 "It's not only metros but also islands where rent spendings soar")
Kerala might be the state with the highest literacy rate but when it comes to spending on education, even a low literate state like Arunachal Pradesh beats it. Such is the dynamics of household expenditure of all the other states and union territories in India which has been brought out in the 68th Round of the National Sample Survey for 2011-12 (June-July).
The expenditure on rent by urban population in A&N islands in 2011-12 stood at Rs 410.32 per month on an average, just ahead of Chandigarh (Rs 410.09) and surpassing the likes of their counterparts in even Delhi (Rs 184.70) and Karnataka (Rs 360.04).
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"In rural India, less than 4% of households live in rented dwellings. For A & N Islands, however, going by past NSS data, the percentage is around 20%. For urban India, about one-third of all households live in rented dwellings. In urban areas of A & N Islands, the percentage is about 50%. Thus the estimate of per capita (or per household) rent expenditure for A & N Islands would be higher than that for all-India", said P Chaudhury Deputy Directorate General of Survey Design and Research Division told Business Standard.
Not only this, but these islands also top the chart in terms of expenditure on conveyance which include spending on local travel to and from work destination, cost of fuel and cost of moving goods and services. The urban households in A&N Islands spent a huge sum of Rs 540.66, which was 80 per cent higher than what households had spent in Chandigarh, which was the second highest amount of Rs 299.26 on an average.
In a written reply to Business Standard on this weird trend, NSSO replied, "The higher MPCE of A & N Islands appears to be mainly due to a higher cost of living. However, the standard of living in real terms might also be genuinely higher in A & N Islands than the all-India average. NSS publications do not attempt to separate out the price effect from expenditure on such items as rent and conveyance."
Whereas, in rural areas, on commuting, Delhi's households spent the highest amount of Rs 275.42 monthly followed by A&N islands whose household had spent Rs 269.20.
Experts feel that high spending by population in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is on the account of people who live there for short intervals. "I think this is mainly due to the transient population that the islands might have. Large percentage of people live there for short durations, in which they do not mind spending more on rent and transportation", said Amitabh Kundu of the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
Services like domestic servant, barber, laundry or even telephone and internet is possibly availed by the majority nowadays in some or the other ways but households in urban parts of A&N Islands seem to be spending excessively on such services as well. In 2011-12, they had spent Rs 230 per month, which is just next to urban Delhi's household spending of Rs 251.78 on an average.
The affection of households in A&N Island, is not only limited to such services but also they have a knack of spending money on clothing and bedding items. The rural households of this island had spent Rs 176.7 on such items which is the highest among the rural parts of other states in India. In urban areas, Himachal Pradesh were the chart toppers as the households there had spent Rs 232 on clothing and bedding.
But the smaller sample size (or the population surveyed) cannot be completely ignored. "In statistical language, we say that the estimate for Andaman & Nicobar Islands is more prone to sampling fluctuations than the estimates for larger States, because of the smaller size of the sample that is allocated to it", mentioned Chaudhury.
Meanwhile, Kerala was incompetent on its spending on durable goods which includes a range of items such as electronic items and even two or four-wheelers. Rural and urban Kerala spent Rs. 384.38 and Rs. 567.22 respectively on durable goods which is the highest spending on these items among all the other states.
On education, the rural parts of Delhi spent the utmost Rs 235.62 among other rural states followed by Chandigarh's spending of Rs 235.03 whereas in urban areas, Punducherry had spent Rs 290.96 which is the highest.
Goa, regarded as one of the hot-shot travel destinations of the country, leads the states on entertainment spending with its rural and urban parts expenses standing at Rs. 51.98 and Rs. 72.34 on an average per month. Expenditure on entertainment includes cinemas, theatres, club fees, etc.
Lashadweep -- place with the highest per capita availability of fish in the country -- stands on the top in their spending on fish, egg and meat. The rural households spent Rs. 518.99 per month on non-vegetarian food items whereas the urban counterpart spent Rs 596.81, beating all the other states by a huge margin. Urban Goa stands next in this list spending Rs 328.95, a sum which is 45 per cent lower than what the urbans had spent on an average in the islands.