Sunil Jain: OBC's simply the average Indian

Whether in terms of income or ownership of goods, the result is unambiguous

Data from the the National Council of Applied Economic Research's (NCAER) latest National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (NSHIE) 2004-05 show that the Other Backward Classes (OBC) are very similar to the average Indian, both in terms of income and expenditure, as well as in ownership patterns of consumer goods like radios, television sets and two wheelers. Like the National Sample Survey 2004-05 findings, NSHIE 2004-05 also shows that OBCs are a little over 41 per cent of the population ""the NSS, however, does not capture data on income levels or on ownership of durables like NSHIE does. 

WHO'S THE BACKWARD HERE? Average Household Expenditure ( Rs per annum)
	SC	ST	OBC	Others	All
Q1	19,838	17,996	21,700	26,723	21,545
Q2	26,083	23,368	27,844	29,293	27,427
Q3	32,832	29,482	34,316	37,385	34,736
Q4	44,735	40,192	44,064	48,502	45,777
Q5	66,819	56,247	67,895	79,623	73,546
Average	32,208	27,236	38,288	50,731	40,607
Average Household Income (Rs per annum)
	SC	ST	OBC	Others	All
Q1	19,376	17,533	20,093	20,687	19,600
Q2	29,802	27,298	31,507	31,971	30,869
Q3	42,206	37,723	43,606	46,487	43,910
Q4	65,518	62,330	65,894	70,594	67,601
Q5	136,353	134,673	138,324	157,869	148,339
Average	44,641	39,218	57,384	81,731	62,066
Television (per cent of households owning this)
	SC	ST	OBC	Others	All
Q1	20.30	12.80	27.70	40.40	25.70
Q2	36.20	30.50	47.80	54.10	45.40
Q3	59.50	47.30	66.30	73.90	66.30
Q4	78.60	70.80	81.90	89.00	83.90
Q5	90.50	84.50	92.00	94.80	93.00
Average	47.50	35.80	62.50	77.30	62.90
Radio (per cent of households owning this)
	SC	ST	OBC	Others	All
Q1	42.30	43.60	45.80	47.90	45.00
Q2	47.10	58.50	49.80	49.50	50.00
Q3	45.50	49.10	50.50	50.00	49.40
Q4	54.00	51.30	53.50	50.60	52.30
Q5	50.70	60.10	54.00	48.70	51.20
Average	46.70	50.30	50.70	49.40	49.60
Q1 refers to bottom-most per capita income quintile while Q5 refers to top-most per capita income quintile Source: NCAER

NSHIE shows that while the average annual income of Schedule Caste (SC) families in the country in 2004-05 was Rs 44,641, it was Rs 39,218 for Schedule Tribe (ST) families, Rs 57,384 for OBCs and Rs 81,731 for the rest which includes upper-caste Hindus "" the average for all Indians was Rs 62,066. In terms of expenditures, the figures were Rs 32,208, Rs 27,236, Rs 38,288, Rs 50,731 and Rs 40,607 respectively (see table). That is, income and expenditure levels for OBCs are almost identical to the all-India averages for all castes/religious groups.

When you look at the data in terms of per capita income quintiles as well, the results are not too different. SC households in the bottom-most quintile had an annual income of Rs 19,376 in 2004-05, that for ST households was Rs 17,533 while that for OBC households was Rs 20,093 and the average was Rs 19,600 (that for upper-caste Hindus was Rs 20,687). In the top-most quintile, the SC, the ST and OBC families had remarkably similar income levels (Rs 134,000 to Rs 138,000) while the upper-caste Hindu was Rs 157,869 and the average for everyone was Rs 148,339.

In the case of televisions, while 20 per cent of SC families, and 13 per cent of ST families in the bottom-most quintiles owned a set, the figure was 28 per cent in the case of OBCs and 26 per cent for the country as a whole "" for the upper-castes, the figure was 40 per cent. For the top-most quintile, the ownership levels are above 90 per cent for all groups except STs where the figure is a slightly lower 84.5 per cent.

For two-wheelers, a remarkable similarity in ownership patterns can also be seen for the creamy layer, or the top-most quintile. While 62 per cent of the SC creamy layer owned a two-wheeler in 2004-05, the figure was 72 per cent for OBCs, 74 per cent for upper-caste Hindus and 72 per cent for the country as a whole. In the case of cars, it was 12 per cent, 18 per cent, 23 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Of course what matters is not just the absolute numbers of consumption, income and ownership in each income quintile, but also the number of families in each quintile. Thus, a tad over 30 per cent of SC families and 40 per cent of ST families are to be found in the lowest income quintile. For upper caste Hindus, this proportion is under 11 per cent while for OBCs it is 19.5 per cent, that is, just a bit lower than the average of 20 per cent for the entire country.

Similarly, while just 9.6 per cent of SC families are in the top income quintile (9.4 per cent for STs), the figure is 17.2 per cent for OBCs "" that is, in this case as well, the distribution is very close to the average for the country. In the case of upper-caste Hindus, 31 per cent of all households fall in the top-most per capita income quintile.

The NSHIE Survey procedures were decided after reviewing the experience in 36 countries, including major national surveys such as the NSS. The multi-stage stratified sampling had a listed sample of 440,000 households spread over 1,976 villages, 250 districts and 24 states/UTs. From this, 63,000 households were chosen for a detailed questionnaire. According to RK Shukla, NCAER's senior fellow who was in charge of the survey, its results were validated against the census, national accounts and even the NSS. While the NSS 2004-05 gives an annual monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 725, NSHIE's figure is Rs 678. Within this, the NSS says the MPCE for Hindus is Rs 717""NSHIE says it is Rs 674. Figures for different groups like the SC/STs and OBCs are also remarkably similar.

These are just preliminary findings of the survey, and only a detailed analyses will provide information at the level of individual states, top cities and for high income groups. A more detailed analyses will also provide valuable cross-tabulations of incomes and occupations and the differences across regions and perhaps states. With the Supreme Court now asking for more data on the number of OBCs in the country, and others such as the Youth for Equality arguing that OBCs are not really backward in the sense that SCs and STs are, the results of a more detailed analyses will make the debate a lot more lively in the months to come.