Levels of living of rural non-farm households in Punjab

The present study has been undertaken with a view to examine the impact of rural non-farm activities on the levels of living of rural households in Punjab. It has been found that the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure in the case of sample respondents was more than double and 38 percent higher as compared to the national and state averages, respectively. While people at national and Punjab level spend more on food items than on non-food items, the opposite results were observed in the case of sample respondents. Nearly two-fifth of the sample respondents were in the highest class of monthly per capita consumption expenditure compared to nearly one-fifth and one-twentieth of people at state and national level. None of the sample respondents fall in the lowest monthly per capita consumption expenditure bracket. The figures for the state and national level came out to be 1.8 and 20 percent, respectively. The lesser expenditure on cereals and more on milk and milk products in the case of sampled respondents as a better food item compared to an average Indian can be explained in the terms of theoretical expectation that as incomes go up, people start shifting to relatively superior foods that is quality shift. The results show that adoption of non-farm activities in Punjab has certainly helped in raising income and consumption of the sample respondents as the number of persons below the cut-off line of poverty was far lower in the case of sample respondents in comparison to state and national level figures.