The FAO has estimated that a healthy diet costs about US$4 per person per day, which applying the purchasing power parity conversion rate of ₹23 to the dollar works out to ₹92. So given an average household size of 4.4 currently this works out to a food expenditure of roughly ₹400 per household per day. The latest consumption expenditure survey conducted in 2022-23 by the National Statistical Organisation says that food expenditure constitutes about 43% of the total household consumption expenditure. So for a healthy diet combined with other associated requirements for a good life the annual household consumption expenditure should be at least (400/0.43)*365= ₹340000.
Ideally a household should have a savings of 20% and so a decent annual household income is ₹425000.Therefore, when we as development workers talk of improving the incomes of the people at the bottom of the pyramid and say we have impacted their lives positively we have to benchmark our impact against this desired basic income. To what extent have we been able to ensure this level of income for the beneficiaries on a sustainable basis. So far I have not seen such an analysis anywhere. Instead organisations proudly say that they have increased the incomes by a few thousand rupees or so.
In fact given the kind of low prices that farmers and craftspersons get for their produce and the low wages workers get for their labour, it is doubtful that such a high income as estimated here can be ensured by NGOs through development interventions. Therefore, there is a strong case for the provision by the government of a lifelong universal basic income equal to the statutory minimum wage to all adults funded by a tax on bank deposits and other financial assets. This can be tied to various projects of ecosystem restoration, sustainable farming and craft and renewable energy generation to ensure sustainability in the long run. This will not only solve the problem of low incomes resulting from low productivity and lack of well paying employment opportunities but will also push up both demand and supply in the economy.
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