Revisiting Rural


Meet Mr. Surya Prakash. He just finished his MBA from Mumbai, and is now returning to his village Lakhanpur after 12 years by the next train. These 12 long years have made him quite a “city-ite”. He just cannot imagine staying in such a remote village.

What can be done? His sister Kiran is getting married. He boards the Rajdhani Express, and then takes a bus and finally a rickety rickshaw to his village.

The rickshaw looks the same, as it was when he left the village. But the village seems quite different! There are so many grocery and retail shops now. But those shanties with thatched roofs are still there behind this colourful array of shops.

Surya Prakash: Hey are those readymade garment shops?! They are just like those high-flown shops in Mumbai. But then, why is the rickshaw-puller Biju wearing the same vest I gave him when I left the village?

(To Biju) Why are you still wearing this old vest when the households buying readymade garments in 30 days has increased by 75 per cent between 1993-94 and 2004-05?

Biju: Well, buying readymade garments is not everybody’s cup of tea, my dear. I cannot imagine spending so much on clothes when I’m not even sure if I can arrange for the next meal of the day.

Surya Prakash: Hmm… Oh! It is very hot today. I will sit under the fan as soon as I reach home. By the way, do you have electric supply at home?

Biju: Though 54 per cent of houses had electricity in 2004-05, way more than the 34 per cent of 1993-94, my house falls in the remaining percentage. I cannot afford to pay for it. I live in the dark.

Surya Prakash: Oh! I’m sorry.

He finally reaches home – the words of Biju hovering in his mind.

Mother: Come. Let us have lunch now. I’ve made butter chicken for you.

Surya Prakash: There was no need to cook chicken especially for me. I have not had the daal made by you for so long. I would have loved to eat that instead.

Mother: But, I don’t make daal that often these days. I prefer chicken more. We eat nearly 150 per cent more than what we did in 1993-94. Also, the households that eat chicken have risen from 7.5 per cent to 19.6 per cent in these 11 years!

Kiran: Whenever we feel like having daal, we only buy the “higher-end” pulses available at that swanky retail chain Thomson Fresh. But that’s very rare.

Surya Prakash: Start taking pulses again for a balanced diet must contain carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, mineral salts and fibre in correct proportions. And pulses contain 20 to 25 per cent of proteins, and are cheap and readily available.

Kiran: You are right. I need to think about my figure, I mean health as well. Oh, we use so much oil now – 30 per cent more per person than in 1993! This is why I’m so fat.

Mother: It is because you don’t drink milk. Though milk consumption has increased to 71 per cent from 1993-94’s 66 per cent, the per capita milk consumption has reduced from 3.94kg per month in 1993-94 to 3.87kg in 2004-05.

At this point, the doorbell rings. It’s the ‘Gas-wala’ (LPG cylinder vendor).

Surya Prakash: You use LPG! (I wonder if Biju even knows what LPG is)

Mother: Of course! LPG use has increased six-fold between 1993 and 2005.

Kiran: But even with this rise, only 12 in 100 households use cooking gas.

Surya Prakash: (Biju is surely not among them). You know quite a lot sister. Is your fiancé as bright as you?

Kiran: Yes. He just graduated in History. This shows how much more we are spending on education these days. It has increased from 29 per cent to 44 per cent between 1999-2000 and 2004-05.

Mother: And he does not even smoke. But of course, the number of houses with at least one bidi smoker has dropped 26 per cent since 1993-94.

Surya Prakash: Oh really? Even in urban areas, it has dropped by 35 per cent, and cigarette smoking has reduced by 30 per cent in the same period.

Surya Prakash was now a little confused. Lakhanpur is not as backward as it was 12 years ago. Years of reforms have done some good to the rural areas. But, is this ‘good’ only for those who can pay for it? What about people like Biju?
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Source: Household Consumption of Various Goods and Services in India report, 2004-05, by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).