Topic-Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
6) Stagnant incomes has more than offset any “asset” gains made in the recent period. Analyze.(250 words)
Why this question
The recent elections can be objectively analyzed if we look at the conditions of the rural sector of India during the recent years. The article looks into asset creation and stagnant incomes in rural India.
Directive word
Analyze-here we have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts, and present them as a whole in a summary.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to discuss the asset creation in recent years in India and the reasons for stagnant income besides such improvements.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– Mention about the size, demographic composition and other important data related to rural India.
Body-
- Discuss the asset creation during the recent years. E.g The last three fiscals have seen over 1 crore houses being built under Central schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin; The number of active domestic LPG connections has, thanks to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, gone up from 15.33 crore in June 2015 to 24.72 crore in October 2018, with overall household penetration levels, too, rising from 57.86% to 88.51%; Of the country’s 21.69 crore rural households, 20.87 crore (96.24%) are now electrified. Under the Saubhagya scheme, launched on September 25, 2017, the number of un-electrified households has reduced from around 4 crore to just 81.53 lakh; More than 8.98 crore household toilets have been built in rural India since October 2, 2014 under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin;
- Discuss the stagnant incomes due to low crop prices and stagnant wages. E.g Since 2014-15, the average annual increase in the wholesale price index has been only 2.75% for “food articles” and 0.76% for “non-food” agricultural articles. As against this, the same during the preceding five-year period amounted to 12.26% and 11.04%, respectively, while higher than the average annual general wholesale inflation of 6.89%; a marked decline in rural wage growth for agricultural and non-agricultural occupations after 2014-15, with the average yearly increase working out to about 5.2% in nominal terms. That is slightly above the corresponding rise of 4.9% in the rural consumer price index, pointing to a virtual stagnation in real rural wages.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
