According to recent data released by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), per capita was 5.6 times less in a month for the bottom ten per cent of the population than the top 10 per cent in rural areas during 2009-10.
The disparity increases to 9.8 times between the two classes in urban parts - which means rising real spending in rural areas, even though it is almost half of urban India's, suggesting increasing incomes.
The top 10 per cent in rural India spent 71 per cent more than those in the next 10 per cent, while in urban India this difference was 92 per cent. This data implies that there has been an upliftment in the living standards of the rural population.
However, despite the afore-mentioned data, overall income inequality may actually be wider, since one spends a lesser proportion of income on consumption as income grows.
