Balanced development

Spatial inequality must be addressed

One of the prevalent views among economists and economy watchers, particularly after the pandemic, has been that inequality in India has increased over the years. Several studies and reports in recent years have emphasised this view. However, details for the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 — released last week — show inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, has, in fact, declined. At the all-India level, the Gini coefficient of consumption expenditure in rural areas declined from 0.283 in 2011-12 to 0.266 in 2022-23. For the urban areas, it declined from 0.363 to 0.314 during the same period. The