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Friday, January 23, 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

Controversial dog-walker IAS Sanjeev Khirwar is back in Delhi. What happened to his wife?

In 2022, athletes claimed they were asked to wind up training early at Thyagraj Stadium so that the IAS couple could walk their dog. Then came the memes and public outrage.

IndiGo profit plunges 78% as Dec meltdown with 3k flight cancellations takes a toll

Net income for InterGlobe Aviation Ltd slipped 78 percent to Rs 5.5 billion for the three months ended Dec 31 compared with the year-ago period.

Rafale saga: 25 yrs of detours, deadlocks & political hesitation. Now IAF getting what it always wanted

Instead of buying more Mirages outright in early 2000s, the requirement was tweaked in favour of a medium-weight, multi-role fighter with Mirage-like performance. 

Pakistan se azaadi. Grow up India, stop giving it prime real estate in your psyche

Pakistan not only has zero chance of catching up with India in most areas, but will inevitably see the gap rising. Its leaders will offer its people the same snake oil in different bottles.