3, 2026
TopicHousehold Consumption Expenditure Survey

Topic: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey

Why the poverty line is a misleading measure of progress

If poverty was ending, we would expect people’s spending to reflect that. But data shows the opposite.

Prisoners eat healthier than one-third of Indian households. Eating defines the new poor

For many households, chips replace fruits, sugary tea replaces milk, and biscuits substitute for meals. This is what some researchers call “status calories”.

44% rural households spend cash benefits from govt on increased food consumption—Economic Survey

Approximately 2,400 married women aged 25 to 45 in rural areas were surveyed to explore key aspects of women’s labour force participation and impact of welfare schemes.

Private coaching rise is now a prestige issue for Indian families. That’s a vicious turn

Households, both rural and urban, spent about 13.53 per cent of their annual education expenditure on coaching and tutoring in 2022-23. This is 1.67 percentage points higher than 2011-12.

Food makes up less than half of an Indian household’s monthly bill, a first since Independence

A working paper by the EAC-PM has found that monthly per capita expenditure is up across rural and urban India. But food is occupying a smaller share of this spending than before.

What the cluck! Punjabis aren’t butter chicken fiends, their meat consumption is among India’s lowest

According to govt data, Punjab is among the bottom five states in terms of chicken consumption, with Haryana & Rajasthan. However, Punjabis consume high amounts of milk & dairy products.

Shrinking gap between average rural & urban consumption spends good news, but inequality persists

Consumption inequality between top & bottom 5% of population is more pronounced in urban India, latest Household Consumer Expenditure Survey says. Widest gap in rural Rajasthan & urban Haryana.

Modi govt is changing rural India. They are spending differently from MGNREGA era

The highlight of Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23 is that the share of rural households' expenditure on cereals has fallen below 10% for the first time.

On Camera

Indian bureaucracy should be given incentives and rewards: MH Mody

Is there a place for a counter-bureaucracy, or a separate and competing bureaucracy to counterbalance the force of the executive’s bureaucracy, asked author MH Mody in 1980.

India’s urban co-op banks are turning the page—crisis to cautious revival, one metric at a time

With bad loans shrinking & capital buffers stronger, urban co-op banks’ new umbrella body NUCFDC is now prioritising rollout of digital transformation.

Greece looking at TATA’s WhAP infantry combat vehicle for army procurement

If deal goes through, Greece will be 2nd foreign country to procure vehicle. Morocco was first; TATA Group has set up manufacturing unit there with minimum 30 percent indigenous content.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.