Poverty, Inequality & Unemployment

📉 Economic Survey 2024-25 — Social Sector & Employment Snapshot

2025

• Social services expenditure (Centre + States combined) grew at a CAGR of 15% (FY21-25).
• Gini coefficient (consumption inequality) declining: rural 0.266 (2022-23) → 0.237 (2023-24); urban 0.314 (2022-23) → 0.284 (2023-24).
• Unemployment rate declined from 6.0% (2017-18) to 3.2% (2023-24) (both July-June periods).
• EPFO net payroll additions more than doubled in the past 6 years.
• New Economic Survey chapter — "Labour in the AI Era": discusses barriers to AI adoption (reliability concerns, resource inefficiencies, infrastructure deficits) and the concept of "Augmented Intelligence" (human+machine collaboration) as India's likely AI-employment trajectory, given India's young, tech-savvy demographic.

🧾 Interim Union Budget 2024-25 — Part A "Garib Kalyan" Social Welfare Highlights

2024

• Presented 1 Feb 2024 by FM Nirmala Sitharaman (vote-on-account; see the Macro & Fiscal snapshot in the National Income notes for fiscal figures).
• Government cited having lifted 25 crore people out of multidimensional poverty over the preceding decade (compare with NITI Aayog's later MPI figure of 13.5 crore escaping poverty 2013-14 to 2024-25, in the Fact Sheet above).
• DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) of ₹34 lakh crore via PM-Jan Dhan accounts, saving the government ₹2.7 lakh crore through leakage prevention.
• PM-SVANidhi: credit provided to 78 lakh street vendors, of which 2.3 lakh received credit for the 3rd time.
• PM-KISAN: financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers. PM Fasal Bima Yojana: covered 4 crore farmers.
• Rooftop solarization: 1 crore households to get 300 units free electricity/month, saving ₹15,000-18,000/year per household.
• Ayushman Bharat: healthcare coverage extended to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers.
• PM Awas Yojana-Gramin: 3 crore house target nearing completion; 2 crore MORE houses announced for the next 5 years (see the PM Awas Yojana notes for the follow-up Cabinet approval of 9 Aug 2024).
• Women empowerment: 30 crore Mudra loans to women entrepreneurs; female higher-education enrolment up 28%; women 43% of STEM enrolment (among world's highest); 70%+ of PM Awas Yojana rural houses given to women.

📊 High-Yield Data & Statistical Fact Sheet

Cue Words	Notes
Poverty Estimation Authority	Estimates are officially compiled and published by the NSO (National Statistical Office) under MoSPI.
Extreme Poverty Level	Extreme poverty (living below $1.90 PPP per day) declined to below 1.0% in India, driven by PM-GKAY.
PLFS Overall LFPR (2024-25 Annual Report)	Overall LFPR rose to ~61% (Usual Status), up from 59.6% a year earlier.
PLFS Female LFPR	Crossed 42% in the 2024-25 report — a sharp jump from just 23.3% in 2017-18.
PLFS Worker Population Ratio (WPR)	WPR stands at ~59%. Self-employment share eased slightly from 57.5% (2024) to 56.2% (2025), while regular wage/salaried employment rose from 22.4% to 23.6% — a mild shift toward formalisation.
PLFS Unemployment Rate (2024-25)	~3.2% overall (Usual Status: rural 2.5%, urban 5.1%). Youth (15–29 yrs) unemployment eased to 9.9% in 2025, down from 10.3% in 2024.
Multidimensional Poverty Index (NITI Aayog)	Headcount poverty ratio plunged from 29.17% (2013-14) to 11.28% in 2024-25, with 13.5 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty.
PLFS Key Indicators — Calendar Year 2024 (MoSPI, released Apr 2025)	2025 Distinct from the PLFS Annual Report's July-June survey cycle — this release gives **calendar-year (Jan-Dec 2024) indicators**. **Usual Status (ps+ss), all-India**: LFPR **59.6%** (down marginally from 59.8% in 2023); WPR **57.7%** (down from 58.0%); Unemployment Rate **3.2%** (up from 3.1%). **Current Weekly Status (CWS), all-India**: LFPR **56.2%** (unchanged); WPR **53.5%** (up from 53.4%); Unemployment Rate **4.9%** (down from 5.0%). **Rural unemployment (CWS)** declined slightly, **4.3% → 4.2%**; **urban unemployment (CWS)** stable overall at **6.7%** (male up 6.0% → 6.1%; female down 8.9% → 8.2%).
PLFS Annual Report 2025 — Calendar-Year Cycle	2026 First PLFS report on a **calendar-year (Jan-Dec) cycle**, replacing the earlier July-June cycle; sample size increased **2.65x to 22,692 First Stage Units / 2.72 lakh households**. **2025 stats (usual status ps+ss, age 15+)**: LFPR **59.3%** (male 79.1%, female 40.0%, stable vs 2024); WPR **57.4%** (male 76.6%, female 38.8%); overall unemployment rate **3.1%**. Youth (15-29) unemployment down to **9.9%** from 10.3% (rural 8.3%, urban 13.6%); educated-persons (secondary+) unemployment down to **6.5%** from 7.0%. Regular wage/salaried employment share up to **23.6%** (from 22.4%); self-employment share down to **56.2%** (from 57.5%); agriculture's employment share down to **43.0%** (from 44.8%), manufacturing up to **12.1%** (from 11.6%). Average years of formal education (age 15+): **10.0 years**. Total employed persons (15+): **61.6 crore** (41.6 crore male, 20.0 crore female).
HCES 2023-24 Full Report (MoSPI)	2025 **Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24** full report released **30 January 2025** by MoSPI — the **2nd of two consecutive annual surveys** (2022-23 and 2023-24); this survey later underpinned the **CPI 2024 base-year revision**. **Sample**: **2,61,953 households** (**1,54,357 rural** + **1,07,596 urban**) across all states/UTs. **Average MPCE, 2023-24 (without imputation of free items)**: Rural **₹4,122**, Urban **₹6,996**. **With imputation** of free items received via social welfare schemes: Rural **₹4,247**, Urban **₹7,078**. **Urban-rural MPCE gap narrowed** over time: **84% (2011-12) → 71% (2022-23) → 70% (2023-24)**. **Gini coefficient (consumption inequality) declined**: Rural **0.266 (2022-23) → 0.237 (2023-24)**; Urban **0.314 → 0.284**. **Food share of MPCE**: Rural **~47%**, Urban **~40%**. **State-wise**: Highest rural MPCE growth — **Odisha (+14%)**; highest urban MPCE growth — **Punjab (+13%)**. Lowest urban-rural gap: **Kerala (~18%)**; highest: **Jharkhand (~83%)**.
HCES 2023-24 — Original Factsheet Release (MoSPI, 27 Dec 2024)	2024 The **first factsheet** on HCES 2023-24 (fieldwork **Aug 2023-Jul 2024**) was released **27 December 2024** — preceding the **full report** of 30 January 2025 covered above; both draw on the same 2,61,953-household sample. **Nominal MPCE growth over 2022-23**: **~9% rural**, **~8% urban**. **Non-food share of MPCE**: **53% rural**, **60% urban** — i.e., non-food items now dominate household spending in both sectors. **State-wise MPCE extremes**: Highest — **Sikkim** (Rural **₹9,377**, Urban **₹13,927**); Lowest — **Chhattisgarh** (Rural **₹2,739**, Urban **₹4,927**).
Nutritional Intake in India Report (MoSPI, 2 Jul 2025)	2025 Based on the back-to-back **HCES** surveys (Aug 2022-July 2023 and Aug 2023-July 2024) — the first such nutritional-intake report since the **2011-12 (68th NSS round)** survey. **2023-24 all-India average per capita per day intake**: Calorie — Rural **2,212 Kcal**, Urban **2,240 Kcal** (down slightly from **2,233/2,250 Kcal** in 2022-23); Protein — Rural **61.8g**, Urban **63.4g**; Fat — Rural **60.4g**, Urban **69.8g**. Calorie intake rises consistently with MPCE — bottom 5% fractile class in rural India had only **1,688 Kcal/day** (2023-24) vs top 5% at **2,941 Kcal/day**. **Cereals** remain the largest protein source (~46-47% rural, ~39% urban), though their protein-contribution share has fallen ~12-14% since 2009-10, with eggs/fish/meat and other foods rising to compensate.

1. STRUTTING THE DIVERGENT POVERTY METRICS

Cue Words	Notes
Absolute Poverty (AP)	A state of severe deprivation of basic human needs (food, water, sanitation, health, shelter) valued using a Poverty Line.
International Poverty Line	Set at $2.15 per capita per day (World Bank 2022, 2017 PPP prices).
Head Count Ratio (HCR)	**Head Count Ratio (HCR)** = [ (**Total Population BPL**) ÷ (**Total Population**) ] × **100**
Poverty Gap Index	Quantifies average shortfall or distance of the poor from the poverty line (intensity).
Squared Poverty Gap Index	Squares individual gaps to capture severity of poverty.
Relative Poverty (RP)	Measures inequality and relative deprivation by comparing individual/group incomes against national median income.

2. METHODOLOGY & COMMITTEE ARCHITECTURE

Cue Words	Notes
Alagh Committee (1979)	Established poverty lines based purely on nutritional intake: 2400 kcal/day (rural) and 2100 kcal/day (urban).
Lakdawala Committee (1993)	Shifted to state-specific poverty lines using CPI-AL (rural) and CPI-IW (urban).
Tendulkar Committee (2009)	Moved away from calorie anchors to a broadened consumption basket (integrating private out-of-pocket health and education expenditures).
Rangarajan Committee (2014)	Recalculated poverty lines using a modified calorie-cum-consumption basket: set at ₹972/month (Rural) and ₹1,407/month (Urban).
URP (Uniform Reference Period)	30-day recall period for all items in the consumption basket.
MRP (Mixed Reference Period)	365-day recall for 5 durable items + 30-day recall for remaining items.
MMRP (Modified Mixed Reference Period)	365-day recall for durables, 7-day recall for high-frequency foods, 30-day recall for remaining items.

3. UNEMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS & PLFS DEFINITIONS

Cue Words	Notes
Labour Force	Sum of all employed and unemployed persons actively seeking work.
Workforce	Population of individuals actively employed.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)	**LFPR (%)** = [ (**Labour Force**) ÷ (**Total Population**) ] × **100**
Unemployment Rate (UR)	**Unemployment Rate (UR %)** = [ (**Unemployed Persons**) ÷ (**Labour Force**) ] × **100**
Usual Principal Status (PS)	Evaluates status based on a 365-day reference period (requires activity for >183 days).
Subsidiary Status (SS)	Captures secondary economic activities pursued for at least 30 days.
Usual Status (ps + ss)	Combines principal and subsidiary status for chronic employment measure.
Current Weekly Status (CWS)	Short 7-day recall period (employed if worked for at least 1 hour on any single day).
Universal Basic Income (UBI)	Structured on three core pillars: Universality (covers all citizens), Unconditionality (no targeted behaviors), and Agency (direct cash transfers instead of in-kind doles).
MGNREGA Safety Net	Deploys a legal right to 100 days of guaranteed wage employment per rural household. At least 1/3rd of beneficiaries must be women.
Poverty Observances & IBSA Trust Fund	**International Day for Eradication of Poverty**: **17 October** (UN declared since 1987). **IBSA Trust Fund (2017)**: India, Brazil, and South Africa contribute **$1 Million annually** each for South-South poverty alleviation managed by UNDP.
Poverty Gap & Squared Poverty Gap Index	**Poverty Gap Ratio (PGR)** = [ (**Poverty Line** − **Average BPL Consumption**) ÷ (**Poverty Line**) ]. Quantifies total cash transfer needed to eliminate poverty gap. **Squared Poverty Gap Index**: Squares individual shortfalls, assigning higher weightage to the poorest of the poor living far below the poverty line.
Pre-Independence Poverty Estimates	**Dadabhai Naoroji (1867-68)**: First subsistence-based poverty line of **₹16 to ₹35/year** (*Poverty and Un-British Rule in India*). **National Planning Committee (J.L. Nehru, 1938)**: Minimum income threshold of **₹15 to ₹25/month**. **Early Post-Independence**: Dandekar & Rath (1971) set **2,250 kcal/day** anchor (Rural HCR 40%, Urban HCR 50%).
Tendulkar vs Rangarajan Poverty Line	**Tendulkar Committee (2009)**: Derived **37.2% HCR** (MRP method; applied uniform urban poverty basket to rural areas; included private health & education). **Rangarajan Committee (2014)**: Derived **29.5% HCR** (MMRP method; monthly family-of-5 basis; evaluated Calorie + Protein + Fat intake).
Rural & Urban BPL Census Architecture	**Rural BPL Census (MoRD / SECC 2011)**: **N.C. Saxena Committee (2009)** recommended automatic inclusion/exclusion criteria. SECC 2011 found **60%** of 17.91 crore rural households deprived. **Urban BPL Census (S.R. Hashim Committee, 2012)**: 3-stage method — (1) *Automatic Exclusion* (≥4 rooms, 4-wheeler/AC/laptop, 3 of fridge/phone/washing machine/2-wheeler), (2) *Automatic Inclusion* (vulnerable), (3) *Scoring Index (0-12)*.
Capability Approach & Sen Index of Poverty	**Amartya Sen Capability Approach**: Focuses on expanding human capabilities and functionings (empowerment over cash doles). **Sen Index of Poverty (1976)**: **S = H [ I + (1 − I)G ]**, integrating Head Count Ratio (**H**), Poverty Gap Index (**I**), and Gini Coefficient (**G**). **RCT Nobel (2019)**: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer used *Randomised Controlled Trials* to test targeted poverty alleviation policies.
Bare Necessities Index (BNI)	Introduced in Economic Survey 2020-21. Uses 26 indicators across 5 dimensions (Water, Sanitation, Housing, Micro-environment, Other utilities).
Gini Coefficient & Lorenz Curve	**Gini Coefficient (Corrado Gini, 1912)**: Ratio of area between 45° equality line and Lorenz curve over total lower triangle area. **0 = Perfect Equality**, **1 = Perfect Inequality**. **Lorenz Curve**: Graphical plot of cumulative population % (X-axis) vs cumulative income % (Y-axis). **Oxfam Inequality Data ("Survival of the Richest")**: Top 10% hold **74.3%** of wealth; Top 1% holds **42.5%** of wealth; Bottom 50% holds only **2.8%**.
The Gini Debate: World Bank (Consumption) vs WID (Income/Wealth)	**World Bank (2025)**: Consumption-based Gini fell from **0.288 (2011-12) to 0.255 (2022-23)**, ranking India among the **4th most-equal** major economies globally — based on *consumption* expenditure, not income or wealth. **World Inequality Database (WID)**: Income Gini stands far higher at **~0.61**, among the world's most unequal; wealth Gini at **~0.74** (8th-worst globally), with the top 1% owning **>40%** of national wealth vs bottom 50% holding just **~3%**. **Why the gap**: Consumption smooths out volatility and excludes asset ownership/capital gains, making consumption-Gini look far more equal than income/wealth-Gini — a key exam-trap distinction.
Anti-Inequality Governance Measures	Progressive taxation, Land reforms, Competition Act 2002 (replacing MRTP), MGNREGA. **Suggested Policy Interventions**: Wealth/Inheritance tax, labour-intensive manufacturing, data transparency.
Unemployment Ratios & Dantwala Committee	**M.L. Dantwala Committee (1960)**: Formulated 3 measurement approaches for NSSO since 1972-73: UPS, CWS, CDS. **Key Formulas**: **Unemployment Rate (UR %)** = [ (**Labour Force − Workforce**) ÷ (**Labour Force**) ] × **100** **Proportion Unemployed** = [ (**Unemployed**) ÷ (**Total Population**) ] × **100** **Employment Intensity** = Number of employed persons per **Lakh of Real GDP**.
CDS vs UPS vs CWS (Dantwala Framework)	**Usual Principal Status (UPS)**: 365-day reference (>183 days). Lowest estimate (measures chronic open unemployment). **Current Weekly Status (CWS)**: 7-day reference (employed if worked ≥1 hour on any 1 day). **Current Daily Status (CDS)**: 1-day reference (≥4 hrs = full day; 1–4 hrs = half day; <1 hr = unemployed). **Best & broadest measure** (captures open unemployment, underemployment, and seasonality).
Taxonomy of Unemployment Types	**Disguised**: Marginal Productivity of Labour (**MPL = 0**). Prevalent in agriculture and over-staffed PSUs. **Structural**: Skill mismatch, slow capital formation, population growth. Long-term structural gap. **Frictional**: Temporary transition between jobs, strikes, lockouts, labor immobility. **Cyclical**: Trade cycle recessions/depressions in market economies. **Casual & Seasonal**: Daily wage contracts (construction) and off-season agricultural lulls. **Technological**: Capital-intensive automation replacing labor.
Jobless Growth & Employment Elasticity Collapse	**Jobless Growth**: GDP grows faster than employment creation due to reliance on capital-intensive FDI technology. **Employment Elasticity Collapse**: 1972–73 to 1983: **0.52** | 1993–94 to 2004–05: **0.29** | 2004–05 to 2011–12: **0.04** (near zero). **Agri Employment Elasticity**: Turned **negative (-0.42)** between 2004-05 and 2011-12.
Beveridge Curve & Unemployment Trap	**Beveridge Curve (UV Curve)**: Hyperbolic downward-sloping curve plotting **Unemployment Rate (X-axis)** vs **Job Vacancy Rate (Y-axis)**. High unemployment + low vacancies = Recession. **Unemployment Trap**: Situation where welfare benefits exceed net wage earnings, discouraging workers from seeking employment.
Casualisation & Informalisation of Workforce	**Casualisation**: Shift from self-employment (declined from 62% in 1972 to 51.9% in 2017) to daily wage casual labor without social security (PF/gratuity). **Informalisation**: **~90%** of India's workforce works in informal enterprises (<10 workers). Driven by rigid labor laws, LPG market transition, and unorganized MSME dominance.
All India Time Use Survey (NSO 2019)	First nationwide survey measuring time disposition across paid vs unpaid activities, capturing gender disparity in unpaid domestic care work.

4. SERVICES-SECTOR JOBLESS GROWTH & LABOUR REGULATION DEBATE

Cue Words	Notes
Services Jobless Growth Paradox	Services' share of value-added has risen fast since India's economic "take-off," but its share of employment has grown only slowly — the mirror image of industry's problem (industry adds jobs but of low productivity). High-end services (IT, finance) need higher education; mid-level services (retail, hospitality) need basic skilling — the skill mismatch constrains job absorption in both.
Informality Scale (Economic Survey 2012-13 baseline)	**~85%** of India's workforce sits in the informal sector; even outside agriculture the informal share is **~70%**. **95%** of all jobs (incl. **33%** even in the public sector) are informal in nature — i.e., lack a written contract or social-security benefits. **~80%** of non-agricultural wage workers have no written contract.
Labour Law Rigidity vs Job Creation Debate	**Besley-Burgess (2004)** found industrial performance weaker in states with pro-worker labour law amendments; firms respond to rigid Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) by favouring **capital over labour, informal arrangements, or contractual hiring** — India's EPL is stricter than all but two OECD countries, yet covers very few workers in practice. **Chapter VB, Industrial Disputes Act**: firms with 100+ workers need state government permission to retrench/lay off — states are frequently unwilling to grant it, disincentivising formal hiring.
The Mauritian Miracle: EPZ Model	Mauritius (1970s-2000s) used non-geographic Export Processing Zones (EPZs) — import ease, profit repatriation freedom, tax holidays, flexible hiring/layoffs — to absorb a third of its labour force in EPZ jobs by 1990, cited as a reform template for India's labour-intensive manufacturing job creation.

> **Summary**: The 2012-13 Economic Survey's jobs debate — low-productivity industrial job growth, high-productivity but job-poor services growth, and deep informality sustained by rigid labour law — set the analytical template still used to assess India's current jobless-growth and Labour Code reforms.

5. SECC 2011: METHODOLOGY & INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE

Cue Words	Notes
SECC 2011 Enumeration Design	First door-to-door Socio-Economic and Caste Census since June 2011, conducted simultaneously in rural and urban India by respective states with GoI technical/financial support — ~6 lakh enumerators paired with an equal number of computer-literate Data Entry Operators (DEOs).
Two-Stage Verification & Transparency	Household data (excluding caste data) is placed in the public domain for scrutiny, subject to a two-stage "claims and objections" appeal; in rural areas, the Gram Sabha must mandatorily scrutinise the data in a specially convened meeting — designed to minimise inclusion/exclusion errors flagged by the N.C. Saxena Committee.
Abhijit Sen Expert Committee	A separate Expert Committee under Prof. Abhijit Sen (Planning Commission) was tasked with examining SECC indicators/data and recommending the methodology for classifying beneficiaries across different rural development programmes — i.e., SECC collects data, but a distinct expert body decides how to convert it into inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Aadhaar Integration	SECC beneficiary data is designed to be seeded with the Aadhaar number across welfare schemes to prevent duplication of benefits — an early template for what became DBT-linked targeting.

6. GLOSSARY: LABOUR-MARKET CONCEPTS & UNEMPLOYMENT THEORIES

Cue Words	Notes
Creative Destruction	Joseph Schumpeter's (Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 1942) idea that innovative entrepreneurs introducing new technologies and displacing old ones is the key engine of economic growth — though the irregularity of innovation waves also drives the business cycle's booms and crises.
Technological Unemployment	Unemployment arising from automation of production activities — machines replacing human labour.
Activity Rate / Labour Force Participation	The proportion of a country's total (economically active) population that constitutes the labour force, expressed in per cent — varies across countries with school-leaving age, retirement age, and social norms around higher education/work.
Okun's Law & Phillips Curve	**Okun's Law** (Arthur Okun): links GDP growth to unemployment — at ~3% p.a. growth, unemployment stays flat; each percentage point of growth above/below 3% cuts/raises unemployment by roughly half a point. **Phillips Curve** (A.W.H. Phillips, 1958): shows an empirical inflation-unemployment trade-off — lower unemployment associated with higher inflation, forcing governments to choose a policy balance.
Lump of Labour Fallacy	The mistaken belief (named by D.F. Schloss, 1891) that there is a fixed "lump" of work in an economy to be shared out — in reality the total quantum of work is not fixed, so redistributing hours does not mechanically create or destroy jobs.
Poverty Trap & Population Trap	**Poverty Trap** (Unemployment Trap): a situation where an unemployed person's after-tax income from work would be less than unemployment benefits, discouraging job-seeking. **Population Trap**: population growth outpacing achievable economic growth, making poverty alleviation harder — necessitating population-control measures.
Residual Unemployment & Growth Recession	**Residual Unemployment**: unemployment persisting even at "full employment" (e.g., severely disabled persons whose employment cost exceeds their productivity). **Growth Recession**: an economy still expanding (positive real GDP growth) but too slowly to create net new jobs — job losses outpace job creation even though the economy is technically growing.
Non-Workers (Census Definition)	Persons who did not "work at all" in the reference period: students, those on household duties, dependants (infants/elderly), pensioners, and beggars/vagrants/persons of unidentified income — contrasted with Main Workers (worked ≥6 months of the reference year) and Marginal Workers (<6 months).
Gig-Economy	A labour market characterised by short-term contracts and freelance/platform-based work rather than permanent, salaried jobs.

7. INCLUSIVE GROWTH: DEFINITION, ATTRIBUTES & UNDEREMPLOYMENT

Cue Words	Notes
Inclusive Growth (Eleventh Plan Definition)	Defined as "a growth process which yields broad-based benefits and ensures equality of opportunity for all" — i.e., "equitable development" or "growth with social justice," expanding traditional growth models to cover health, human capital, environmental quality, social protection and food security equity.
Where Growth Becomes Inclusive	Growth is inclusive when it occurs in sectors where the poor work (agriculture), in places where the poor live (underdeveloped regions), using factors of production the poor possess (unskilled labour), and when it lowers prices of items the poor consume (food, fuel, clothing).
Four Attributes of Inclusiveness	**Opportunity**: generating more income-earning opportunities. **Capability**: building means (skills/education/health) to exploit opportunities. **Access**: bridging opportunities and capabilities together. **Security**: protecting people against temporary/permanent loss of livelihood.
World Bank Features of Inclusive Growth	Long-term, sustained-growth perspective (not short-run income transfers); must be broad-based across sectors and inclusive of the bulk of the labour force; focuses on productive employment (not income redistribution); takes both firm and individual as unit of analysis; market-driven with government as facilitator, not targets like specific employment/income-distribution numbers.
Absolute vs Relative Pro-Poor Growth	**Absolute definition**: growth is pro-poor as long as the poor benefit in absolute terms (any agreed poverty measure improves). **Relative definition**: growth is pro-poor only if the poor's incomes grow *faster* than the population average, i.e., inequality itself declines. Inclusive growth aligns with the absolute, not relative, definition.
Underemployment: Definition & Types	A worker is employed but not in the desired capacity (compensation, skill-level, experience, or hours) — distinct from unemployment. Types: skilled workers in low-paying jobs, skilled workers in low-skill jobs, and part-time workers seeking full-time hours.
Underemployment as India's Deeper Jobs Crisis	India's growth has skewed toward capital-/skill-intensive sectors (automobiles, software, telecom, finance) rather than labour-intensive ones (clothing, light manufacturing, food processing) that could absorb low-skill workers — making underemployment (not open unemployment) the bigger structural challenge, with the agriculture-to-industry/services workforce transition among the slowest globally.
Kuznets Curve (Inverted-U Hypothesis)	Simon Kuznets (1955) hypothesised inequality first rises then falls over the course of economic development — early industrialisation favours capital-holders and pulls cheap rural labour to cities (widening gaps), while later-stage democratisation and welfare-state development narrow it. An analogous Environmental Kuznets Curve posits environmental degradation rises then falls with income growth.
Inequality & Growth — Economic Survey 2020-21	2021 Unlike advanced economies, in India both **inequality and per-capita income growth show similar directional relationships** with socio-economic indicators — economic growth has a **greater impact on poverty alleviation than inequality reduction**. The Survey (India's pandemic-year survey) argued India must **prioritize growth to lift the poor out of poverty**, i.e. expanding the economic "pie" as a precondition for redistribution.
UBI vs Universal Basic Services (UBS)	Poverty is fundamentally capability deprivation (lack of health, education, infrastructure), not merely income shortfall — so income-transfer schemes (UBI) address only the symptom. UBS (publicly provided water, sanitation, housing, health, education) is argued as the more India-appropriate route, since UBI's European origin assumes a state already saturated with public services — a precondition India has not yet met.
AQEES: Establishment-Side Employment Data	**All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey (AQEES)** (Labour Bureau) supplements household-survey-based PLFS with establishment-side data across 9 sectors (Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Education, Health, Accommodation/Restaurant, IT/BPO, Financial Services) via two components: **QES** (establishments with ≥10 workers, organised) and **AFES** (≤9 workers, unorganised).

8. FUNDAMENTALS CHECK — WORKING AGE POPULATION & LABOUR CHAIN

Cue Words	Notes
Working Age Population (WAP)	Population within the age band conventionally deemed economically active — in India's PLFS, persons aged **15 years and above** (no upper cap). **WAP splits into**: (1) **Labour Force** (those working or seeking/available for work) and (2) **Out of Labour Force** (students, homemakers, retirees, disabled, those neither working nor seeking work).
Labour Force → Workforce → Unemployed Chain	**Labour Force = Workforce (Employed) + Unemployed** (seeking/available for work but not employed). **Worker Population Ratio (WPR) = (Workforce ÷ Total Population) × 100** — share of population actually employed.
LFPR vs Unemployment Rate — The Core Distinction	**LFPR** measures what share of the *working-age population* is participating in the labour market at all (working or looking for work): **LFPR (%) = (Labour Force ÷ Working Age Population) × 100**. **Unemployment Rate** measures what share of *only those already in the labour force* are without work: **UR (%) = (Unemployed ÷ Labour Force) × 100**. **UPSC Trap**: A falling UR alongside a falling LFPR can signal "discouraged workers" exiting the labour force rather than genuine job creation — the two indicators must always be read together.

9. UNEMPLOYMENT MEASUREMENT — RATIOS & STATUS DEFINITIONS (RAW NSSO FORM)

Cue Words	Notes
The Four Basic Ratios	**LFPR** = Labour force (people in working age group willing to work) ÷ Total Population. **WPR (Worker Population Ratio)** = Workers (people employed) ÷ Total Population. **Proportion Unemployed** = No. of unemployed ÷ Population. **Unemployment Rate** = No. of unemployed ÷ Labour Force.
Usual Status — Availability Threshold	**Labour force under Usual Status** = those **available for work for more than 6 months** of the survey year. **Employed on principal basis**: people who worked for the **majority of the time period** for which they were available for work. **Employed on subsidiary basis**: worked for **at least 30 days** during the survey year, BUT were considered **unemployed under principal basis, or outside the labour force** (e.g., available only for 5 months). Usual Status **measures Chronic Unemployment**.
Current Status (Weekly)	**Employed** = those who work for **at least 1 hour in a day of the survey week**. A **lenient criterion**. Source note: this source states Current Status also "measures chronic unemployment" — *(as written in source; the standard exam position is that Usual Status measures chronic unemployment while Current Weekly Status captures shorter-term/seasonal unemployment — see Section 3's Dantwala framework)*.
Current Daily Status (CDS) — Man-Days Formula	Takes into account the activity status of the labour force **for each day of the survey week (Man-Days)**. **Unemployment Rate (CDS) = Unemployed Man-days ÷ Total Man-days**.
Misery Index	**Misery Index = Unemployment Rate + Inflation Rate** — shows the extent of **Stagflation**.
Dwarf Firms (Economic Survey concept)	Firms that are both (i) small — less than 100 workers, and (ii) older than 10 years. Account for half of all organised manufacturing by number, but have a small share in net value added and employment — the classic "dwarfs vs infants" jobs problem.
Total Factor Productivity	**TFP = GDP ÷ weighted average of labour and capital input**. Gives **real output growth** (the residual not explained by labour/capital accumulation).
PLFS Basic Identity	**PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey)** — by **NSO, MoSPI**; **India's 1st computer-based survey**; **launched in 2017**. *(Survey mechanics detailed in the National Income notes.)*

10. POVERTY LINES — COMMITTEE-WISE BASIS OF ESTIMATION

Cue Words	Notes
Dandekar & Rath Committee, 1970-71	Used calories only — assumed that health and education would be provided by the State, hence excluded from the basket.
Alagh Committee, 1978-79	Used calories only.
Lakdawala Committee, 1993-94	Used calories only.
Tendulkar Committee, 2009	**Only calorific value** used for the **food expenditure** component. **First committee to use non-food expenditure** — Health, Education, Clothing. **Still used for Official Poverty estimation** *(position as of this source; the Rangarajan Committee 2014 report was never officially adopted, and NITI Aayog's MPI has since become the headline poverty metric — see the Fact Sheet)*.
C. Rangarajan Committee, 2014	Used Calorie + Protein + Fat. Non-food items such as Health, rent, clothing, education, transport. Committee-mandate listing: C. Rangarajan Committee — for poverty scale estimates in the country.
Gini Coefficient — Formula and Older Reading	**GINI Coefficient = A1 ÷ (A1 + A2)**, where A1 is the area between the 45° line and the Lorenz curve and A2 the area below the Lorenz curve. **India = 35.1 in 2011 according to the World Bank** *(older figure; superseded by the World Bank 2025 consumption-Gini of 0.255 for 2022-23 given in Section 3)*.
Mathew Effect	**Middle classes tend to be the main beneficiary of social benefits and services targeted for the poor** — i.e., benefit capture by the non-poor. Popular formulation: **the rich get richer, the poor get poorer**.
Alkire-Foster Method	A special technique for measuring poverty or wellbeing — the multidimensional counting methodology underlying the MPI; also used to construct Gross National Happiness (GNH) on a robust multidimensional basis.

11. MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INDEX — DIMENSIONS, INDICATORS & DEPRIVATION CUT-OFFS

Cue Words	Notes
Health — Nutrition	Deprived if living in a household where an adult under 70 years of age or a child i undernourished (OCR-truncated in source; transcribed as-is).
Health — Child Mortality	Deprived if any child under the age of 18 years has died in th five years preceding the survey (OCR-truncated in source; transcribed as-is).
Education — Years of Schooling	Deprived if no household member aged 10 years or older ha completed six years of schooling (OCR-truncated in source).
Education — School Attendance	Deprived if any school-aged child is not attending school up to th age at which he/she would complete class 8 (OCR-truncated in source).
Standard of Living — Cooking Fuel	Deprived if the household cooks with dung, wood, charcoal co coal (OCR-truncated in source).
Standard of Living — Sanitation	Deprived if the household's sanitation facility is not improve (according to SDG guidelines) or it is improved bu shared with other households (OCR-truncated in source).
Standard of Living — Drinking Water	Deprived if the household does not have access to improve drinking water (according to SDG guidelines) or safrinking water is at least a 30-minute walk from home round trip (OCR-truncated/garbled in source; transcribed as-is).
Standard of Living — Electricity	Deprived if the household has no electricity.
Standard of Living — Housing	Deprived if housing materials for at least one of roof, walls and floor are inadequate: the floor is of natural material and/or the roof and/or walls are of natural rudimentary materials.
Standard of Living — Assets	Deprived if the household does not own more than one of thes assets: radio, TV, telephone, computer, animal car bicycle, motorbike or refrigerator, and does not own car or truck (OCR-truncated in source; "animal car[t]" and "does not own [a] car or truck").
Structure — 3 Dimensions, 10 Indicators	**Health** (Nutrition, Child mortality) | **Education** (Years of schooling, School attendance) | **Standard of Living** (Cooking fuel, Sanitation, Drinking water, Electricity, Housing, Assets).
HDR — Five Indices	The Human Development Report carries **5 indices**: **HDI**, **Inequality-Adjusted HDI (IHDI)**, **Gender Development Index (GDI)**, **Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)**, and **Gender Inequality Index (GII)**. **GDI = Female HDI ÷ Male HDI** — uses the **same standards as HDI**: Health, Education, Living Standards. **HDI dimensions**: (1) **Health** — life expectancy at birth (min 20, India 68.3, max 85 yrs); (2) **Knowledge** — mean years of schooling for ≥25 yrs (min 0, India 6.3 yrs, max 15) and expected years of schooling (min 0, India 11.7 yrs, max 18); (3) **Standard of living** — GNI per capita (min 100, max 75,000) *(older HDR-vintage values; table partly OCR-garbled in source)*.

12. LABOUR CODE BILLS — OVERVIEW & THE CODE ON WAGES

Cue Words	Notes
The Four Labour Codes	**Labour Code on Wages** **Labour Code on Industrial Relations** **Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare** **Labour Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions** *(Source describes these at the Bill stage; all four were enacted as Codes — Code on Wages, 2019 and the other three in 2020 — and their rollout has since been notified. Read the thresholds below as the Bill-stage position.)*
Code on Wages — Core Idea	**Fixes a floor wage** that would then undergird minimum wages for different categories of workers: **Unskilled | Semi-skilled | Skilled | Highly-skilled**.
Code on Wages — Acts Amalgamated (4)	**Payment of Wages Act, 1936** **Minimum Wages Act, 1948** **Payment of Bonus Act, 1965** **Equal Remuneration Act, 1976**
Code on Wages — Need & Constitutional Basis	**Need**: a **national minimum wage** to ensure a **uniform standard of living** across the country. **Art 43 (DPSP)**: the State shall provide workers a **living wage** and conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life. **Labour is a subject of the Concurrent List.**
Code on Wages — Coverage	Covers all employees. Central govt will make decisions for railways, mines, oil fields; State govt for other employments.
Code on Wages — What Counts as Wages	**Wages include** salary and allowance. **Wages do NOT include** bonus and travelling allowance.
Code on Wages — Floor Wage vs Minimum Wage	**Floor Wage**: **Central govt** will fix it; **may vary with geographical areas**. **Minimum wages** (which must be **greater than the floor wage**) are decided by the **state or central govt**.
Code on Wages — Deductions	Wages may be deducted on grounds of fines, absence from duty etc. Total deductions must not be greater than 50% of the employee's total wage.
Code on Wages — Gender & Overtime	**Gender discrimination prohibited.** **Overtime**: normal working hours fixed by central or state govt; **overtime wage must be at least twice the normal rate**.
Code on Wages — Advisory Boards	**Central and State Advisory Boards**, consisting of: **Employees**; **Employers (same number as employees)**; **Independent persons**; and **1/3rd will be women**. The Board will advise on: **fixing minimum wages** and **increasing employment opportunities for women**.
Code on Wages — Significance	Will **reduce the number of minimum wage rates from 2,500 to 300** across the country. **Removes multiplicity of definitions and authorities** → ease of compliance. Provides for an **appellate authority between the claim authority and the judicial forum** → speedy, cheap and efficient redressal of grievances and settlement.
Fair Wage Concept	**Fair Wage is the mean between the living wage and the minimum wage.**

13. LABOUR CODE ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Cue Words	Notes
Acts Combined (3)	Combines 3 acts: Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; Trade Unions Act, 1926; Industrial Employment Act, 1946 (source text reads "bines 3 acts" — OCR clipped the leading "Com").
Features — Fixed Term Contracts	Allows companies to hire workers on fixed-term contract of any duration on a pan-India basis → making it easier to hire and fire.
Features — Tribunal & Adjudication	Provision for setting up a **2-member tribunal** (instead of 1 member) → **speedier disposal of cases**. **Vests powers with govt officials** for **adjudication of disputes involving penalty as fines**.
Features — Retrenchment Threshold	**Govt permission for retrenchment kept at 100 employees.** **Factories, Mines or Plantations with more than 100 workers** need **govt permission before laying off workers**. *(Bill-stage figure as recorded in source; the enacted Industrial Relations Code, 2020 raised this standing-order/retrenchment-permission threshold to **300 workers**, with power to notify a higher number — do not quote 100 as the current law.)*
Features — Trade Union Registration	**Registration of trade unions** with **at least 10% membership or 100 members**.
Implications	**Workers — even if hired for 6 months — will all be treated at par with regular workers for benefits.** **In sync with global standards.** **Speedier disposal of cases** via the 2-member tribunal.
Criticism	**Uncertainty** — since there is **discretion by centre and state** and **flexibility for applicability**, the effective legal position varies, creating regulatory unpredictability.
Relation Building — Purpose	The Industrial Relations Code Bill seeks to improve ease of doing business.
Key Elements	**Fixed-term employment allowed under law**; **termination after fixed term will not be retrenchment**. **14-day notice before any strike or lockout.** **A trade union with the support of 75% of workers will be recognised.** **A negotiating council will be formed in the absence of 75% support.** **A re-skilling fund will be set up to train retrenched employees.** **Govt to have power of litigations involving minor disputes.**

14. LABOUR CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND WELFARE

Cue Words	Notes
What Social Security Means	Measures to ensure access to health care and provision of income security to workers.
Objectives	**Universal social security for unorganized sector workers.** **Insurance and health benefits for gig workers.** **To corporatise existing organisations like EPFO and ESIC** (Employees' State Insurance Corporation).
Features — Unorganised Sector Cover	**Insurance, Provident Fund and life cover for unorganized sector employees.**
Features — Corporatization of EPFO and ESIC	The Labour Minister and Labour Secretary may no longer be the direct head of these organisations; CEOs will be appointed instead.
Features — Gig Workers	**Benefit to Gig Workers** — the **Central govt will notify schemes from time to time**.
Features — Maternity & Consolidation	**Maternity Benefit** included. **Will merge 8 existing labour laws.**

15. LABOUR CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS

Cue Words	Notes
Objective	To regulate employment of workers — including those engaged by contractors — and their working conditions across sectors (source heading OCR-clipped as "r Code on Occupational Safety…").
Laws Subsumed (13)	**Subsumes 13 laws**, including the **Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979**; **Mines Act, 1952**; **Dock Workers Act**, etc. **Replaces 13 labour laws related to OSH.**
Applicability	**Establishments employing at least 10 workers.** **All mines and docks.** **Special provisions for factories, construction workers etc.**
National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board	Set up **in place of many committees**; the **National board is to be the key body**. **Tripartite representation** from **Trade Unions, Employer associations and State Govts**. Will **advise the govt on standards, rules and regulations**.
Licensing Requirements	**1 registration, 1 license and 1 tax return** instead of multiple. **Only one registration for one establishment** → improves **ease of doing business**.
Appointment — Formalisation of Employment	**Appointment letter made statutory** — the employer **has to issue an appointment letter to every employee**. **Free of cost annual health check-ups for employees.**
Safety and Welfare Provisions	Employer must provide a **hygienic work environment** — **ventilation, comfortable temperature, humidity, sufficient space, clean drinking water** etc. **Uniform threshold for welfare provisions for all establishments** — **creche, canteen, welfare officer** etc. **Duties of employees** — taking care of their own health etc.
Women in Night Shifts & Penalty	**Women permitted to work in night shifts, after their prior consent.** **Penalty for violations** provided for.

16. WORKER WELFARE INSTITUTIONS — ESIS, MIGRANT WORKERS & PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE

Cue Words	Notes
Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESIS)	Under **MoLabour**. Provides **Social Security + Health Insurance** → insurance against **sickness, death, disability** etc., and **provides medical care**. **Funded by both employer and employee.** **Regulated by the ESI Act, 1948**; **administered by ESIC** (under MoLabour & Employment). **Not applicable to seasonal factories** etc.
Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979	Seeks to **regulate employment of inter-state migrants and their conditions of service**. **Principal employer is prohibited from employing interstate workmen without a certificate of registration from state authorities.** **Applicable to every establishment with more than 5 migrant workmen.** Establishment **cannot discriminate against migrant workers** with respect to **holidays, working hours, wages** etc. *(Now subsumed into the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions — see Section 15.)*
National Migrant Information System (NMIS)	**Online dashboard developed by NDMA.** Maintains a **central repository of migrant workers** and helps in **speedy inter-state communication** to facilitate smooth movement of migrant workers to their native places. Also helped in **contact tracing during COVID-19** *(COVID-era measure)*.
Public Utility Service (PUS)	Business undertakings **engaged in supplying essential goods/services of daily necessity to the general public** → **cannot go on strike**. Defined **under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947**. **MoLabour & Employment declared Banking a public utility for 6 months** *(a time-bound notification of that period, not a permanent classification)*. **Railways, Water, Sanitation, Power, Ports, Post and Telephone** etc. are PUS. **No person employed in a Public Utility Service shall go on strike without 6 weeks prior notice.** **Characteristics**: **Indispensability**; **Monopoly position** (to avoid duplication); **Large investments**; **Public regulations**; **Pricing policies guided by govt**.

17. MGNREGA, WAGE-INDEXATION & SKILLING LINKAGES

Cue Words	Notes
MGNREGA as a Core-of-the-Core Scheme	Among the 6 Core of the Core Schemes (for social protection and social inclusion) in the Centrally Sponsored Scheme architecture, under the Department of Rural Development. The other five: National Social Assistance Programme (Dept of Rural Dev); Umbrella Scheme for Development of SCs (Dept of Social Justice & Empowerment); Umbrella Programme for Development of STs (MoTribal Affairs); Umbrella Programme for Minorities; Umbrella Programme for Development of Other Vulnerable Groups. CSS structure: financed by centre and states in fixed ratios (50:50, 70:30, 75:25, 90:10), implemented by states, formulated on State List subjects; 28 umbrella CSS schemes now, per the Shivraj Singh Chauhan Panel recommendations — Core of the Core (6) + Core (20) + Optional (2).
MGNREGA Wage Indexation	**MGNREGA wages are linked to CPI-AL** (Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers), compiled by the **Labour Bureau, MoLabour & Employment**. Related labour-side indices from the same Bureau: **CPI-IW** (Industrial Workers; base year revised to **2016**, from 2001) and **CPI-RL** (Rural Labourers).
MGNREGA as Anti-Inequality Measure	Listed alongside progressive taxation, land reforms and the Competition Act 2002 as a governance measure against inequality.
National Skill Development Council (NSDC)	A not-for-profit company operating as a PPP under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. Aims to promote skill development by catalyzing the creation of large, quality, for-profit vocational institutions.
Plan-Era Employment & Poverty Targets	**6th Plan (1980-85)**: objectives were **increasing national income** and **decreasing poverty & unemployment**; schemes — **TRYSEM** (Training Rural Youth for Self Employment), **IRDP**, **NREP**. Judged a **success**. **Rolling Plan (1978-80)**: **emphasis on employment**; abandoned when the government changed after 2 years. **7th Plan (1985-90)**: focus on **food, work, productivity** — very successful, the **Hindu Growth Rate was overcome**. **9th Plan (1997-2002)**: **Social Justice & Equality**. **4th Plan (1969-74)**: **Garibi Hatao** + self-reliance; launched by **D.P. Dhar**; growth with stability, income distribution and domestic savings.
India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF)	**By MoMSME** — to **focus on India's poor**; would back enterprises developing **innovative solutions for poor citizens**, balancing **social and financial returns**, with an **employment focus**.