21

Poverty and All That

K.M. George


1.0. Introduction

A good deal of deliberations have had taken place on the Kerala model of development. The sustainability of this model has been the concern of some policy makers and developmental practitioners with in the State and elsewhere. However, the socio-economic developmental ethos of Kerala must be understood very clearly in order to evolve an appropriate strategy for a developmental road map.

There is a feeling that the Kerala economy is data rich, and what is, often lacking is, appropriate action at the cutting edge by policy makers and implementing practitioners. On the contrary, it has also been argued that the Kerala economy has very scant data to arrive at meaningful development policy and investment decisions. The truth depends on the exact need.

2.0. Focus

An attempt is made in this paper to examine the richness of data with regard to poverty reduction programmes in Kerala. In fact, a good number of issues, among others, like gender, rural organization, agriculture & allied activities, micro enterprises & livelihoods, social services, infrastructure, decentralization, and the like, constitute the broad areas contributing to poverty reduction. The existing data are classified as per the conventional methodology for specific needs. But developmental challenges have had undergone a sea change over a period of time. The tools of analysis and the techniques of interpretation have become more dynamic. Socio-economists, it appears have understood the changing scenario and have tried to catch up with the changing times by keeping themselves at pace with these changes. The situation has become very complex. If one has to remain agile and competitive with regard to the emerging socio- economic and developmental ethos, there is no short cut but to equip oneself with the sharper tools of analysis.

3.0. Poverty line- Methodological Issues

Poverty line is mythical, and is always a moving equilibrium. As such, it can never be perfect, and unquestionable in its finer details. At the all India level, there is some unanimity on the definition of poverty line. But what is important is the mitigation strategy put in place to combat the incidence of poverty with a time frame. The questions to be raised include:

  1. What is the definition of poverty line?.


  2. Is this the same for all regions and all strata across India and Kerala?.

  3. How often is poverty line revised?.

  4. What are the inputs getting into the revision of the poverty line?.


  5. Who all are involved in the determination and revision of poverty line?.


  6. What is the involvement of the beneficiaries in their selection?.


  7. What are the variables used in the selection of the poor& the vulnerable?
    8. .

  8. What are the gender/urban-rural/ethnic considerations in the selection?.


  9. Intra-household dimensions of poverty.


  10. Cultural & political factors determining poverty in Kerala.


  11. The correctness of data available with regard to household income & expenditure; health; education; employment; agriculture; ownership of assets; access to services & social programmes


  12. Details of key project stake holders, their project related interests and the ways they affect the project viability/risk.

4.0. Conventional Data

In a conventional study on poverty the information collected on households include, among others:

  1. demographic structure& economic activities;


  2. foot wear and clothing expenditure;


  3. food security & vulnerability (this includes frequency of meals, consumption of luxury goods, inferior goods, hunger episodes, etc);


  4. housing indicators (ownership status, room size, building material, access to electricity, drinking water, sanitation & cooking fuel);


  5. land ownership; and


  6. ownership of assets (livestock, productive assets & consumption assets).
The emphasis must be on a variety of indicators. This is due to the fact that poverty is multidimensional and that any one indicator cannot capture poverty levels correctly across different contexts.

5.0. Some Questions

How best one could make use of the available data for initiating corrective actions and policy interventions in Kerala? Collecting and storing data is a useless exercise, unless it is put to good use. There are other related problems like the preponderance of stale data, incorrect data and incomplete data. Gone are the days of depending on ones educated guess, guess estimates and the rule of the thumb. Data collection, collation, storage and retrieval are specialized tasks for which specially trained skilled professionals are required. Between, primary and secondary data, unless one is sure about the source and the veracity of the data, it is advisable to rely on collected sample data from the primary source.

Despite stubbornly held myths, sampling does not have to be complicated, time consuming, or expensive. A sample does not necessarily have to be large to meet specified inferential requirements. A sample does not depend on the size of the population and, therefore, does not need to be any particular percentage of it. A sample can be drawn from as narrowly defined a group as is desired by project authorities or those who are in control of the study and does not have to be drawn from an entire population. Larger populations thus do not necessarily require larger samples. Failure to understand this is the commonest reason for excessively large samples and expensive studies.

Cost of data collection and its processing is another consideration. The cost must be commensurate with the benefits. It is equally true for social costs and social benefits as well. It underlines the importance of collecting only relevant data. Cost effectiveness is a non-negotiable guiding principle while deciding on any database.

For any discussion on database, mention must be made to the time factor. This factor alone decides the quality of data and its spread among other things. Enormous volume of data has limited use, unless time to process and analyze it is also commensurate with the quantum of the data. The mismatches in data and its management are another guiding principle to be kept in mind in any discussion on database management.

Information users and their demand must be taken as a golden principle while deciding data collection and the setting up of a database. There is no point in collecting all sorts of data, unless it is put into meaningful use. In other words, there must be proper alignment between demand and supply. The golden principle to be observed in the setting up of any database is that it must be demand driven. There are instances like the erstwhile Farm Management studies initiated by the Government of India in the 1960s, to substantiate this argument. Huge establishments were made under the Agro- Industries Centers across the country attached to various Universities to collect data on anything and everything related to farm management, cost of cultivation, etc, with precious little use made by policy makers.

Business Confidence Index (BCI) to a large extent, is shaped by the plentiful availability of uninterrupted power supply, frequent and affordable system of air transportation, efficiency in communication network infrastructure facilities, abundant supply of skilled workforce and the ready availability of real estate to set up offices and residential establishments for the professionals. There is an urgent need to publish credible data on the latest BCI. This is a challenge for the Government and practitioners to be taken up on a war footing. BCI would mar or make the developmental dreams of the Kerala economy to a large extent. Such is the sensitivity of this index in the modern economy.

It is worthwhile to note that the boom in Information Technology, in its next phase is likely to choose new destinations. According to a survey undertaken by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) for the start up of IT enabled services in India, while Hyderabad remains the top destination for IT companies, Cochin is emerging as the second most sought-after city, followed by Chennai, Kolkatta, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Now the question to be asked to the state government is whether it has an IT vision for 2020 apart from its present positive IT policy initiatives? Besides, how strong is the database of the IT sector in Kerala?

There is a need for a regular publication of the Basic Statistical Handbook, may be the electronics version pertaining to all aspects of the Kerala Economy. Kerala need to learn many things from States like Gujarat, where the State is flooded with reliable, useful and up-to-date data. In a way, good data bring in investors too, provided one has a healthy investment climate and proactive labour.

6.0. Conclusion

Hard data, with all its positive attributes coupled with excellent infrastructure and a clean image as forward looking and positive people, who are there to facilitate development, will change the Kerala scenario as a destination of growth and prosperity. A holistic approach to development, and even to data base development, is the need of the hour. For any proactive developmental conundrum, attitudes have a major say. Data gap though important, the attitude gap can make the whole difference. Attitudes do make or break the efforts behind it with the resultant ramifications all over.