EDITORIAL 1: The thali index
Context
Measuring poverty through a thali index rather than calorie counts reveals deeper food insecurity, as seen in 2023–24 when up to 40% of rural and 10% of urban Indians couldn’t afford two basic meals a day.
Estimates of poverty
- The publication of the survey of household consumption expenditure for 2023-24 by the National Statistics Office has been followed by a flurry of estimates of poverty in India. Of these, two have received the most attention.
- The first off the block was a report from SBI in January, which was followed by one from the World Bank. They report more or less similar findings.
- The former flags a remarkable decline in rural poverty, estimated at 4.86 per cent in FY24 urban poverty estimated at 4.09 per cent.
- The World Bank’s report is far more optimistic, pegging extreme poverty at 2.8 per cent for rural India and 1.1 per cent for urban India in 2022-23.
- If poverty in India is what these estimates show, it would be a matter for rejoicing, as it would have been virtually eradicated.
The Responses
- India’s official poverty measurement relies on calorie-based consumption, a narrow, physiological approach that misses broader aspects of well-being.
- An alternative is the thali index, based on the cost and affordability of a complete, balanced meal commonly consumed across the country.
- A thali typically includes staples like rice or roti, lentils, vegetables, and occasionally dairy, meat, or fish. It reflects not just energy intake but also nutrition, cultural norms, and satisfaction.
- Measuring poverty through the thali index offers a more relatable and realistic picture of deprivation, revealing the actual affordability of basic nutrition and helping shape more effective welfare policies.
Treated as metric
- Given the centrality of the thali in Indian life, it would be appropriate to treat it as the metric by which to measure the standard of living.
- This implies measuring the standard of living in terms of food, but then we believe that the level of food consumption should be treated as its most important constituent.
- It has been suggested that a more meaningful way to assess food consumption is to consider how many thalis a person’s daily food expenditure can buy.
- The cost of a basic vegetarian thali was reported by Crisil to be ₹30, based on ingredient prices across different regions of India.
- It was noted that the 2023–24 consumption survey had expanded the value of food consumption to include items obtained through the public distribution system and those received free under welfare schemes.
- It was argued that using the thali as a measure could offer a clearer picture of food affordability and nutrition.
Issues
- It is found out that up to 40 per cent of the rural population could not afford two thalis a day.
- In urban India, up to 10 per cent of the population could not afford two thalis a day. These findings indicate that levels of food deprivation are much higher than what are implied by the poverty estimates using the same data, which we recounted at the outset.
- The difference from SBI and World Bank poverty estimates arises because food expenditure, not total consumption, is used to assess living standards.
- Since essentials like housing, health, and education are non-negotiable, food becomes the residual.
- The thali index offers a realistic, goods-based measure, aligned with both nutrition and affordability.
- Some have questioned whether subsidies should continue based on recent poverty estimates.
- While this debate is important, the thali index suggests subsidies should be rationalized, not removed.
- In rural India, higher-income groups receive similar subsidies as lower-income ones despite greater affordability. Optimally, subsidies should be reduced for wealthier households and increased for the poorest to better target support.
Conclusion
Rationalizing subsidies using the thali index can ensure food security for the needy while making welfare policies more efficient and equitable.