Livelihood Security in Rural India: Reflections from some Selected Indicators

Abstract

India is rapidly emerging as a major economy of the world but the spatial and social diffusion of economic progress has been limited, leading to a continued shortage of livelihood means to a huge population. The rural India, home to nearly 69 per cent of total population, is characterised by inadequate nutrition, safe water, housing & sanitation, health care, education and economic means. Improvements in living standards have occurred consequent upon the efforts of governments to provide adequate and sustainable access to all livelihood means yet several gaps have remained. This article highlights the status of livelihood security including the various domain securities across states and union territories (UTs). By utilising the secondary data from various sources, a composite livelihood security index has been computed from six domain security indices through standardisation of 23 odd variables and equalising the contribution of each indicator through an average weighted approach by adopting methods of Human Development Index (HDI) calculation. The analyses reveal that there are widespread regional differences among states and UTs in different domains of livelihood. Results illustrate that Chandigarh (0.792), Goa (0.759), Lakshadweep (0.756) and Kerala (0.752) have high livelihood security while Dadra & Nagar Haveli (0.472), Jharkhand (0.475), Chhattisgarh (0.492), Madhya Pradesh (0.502), and Bihar (0.503) are lagging behind in livelihood security. This study suggests the need to evaluate the status of basic necessities of life and immediate policy interventions for enhancing living conditions in poor performing states and UTs.

Keywords:

• Livelihood security index
• food
• water
• education
• health
• rural India

Notes

1 The right to adequate housing as a commitment of governments across the world was for the first time mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services “(United Nations, 1949). The United Nations and its constituent agencies, including the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the International Labour Organisation consider access to adequate housing to be integral to the fulfilment of other basic human rights (United Nations, 2009).

2 The efforts to increase rural sanitation coverage in India largely started with the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) in 1986. This subsidy based supply-driven approach to promote sanitation did not yield sustained impact, and the CRSP was replaced in 1999 with the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). In 2012, with further modification to the strategy, goals, and funding reallocation, the GOI renamed the TSC as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA). Now the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan (SBA/SBM) has been launched by the Prime Minister of India from 2nd October 2014, which aims to eradicate open defecation by 2019 by restructuring the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hemant Patidar

Hemant Patidar is an Assistant Professor, Department of General & Applied Geography, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar (A Central University), Sagar (MP), INDIA; Email: [email protected]; [email protected].