NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Saturday celebrated the rise in rural consumption, citing the recent household consumption expenditure survey, and a dip in poverty as underlined in an SBI study released a day before.
The consumption expenditure survey that showed rural households are diversifying their spend and devoting a larger part of expenditure on non-food items. “Our vision is to empower rural India by transforming villages into vibrant centres of growth and opportunity… I am confident that the development of villages will lead to the realisation of a developed India,” Modi said while inaugurating the six-day Grameen Bharat Mahotsav here at Bharat Mandapam. His remarks on the changed face of rural India came amid preparations for the Union Budget.
The study by SBI, released on Friday, noted that rural poverty fell sharply from nearly 26% in 2011-12 to 7% in 2022-23, and further to less than 5% in 2023-24.
The consumption expenditure survey, released last month, showed that the urban-rural gap in the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) declined to 71% in 2022-23 from 84% in 2011-12. It further came down to 70% in 2023-24, confirming sustained momentum of consumption growth in rural areas. The survey also showed that non-food items remained the major contributor to a household’s average monthly expenditure in 2023-24 with about 53% and 60% share in MPCE in rural and urban areas, respectively.
Citing figures from the SBI study on poverty, Modi took a swipe at the previous Congress govts’ ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan, saying while some people have been raising slogans to eradicate poverty for decades, the country is now witnessing a real reduction in poverty.
Referring to the consumption expenditure survey, which shows that average MPCE in rural India increased from Rs 1,430 in 2011-12 to Rs 4,122 in 2023-24, Modi said the figures reveal that the purchasing power of people in rural India has nearly tripled, indicating that people are spending more on their preferred items.
The PM said previously, villagers had to spend more than 50% of their income on food, but for the first time since Independence, the expenditure on food in rural areas has fallen below 50%, and this meant people are now spending on other desires and needs, improving their quality of life.
He noted that these achievements could have been realised during the tenure of previous govts, but for decades after Independence, lakhs of villages were deprived of basic necessities.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “PSBs are already operating credit saturation drives in priority sectors for schemes such as PM MUDRA Yojana, PM Awas Yojana, and SVAnidhi Yojana. Taking the momentum further, the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav showcases India’s rich cultural heritage as well as the aspirations of rural people and development in the four areas -GI Tags, natural farming, women empowerment, tribal welfare, with a focus on Northeast products.”
