NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India

Report No. 500 (59/18.2/1)

Household Assets and Liabilities in India
(as on 30.06.2002)

NSS 59th Round
(January–December 2003)

National Sample Survey Organisation
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Government of India

November 2005

PREFACE

The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) has been conducting All-India surveys
on Debt and Investment decennially since its 26th round (1971-72) in both rural and urban areas.
These surveys generate basic quantitative information on assets, liabilities and capital
expenditure in the household sector of the economy. The All-India Debt and Investment Survey
(AIDIS), which was carried out as part of the 59th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS)
during the period January to December 2003, was the sixth such survey conducted at the all-
India level. Prior to 1971-72, two surveys namely ‘All-India Rural Credit Survey’ and ‘All-India
Rural Debt and Investment Survey’ had been completed in 1951-52 and in 1961-62 respectively
by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for rural areas only.

The present report is the first in the series of five reports planned to be brought out on the
basis of data collected in the NSS 59th round (January to December 2003). Some basic
estimates on assets and liabilities (cash loans) of rural and urban households as on 30th June
2002 are presented in this report. The report consists of three Chapters and three Appendices.
Chapter one deals with the introduction and chapter two with concepts and definitions that have
been used in the survey. Chapter three deals with summary results of the survey and their
comparison with the results of the previous surveys.

The Survey Design and Research Division of NSSO developed the survey methodology and
drafted the report. The fieldwork for the survey was handled by the Field Operations Division of
NSSO. While the data processing and tabulation work was handled by the Data Processing
Division of NSSO, the Coordination and Publication Division of NSSO coordinated various
activities pertaining to the survey.

I am thankful to the Chairman and the Members of the Working Group for the NSS 59th
round as well as to the Chairman and the Members of the Governing Council of NSSO for their
overall guidance at various stages of survey work. The report, I hope, will be useful to the
planners and policy makers.

Comments and suggestions from readers will be most welcome.

New Delhi P.S. Rana
November 2005 Secretary
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

HIGHLIGHTS

Household Assets

According to the survey estimates, about 73% of the households in India were located in the
rural areas and, among them, nearly 60% were cultivator households. Among the urban
households about 36% were self-employed households.

Almost all the households in India owned some physical and financial assets as on 30.06.02.
Average value of assets (AVA) owned by a household was Rs. 2.66 lakh for the rural areas
and Rs. 4.17 lakh for the urban areas.

A rural cultivator household, on an average, owned assets of Rs. 3.73 lakh, which was three-
and-half time that owned by a non-cultivator household (Rs. 1.07 lakh). In urban areas, a
self-employed household, on an average, owned assets of Rs. 5.55 lakh while other category
of households owned assets of Rs. 3.39 lakh.

Among the rural households, AVA was the highest in Punjab (Rs. 9.04 lakh), followed by
Haryana (Rs. 7.16 lakh ), Jammu & Kashmir (Rs.6.15 lakh) and Kerala (Rs. 5.10 lakh) while
Orissa had the lowest AVA with Rs. 0.98 lakh per household and close to it were Andhra
Pradesh (Rs. 1.35 lakh), Assam (Rs. 1.46 lakh), West Bengal and Jharkhand (each Rs. 1.52
lakh).

Among the urban households, AVA was the highest for Jammu & Kashmir (Rs. 10.67 lakh),
followed by Kerala (Rs. 7.62 lakh), Haryana (Rs. 6.73 lakh ) and Delhi (Rs. 5.74 lakh).
Jharkhand reported lowest ownership of assets amounting to Rs. 2.44 lakh preceded by
Orissa (Rs. 2.50 lakh), Assam (2.77 lakh), Chhatishgarh (Rs. 2.80 lakh), Bihar, West Bengal
and Tamil Nadu (each of Rs. 3.22 lakh).

Composition of household Assets

Land and building were found to be the two major components of household assets. In the
rural areas, land and buildings together, accounted for 87% share in the total value of assets
at the national level - with land 63 percentage points and buildings 24 percentage points. In
the urban areas, land and buildings together, accounted for about 76% share in the total value
of assets - with land and buildings each holding about 38 percentage points.

Size distribution of Assets

In 2002, in the rural areas, about 7.6% of the households owned assets as low as Rs. 15000
or even less, while about 23% of the households owned assets amounting to rupees 3 lakh
and more. In the urban areas, corresponding percentages of households were 17 and 34,
respectively.

i

Household Assets and Liabilities as on 30.06.2002 Report No. 500

Household Indebtedness

About 27% of the rural households and 18% of the urban households reported debt (cash
loan) outstanding as on 30.6.02. The average amount of debt (AOD) for a rural household
was Rs. 7,539 and that for an urban household was Rs. 11,771.

Both incidence of indebtedness (IOI) and average amount of debt (AOD) are seen to have
increased steadily with the increase of asset holdings. The AOD of a household belonging to
the lowest asset holding class (less than Rs. 0.15 lakh) was lower by 23 times that of a
household in the top asset holding class (Rs. 8 lakh and above) in the rural areas. This ratio
was nearly one-twenty eighth in the case of urban areas.

Among the major states in rural India, in 2002, the highest IOI is noticed in Andhra Pradesh
(42%) closely followed by Kerala (39%), Rajasthan (34%) and Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
(each with 31%). On the other hand, states like Jammu & Kashmir (4%), Uttaranchal (6%)
and Assam (8%) are found to report very low IOI. As regards AOD, among the major states
in rural India, Kerala is found to top the list with cash loan of Rs. 19,663 per household
followed by Punjab (Rs. 16,502), Haryana (Rs. 12,359) and Rajasthan (Rs. 12,031). On the
other hand, the lower values of AOD are observed in many of the states like Assam (Rs.
643), Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir (each with around Rs. 1100).

Among the major states in urban India, the extent of indebtedness was to be found the
highest in Kerala (37%) followed by Andhra Pradesh (30%), Tamil Nadu (26%) and Gujarat
(21%). On the other hand, Delhi (2%) is at the bottom rung, being closely accompanied by
Jammu & Kashmir (5%), Assam (6%), Jharkhand and Uttaranchal (each with 7%). Among
the major states, Kerala showed the highest value of AOD (Rs.28,446) in the urban sector.
The other states, in that order, are Himachal Pradesh (Rs. 25,951), Andhra Pradesh (Rs.
19,901) and Gujarat (Rs. 15,715). At the other end, Delhi, Assam and Bihar are at the bottom
league with average values of Rs. 1,441, Rs.2,126 and Rs. 2,616, respectively.

In the rural areas, the incidence of indebtedness (IOI) at the all-India level has somewhat
increased steadily since 1981 - from 20% in 1981 to 23% in 1991 and then, to 27% in 2002.
The increase in the AOD among the rural households during 1971 to 1981 appears to have
been negligible - the increase being from Rs 500 to Rs. 661 in a period of ten years, but it
increased at a faster rate during 1981 to 1991 and then accelerated further during 1991 to
2002 – reached Rs. 7,539 per household. The AOD among the urban households increased
from Rs. 1,030 to Rs. 3,618 during 1981 to 1991 and then, increased to Rs. 11,771 in 2002.

As on 30.6.02, the 'debt-asset' ratio at the all-India level was 2.82% for urban areas and
2.84% for rural areas. The ratio was 4.65% for the non-cultivator households and 2.49% for
the cultivator households in the rural areas. In the urban areas, the ratio was 2.19% for self
employed households and 3.42% for other households.

ii

Contents
Page

Highlights i – ii
Contents iii – iv
Chapter One Introduction 1–4
Chapter Two Concepts and Definitions 5–9
Chapter Three Summary of Findings 10 – 41
Appendix A Detailed Tables A1 – A389
Appendix B Sample Design and Estimation Procedure B1 – B10
Appendix C Schedule on Debt and Investment (Sch. 18.2) C1 – C28

Appendix A

Table No. Title Page

Table 1 Number of villages/blocks and households surveyed for each A1
state/u.t.

Table 2 Estimated number of households and total value of assets as on A2 – A3
30.06.02, estimated number of households reporting cash loans and
amount of cash loans as on 30.06.02 by household asset holding
class and major household type

Table 3R Average value of assets per household and average amount of cash A4 – A11
loans per household as on 30.06.02 by household type in rural areas

Table 3U Average value of assets per household and average amount of cash A12 – A23
loans per household as on 30.06.02 by household type in urban areas

Table 4 Average value of assets per household and average amount of cash A24 – A59
loans per household as on 30.06.02 by household asset holding class

Table 5R Per thousand distribution of households by household asset holding A60 – A71
class for each household type in rural areas

iii


Table No. Title Page

Table 5U Per thousand distribution of households by household asset holding A72 – A89
class for each household type in urban areas

Table 6R Per thousand distribution of assets by household asset holding class A90 – A101
for each household type in rural areas

Table 6U Per thousand distribution of assets by household asset holding class A102 – A119
for each household type in urban areas

Table 7 Per thousand distribution of households and average value (Rs.) of A120 – A155
assets per household by monthly per capita consumer expenditure
(mpce) for each major household type

Table 8R Per thousand distribution of households and average value (Rs.) of A156 – A173
assets per household by broad size classes of land owned as on
30.6.02 for each major household type in urban areas

Table 9 Number per 1000 households reporting specified items of assets and A174 – A281
cash loans outstanding as on 30.6.02 by household asset holding
class

Table 10 Average value of different items of assets as on 30.6.02 and average A282 – A389
value of cash loans outstanding as on 30.6.02 per household by
household asset holding class

iv

Chapter One
Introduction

1.1 The Report in Perspective

1.1.1 The All-India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) was carried out as a part of the 59th round
survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) during January to December 2003. This
was the sixth such survey conducted at the all-India level. The main objective of the AIDIS is to
generate reliable estimates on assets, liabilities and capital expenditure of the household sector. At
present, the decennially conducted AIDIS is the only nation-wide enquiry providing data on
household assets, indebtedness and capital expenditure. In the 59th round, information on assets and
liabilities of the households as on 30.6.02, amount of capital expenditure incurred by the household
during the agricultural year 2002 – 03 (July 2002 – June 2003), cash borrowings and repayments
made by the household, sale and loss of assets of the household during the agricultural year 2002 –
03 was collected through the Debt and Investment Schedule (Schedule 18.2). The present report
contains the survey results of the 59th round on value and composition of the household assets as also
extent of indebtedness and average amount of cash loans as on 30th June 2002.

1.2 Background

1.2.1 In order to study both the demand and supply sides of credit in the household sector, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had conducted the "All-India Rural Credit Survey" in 1951-52.
Information on assets, economic activities, particulars of credit operations and the incidence of
indebtedness in the rural areas was collected in the survey to assess the demand for rural credit.
Further, data on the extent and mode of operations of different credit agencies were also collected to
examine the supply side of the credit.
1.2.2 The first Rural Credit Survey was followed by a similar survey in 1961-62 by the RBI. The
scope of the survey was extended to include capital expenditure in the household sector and other
associated indicators of the rural economy. The second survey was thus called the "All-India Rural
Debt and Investment Survey".
1.2.3 The responsibility of conducting the third such survey was given to the National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO). This organisation undertook the All-India Debt and Investment Survey
(AIDIS), after integrating it with the Land and Livestock Holding Survey (LHS), in its 26th round
survey during July 1971-September 1972. During this survey, for the first time since its inception,
the scope of the Debt and Investment Survey was extended by including urban areas as well. Since
then, the NSSO has been regularly conducting AIDIS once in ten years along with LHS. The fourth
decennial survey on Debt and Investment was conducted in the NSS 37th round during the calendar
year 1982 and the fifth one was conducted in the NSS 48th round during the calendar year 1992.

1.2.4 The present AIDIS was also carried out along with the LHS in the NSS 59th round (2003).
Although the objectives of the survey remained the same as those of the earlier surveys, some
changes were made in the sampling design. For the first time in the AIDIS of NSSO, sample
households in this round were selected separately for LHS and AIDIS for both the rural and urban
sectors.
1


1.3 Scope

1.3.1 Items of enquiry: In the present AIDIS (2003), information on the assets and liabilities of the
households was collected as on 30.6.2002. Along with the liabilities of the households, the details of
all financial transactions, particularly cash borrowings and repayments, made by the household
during the agricultural year 2002-03 (AY 02-03) were also collected. Besides, the survey gathered
information on the amount of capital expenditure incurred by the households during the AY 02-03,
under different heads, like residential plots, houses and buildings, farm business and non-farm
business. Data on sale and loss of assets during this period were also collected in this survey.

1.3.2 Geographical coverage: The 59th round survey covered the whole of Indian Union except (i)
Leh (Ladakh) and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir, (ii) interior villages of Nagaland located
beyond five kilometres of any bus route, and (iii) villages in Andaman & Nicobar Islands which
remain inaccessible throughout the year.

1.4. Method of data collection

1.4.1 The Debt and Investment Schedule (Schedule 18.2) was canvassed in a sample of 14
households selected randomly in each village/block. The field workers paid two visits to each sample
household during the period of survey with a gap ranging 4 to 8 months. Two separate and slightly
different schedules of enquiry were used for collection of data in the two visits.

1.4.2 The survey period for the 59th round was the calendar year 2003. In order to reduce recall error,
particulars relating to the entire agricultural year 2002 - 03 were collected by visiting each sample
household twice during the survey period. The first visit to the sample households was made during
the first 8 months of the survey period, i.e., from January 2003 to August 2003, while the second
visit was made during the next 4 months, i.e, between September 2003 and December 2003.

1.4.3 During the first visit to a sample household, the investigator collected information on assets
owned on the date of survey as well as acquisition and disposal of assets during the period from 1st
July 2002 to the date of survey. These data were used to get assets owned by the households as on
30.6.2002. The survey used the same procedure for assessing the indebtedness of households as on
30.6.2002. The estimates of cash loan outstanding as on 30.6.02 presented in this report are based on
the first-visit data on dues outstanding on the date of survey and repayments made and amounts
written off between 1st July 2002 and the date of survey, both days inclusive.

1.4.4 In addition, the schedule canvassed during the first-visit provided for collection of data on the
amount and other particulars of borrowings and repayments made during the first half of the AY 02-
03, i.e., during 1.7.2002 to 31.12.2002. The data on capital expenditure and acquisition, sale and loss
of assets of the households during 1.7.2002 to 31.12.2002 were also collected in the first visit.

1.4.5 During the second visit to the sample households, data were collected to assess the borrowing
and repayments made and loans written off during the second half of the AY 02-03, i.e., during
1.1.2003 to 30.6.2003. Similarly, data on capital expenditure and acquisition, sale and loss of assets
during 1.1.2003 to 30.6.2003 were collected in the second visit. No provision was kept for the
collection of information on physical assets, except durable assets, in the schedule of the second visit.

2


1.5 Reference Period for the Estimates

1.5.1 All the estimates of assets and liabilities presented in this report are for a fixed reference date,
viz. 30.6.2002. These are entirely based on the data collected during the first visit to the sample
households. The position of assets and liabilities of sample households as on 30.6.2002 was derived
from the stock data on the date of survey and the data on transactions during the period 1.7.2002 to
the date of survey.

1.5.2 The estimates of number of households presented in this report are based on data with a
moving reference point, from 1.1.2003 to 31.8.2003, which spans a period of eight months. These
estimates, therefore, may be taken to represent the number of households existing as on 30.4.2003,
the mid-point of the eight-month period. The estimates for assets and liabilities for the 59th round are
obtained as on 30.6.02 and the average value of assets and liabilities are obtained by considering the
number of households obtained from visit 1 data. Following the convention of the earlier rounds, in
the summary tables of Chapter Three of the report, the reference period for the estimated number of
households of the 59th round has also been stated as 2002.

1.6 Sample Design

1.6.1 The sample design adopted for the survey was essentially a stratified two-stage one for both
rural and urban areas. The census villages and urban blocks were the first stage units (FSUs) for the
rural and urban sectors, respectively, while households were the second stage sampling units (SSUs)
in both the sectors. The selection of villages was done with probability proportional to size with
replacement (PPSWR), size being the population as per the population census 1991 in all the strata
for rural sector except stratum 1 (see Appendix - B for details of stratification). In stratum 1 of rural
sector and in all the strata of urban sector, selection was done using simple random sampling without
replacement (SRSWOR). For the AIDIS, 14 households - 2 from each second stage stratum (SSS) -
were planned to be surveyed in every sample village/ urban block. Selection of SSUs in each SSS of
a FSU was done by SRSWOR. The details of the sample design and estimation procedure adopted for
the survey are given in Appendix - B of this report. In the 59th Round, 10,309 FSUs (6,552 in rural
sector and 3,757 in urban sector) and 1,43,285 SSUs (91,192 in rural sector and 52,093 in urban
sector) were surveyed in the country for the AIDIS.

1.7. Contents of the Report

1.7.1 This report contains three chapters and three appendices. Chapter One gives an introduction to
the report, and Chapter Two describes the concepts and definitions used for the survey. Chapter 3
discusses the main findings on household assets and liabilities obtained from the survey data. The
discussions in Chapter 3 have been confined to the major states and all India while the detailed
results, on which this report is based, are presented for all the states and union territories in Appendix
A. The sample design and estimation procedure followed in the survey are presented in Appendix B
and a facsimile of the Debt and Investment schedule is given in Appendix C.

3


1.7.2 Appendix A of the report contains tables providing estimates of various items of assets as also
of the total assets and liabilities of the households as on 30th June, 2002 at the state and all-India
level separately for rural and urban areas. Current liabilities are excluded from the purview of this
report. As such, for this report, liabilities denote cash loans outstanding as on 30.6.02, which are
hereafter referred to, in brief, as debts of households. The term ‘indebted households’ stands for
those households, which had some outstanding cash loans on 30.6.02.

1.7.3 All the estimates presented in this report are based on the central sample data only and also
based on combined estimate of the two sub-samples. It would be in order to mention here that the cell
figures in any of these detailed tables, when added up, may not exactly equal the figure shown
against the 'total' column (or line) due to (i) rounding off and/or (ii) the presence of non-response
cases.

1.8 Plan for release of results

1.8.1 The present report is the first in a series of five reports to be brought out on the AIDIS
conducted in the NSS 59th round. This report gives the survey estimates on assets and liabilities
(cash loans) of rural and urban households as on 30th June 2002. In general, the estimates are
provided -- separately for rural and urban areas -- for the country as a whole, as well as for all the
states and union territories.

1.8.2 The second report of the series will be brought out in two parts -- one for rural areas and the
other for urban areas. It will cover several aspects of household indebtedness like number of
households reporting cash loans and current liabilities, average amount of current liabilities,
estimated number of households reported having kisan credit card and amount of credit received
through it, distribution of cash loans by various characteristics, such as rate of interest, duration of
loan, credit agency, etc. The third report would examine different aspects of the related flow variables
by tabulating the number of households reporting current borrowings and repayments, amount of
borrowings and repayments, etc., classified by different variables like type of loan, credit agency,
purpose of loan, type of security, etc. The fourth report will deal with selected aspects of household
assets and liabilities for different social groups. In the fifth report, some broad features of capital
expenditure, sale and loss of physical assets of the rural and urban households during the agricultural
year 2002-2003 will be discussed.

4

Chapter Two
Concepts and Definitions

2.0 The concepts and definitions of some of the important terms used in the survey and relevant to this
report are explained below:

2.1 Household: A group of persons who normally lived together and took food from a common kitchen
constituted a household. The adverb “normally” means that temporary visitors were excluded but
temporary stay-aways were included. Thus a child residing in a hostel for studies was excluded from the
household of his/her parents, but a resident employee or a resident domestic servant or paying guest (but
not just a tenant in the house) was included in the employer’s/host’s household. ‘Living together’ was
given more importance than ‘sharing food from a common kitchen’ in drawing the boundaries of a
household in case the two criteria were in conflict. However, in the special case of a person taking food
with his family but sleeping elsewhere (say, in a shop or a different house) due to space shortage, the
household formed by such a person’s family members was taken to include the person also. Each inmate
of a hotel, mess, boarding-lodging house, hostel, etc., was considered to be a single-member household
except that a family living in a hotel (say) was considered one household only. The same principle was
applicable for the residential staff of such establishments.

2.2 Household assets: Household assets represented all that were owned by the household and had money
value. This included physical assets like land, buildings, livestock, agricultural machinery and
implements, non-farm business equipment, all transport equipment, durable household goods and
financial assets like dues receivable on loans advanced in cash or in kind, shares in companies and
cooperative societies, banks, etc., national saving certificates and the like, deposits in companies, banks,
post offices and with individuals. The AIDIS does not include crops standing in the fields and stock of
commodities held by the household in the household assets. As in the 48th round of the NSS, in the
present AIDIS, currency notes and coins in hand were considered assets. The estimates of household
assets, presented in this report, include the amount of cash held by the households as on the date of
survey.

2.3 Household durable assets: Articles which are used for domestic purposes and have a longer expected
life, say, one year or more and which cannot be purchased at a nominal price were defined as household
durables. Such goods are usually purchased infrequently or they have a longer interval of purchase.
However, minor items like bottles, knives, etc., though expected to last for a longer period, were excluded
from household durable assets.

2.4 Liabilities: All claims against a household held by others were considered liabilities of the household.
Thus all loans payable by the household to others, irrespective of whether they were cash loans or kind
loans were deemed as liabilities of the households. Unpaid bills of grocers, doctors, lawyers, etc., were
also considered liabilities of the household. Different kinds of liabilities are defined below.

5


2.4.1 Cash loans: All loans taken in cash were considered to be cash loans, irrespective of whether those
loans were repaid or proposed to be repaid in cash or in kind. Cash loans, generally, covered borrowings
at specific rates of interest for specific periods of time. However, if a loan was taken even at ‘nil’ rate of
interest from relatives and friends, it was considered to be a cash loan. The loans may be taken against a
security or without any security. Dues payable by the household owing to purchase of goods under a hire-
purchase scheme were treated as cash loans.

2.4.2 Kind loans: All loans taken in kind (except the cases of hire-purchase) irrespective of whether
those were already repaid or yet to be repaid in cash or in kind were considered to be kind loans payable.
2.4.3 Other liabilities: As distinguished from cash loans, ‘other liabilities’ comprised all kind loans
payable by the household and also liabilities arising out of goods and services taken from doctors,
lawyers, etc. Similarly, outstanding taxes, rent payable to Government, other public bodies, landlords etc.,
were included under 'other liabilities'. Trade debt arising out of commercial transactions of the household
was also included under ‘other liabilities’. Goods from grocers, milkman, etc., taken on credit by the
household and for which payment is made at frequent intervals, were considered as ‘other liability’, if
they were not paid within due dates.
2.4.4 Current Liabilities: All ‘kind loans’ and ‘other liabilities’ of a household, as defined above, taken
together constituted its current liabilities.
2.5 Household Type: The report presents estimates of assets and liabilities for different types of
households. Two different classifications have been adopted for the rural and urban areas.

2.6 Classification of rural households: The rural households are initially classified into two types, namely,
cultivator and non-cultivator households.
Cultivator households: All rural households operating at least 0.002 hectare of land during the 365 days
preceding the date of survey are treated as 'cultivator households'.

Non-cultivator households: All rural households operating no land or land less than 0.002 hectare are
considered to be non-cultivator households. They are further classified into 'agricultural labour', 'artisan'
and 'other' households according to the principal household occupation as per the National classification
of occupations (NCO), 1968. Out of the occupations pursued by the members as their principal or
subsidiary (on the basis of income) occupations, that accounting for the maximum earnings to the house-
hold in the reference year was considered to be the principal household occupation.

Agricultural labour: A person was considered to be an agricultural labourer, if he/she followed one or
more of the following agricultural occupations in the capacity of a manual labour:

(a) farming,
(b) dairy farming,
(c) production of any horticultural commodity,
(d) raising of livestock, bees or poultry,
(e) any practice performed on a farm as incidental to or in conjunction with farm operations
(including forestry and timbering) and the preparation for market and delivery to storage or to
market of farm produce.

6


Artisans: Own-account skilled workers and handicraftsmen engaged in any of the following occupations
were considered to be artisans:
(a) spinners, weavers, knitters, dyers, winders, wrappers, carpet makers, etc.;
(b) tailors, dress makers, upholsterers, sewers, etc.;
(c) shoe makers, repairers and cutters and other leather workers, etc.;
(d) carpenters, cabinet makers, wood working machine operators, cart builders, wheel wrights, coach
& body builders, ship-wrights & boat builders and related workers;
(e) stone cutters & carvers;
(f) blacksmiths, tool-makers, and machine-tool operators;
(g) sheet metal workers;
(h) jewelry & precious metal workers and metal engravers;
(i) glass formers, potters and related workers;
(j) printers, compositors, type-setters and photo-type setters, printing press man, stereotypers,
electro-typers, engravers, book binders, photographic & dark-room workers;
(k) construction painters;
(l) makers of musical instruments, turners basketry and brush makers, non-metallic mineral product
makers, doll makers, etc.;
(m) brick layers, stone masons, plasterers, tile-setters, cement finishers, roofers, insulators, glaziers,
hut builders, thatchers and other construction workers.

Own-account workers were those who operated their enterprises without hiring anyone on salary or wages
except occasionally.

Other rural households: All the remaining households were considered to be 'other households'.

2.7 Classification of urban households: In urban areas, each household was first categorised in one of
the four groups self-employed, regular wage/ salaried employee, casual labour and 'others' as per the
definitions given below :

Self-employed: Persons engaged in the farm or non-farm enterprises of their households are called self-
employed workers. In urban areas, a household was considered self-employed, if the major source of its
income during the 365 days preceding the date of survey was self-employment of its members.

Regular wage/salaried household: Persons working in farm or non-farm enterprises not run by their own
households and, in return, getting salary or wages on a regular basis (i.e. not on daily basis or on periodic
renewal of work contract) are treated as regular salaried/wage employees. An urban household reporting
that its major source of income during the 365 days preceding the date of survey was regular
wage/salaried employment of members were treated as a 'regular wage/ salaried' households.

Casual labour household: Persons working in farm or non-farm enterprises not run by their own
households and, in return, getting wages under terms of daily or periodic work contract are treated as
casual wage labourers. An urban household reporting that major source of its income during the 365
days preceding the date of survey was casual wage employment of members was treated as a 'casual
labour' household.
Other urban household: All the remaining urban households were treated as 'other' households.

7


2.8 Major household type: The term refers to cultivator and non-cultivator (i.e. other than cultivator)
households for the rural areas. For the urban areas, self-employed and other households (i.e. households
with household type codes either 2 or 3 or 9) are the two major household types.

2.9 Household consumer expenditure: It is the expenditure of a household on domestic consumption
only. It is the same as the expenditure covered in the consumer expenditure survey of the NSSO. Any
expenditure incurred by the household on its enterprise account was excluded from consumer expenditure.
Unlike the regular Consumer Expenditure Survey of the NSSO, the present survey collected data on the
household consumer expenditure through two direct questions on household consumption under two
broad categories, viz. (i) out of purchases and (ii) out of home grown, home produced stock, free
collection, transfer receipts, etc.

2.10 Household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE): This was obtained from the
household’s total consumer expenditure during last 30 days divided by the household size and recorded in
two places of decimals.

2.11 Valuation of assets: The survey evaluated a physical asset acquired prior to 30th June, 2002 at the
current market price of such an asset in its existing condition prevailing in the locality. An asset acquired
prior to 30th June 2002 that was disposed of during the reference period (i.e., during 1.7.2002 to the date
of survey) in a manner other than by sale was also evaluated at the current market price. If an asset
acquired prior to 30th June, 2002 was disposed of through sale during the reference period, the sale price
was regarded as the disposal value of the asset.

2.11.1 On the other hand, if a physical asset was acquired by way of purchase or construction during the
reference period, the purchase price or the total expenditure incurred on construction, including the value
imputed at current market price of labour and materials supplied from household stock, was considered as
its value.

2.11.2 For evaluation of an asset acquired in a manner other than by purchase or construction during the
reference period, the current price of the asset in its existing condition prevailing in the locality was
considered to be its value.

2.11.3 If an asset acquired during the reference period was owned on the date of survey, the value of
acquisition was considered to be the value of the asset on the date of survey. Similarly, if an asset
acquired during the reference period was disposed of during the same period, the value considered for
acquisition was also considered for disposal of the asset.

2.12 Household assets holding class: Ten household assets holding classes have been decided by
examining the distribution of sample households over the asset holding classes for all India. Total value of
assets owned as on 30.6.02 was derived for each of the sample households by adding the values of
different items of assets. One of the household asset holding classes have been assigned to each of the
households depending upon the class in which the total value of assets so derived and rounded off (to Rs.
thousand) falls.

8


2.13 Farm business: Farm business comprised household economic activities like cultivation, including
cultivation of plantation and orchard crops, and processing of produce on the farm, e.g. paddy hulling and
gur making. Although gur making is a manufacturing activity, this was covered under farm business only
when such activity was carried out in the farm by indigenous method. Farm business also included
activities ancillary to agriculture, like livestock raising, poultry, fishing, dairy farm activities, bee keeping
and other allied activities coming under Tabulation Categories A and B of the National Industrial
Classification 1998.

2.14 Non-farm business: Non-farm business was defined as all household economic activities other than
those covered in the farm business. This cover manufacturing, mining & quarrying, trade, hotel &
restaurant, transport, construction, repairing and other services. For the purpose of this survey, non-farm
business shall exclude such activities when they are carried out in non-household enterprises. Non-farm
business enterprises, which were registered under section 2m(i) or 2m(ii) and section 85 of Factories Act,
1948 and Bidi and Cigar manufacturing establishments registered under Bidi and Cigar Workers
(condition of employment) Act, 1966 were kept outside the coverage of the survey.

2.15 Major states: The discussion on summary of survey results in Chapter 3, besides covering the
national level estimates, deals with the estimates for relatively large states - in terms of population - as
well. These states are referred to as major states in the discussion. They are as follows: Andhra Pradesh,
Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In
addition, the discussion also covers the estimates of urban Delhi.

9

Chapter Three

Summary of Findings

3.0.1 In India, Debt and Investment Surveys of NSSO, often called all-India Debt and Investment
Survey (AIDISs), are the principal sources of data on assets, liabilities and capital expenditure of the
household sector. As mentioned earlier, this survey is done once in ten years by NSSO. The present
report pertains to the results obtained from the sixth AIDIS conducted by the NSSO in its 59th round
during January – December, 2003. The report contains the results on value and composition of
household assets as also estimates of the extent of indebtedness of the households and amount of debt
per household as on 30th June, 2002.

3.0.2 This chapter summarises the major findings of the survey and discusses the salient features
relating to assets and cash liabilities of the households as on 30th June, 2002. The observations are
mainly confined to all-India estimates followed by an examination of the disparities in ownership of
assets and incidence of indebtedness across the major states and its rural-urban sectors. The estimates
for the smaller states and union territories (UTs) have not been presented separately. The reason is that
the sample sizes for the smaller states and UTs may not be adequate for getting a sufficiently reliable
estimates – at least for measuring change or inter-state comparison. The estimates for those states and
UTs have, however, been given in the Appendix. The major states that are considered here, are those
with populations of one crore or more in respect of rural or urban sector separately. The discussion
starts with the observation on distribution of households by occupational categories – defined in
respect of different types of households. This is followed by a discussion of the assets and liabilities of
the households for the different occupational categories of households. Composition of the households
by household asset holdings has then been taken up for discussion. The variations in household asset
holdings over various correlates like monthly per capita consumer expenditure, land owned by the
households, etc., are discussed in some detail. Finally, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion on
household indebtedness, amount of debt per household in terms of cash dues and debt-asset ratio of the
households as on 30.6.2002.

3.0.3 To have an idea of the change of household asset holdings and indebtedness over the years since
1971, the results of the earlier surveys of the NSSO on Debt and Investment, viz. the 26th (July 1971 –
June 1972), 37th (January – December 1982) and 48th (January – December 1992) rounds, are also
presented in this report. The estimates for assets and liabilities for the 26th round, 37th round and 48th
round were obtained as on 30.6.71, 30.6.81 and 30.6.91, respectively, and the corresponding estimates
for the 59th round have been obtained as on 30.6.02. In the 59th round, estimates for the number of
households have been obtained from the data of first visit (collected during January – August, 2003)
only and, therefore, the estimates refer to the mid-point of the survey period of Visit 1, i.e. 30.4.03. But
to indicate a uniform reference period for the estimates of a round, in the summary tables of this
chapter, the reference periods for the 26th, 37th, 48th and 59th rounds are stated as 1971, 1981, 1991 and
2002, respectively. Estimates for the 26th round have not been presented in the summary tables for the
urban sector as the results for the urban sector were not released for that round.

3.0.4 For the purpose of report, the major states, which are relatively large in terms of population, are:
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &
10


Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal and urban Delhi. However, the estimates for all-
India presented in the statement tables of this chapter as well as other tables of the report are based on
the data of all the states and union territories. Moreover, it is important to note that, generally, the
estimates of household, etc., obtained from NSS surveys are found to be lower than those of the census
or projections. The differences are mainly due to differences in coverage and methods adopted in NSS
in comparison to census operation. However, the ratios obtained from NSS surveys are expected to
provide a closer approximation to the true values. Thus, the estimated marginal aggregates of
households, assets, etc., presented in the detailed tables in the appendix may be used as weights for
combining the ratios.

3.0.5 The states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal have emerged in the recent past out of the
partition of erstwhile Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. The estimates on assets
and liabilities for these new states are available for the first time from the 59th round survey. Therefore,
while presenting comparable figures with the earlier rounds at the state level, figures for these new
states are shown as ‘-’. It may be noted that for the earlier rounds, estimates shown for the states of
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh correspond to the erstwhile state boundaries that existed
before the new states were carved out.

3.1 Estimated number of households

3.1.1 In the 59th round survey on Debt and Investment, 10,309 fsus (6,552 villages in rural areas and
3,757 UFS blocks in urban areas) and 1,43,285 ssus (91,192 households in rural areas and 52,093
households in urban areas) were surveyed in the country. The number of households in India as
estimated from the 59th round survey was about 203.4 million, of which about 73% were in the rural
areas. Statement 1 presents the distribution of households over the major states in India, separately for
the rural and urban areas. The major states accounted for a little over 98% of all households in the
country. In many major states, the proportions of households in the rural areas to all households in the
state exceeded 80% and such states were Assam (89%), Bihar (89%), Himachal Pradesh (89%), Orissa
(86%) and Chhattisgarh (85%). The corresponding proportions were comparatively low in Gujarat
(64%), Maharashtra (57%) and Delhi (15%) - indicating that these states are more urbanized than the
others.

3.2 Occupational categories of the households

3.2.1 In this report, all the estimates of assets and liabilities are presented for different occupational
categories of households defined in terms of types of households. For this purpose, two different
classifications have been used for identifying the occupational categories of the households in the rural
and urban areas. It would, therefore, be appropriate to mention the concepts and definitions involved in
classifying the households into occupational categories in the rural and urban areas.

11


Statement 1: Percentage distribution of households in India over 3.2.2 Categories of rural households:
the major states The households in the rural areas are
broadly classified as cultivator and
State % of rural
rural urban combined
households non-cultivator households. The
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) cultivator households are defined as
those who operated an area of land
Andhra Pradesh 9.6 9.1 9.5 74 0.002 hectare or more during the
Assam 2.8 0.9 2.3 89 agricultural year 2002-03. Those
Bihar 7.9 2.6 6.5 89 who did not operate any land or
Chhattisgarh 2.5 1.2 2.1 85 operated an area of land less than
Delhi 0.3 4.3 1.4 15 0.002 hectare during the agricultural
Gujarat 4.2 6.4 4.8 64 year 2002-03, are considered non-
Harayana 2.1 2.2 2.1 72 cultivator households and are further
Himachal Pradesh 0.8 0.3 0.7 89 classified as (i) agricultural labour
Jammu & Kashmir 0.7 0.6 0.7 76 households, (ii) artisan households
Jharkhand 2.5 1.7 2.3 80 and (iii) other rural households
Karnataka 4.7 6.3 5.1 67 depending upon the principal
Kerala 3.4 3.1 3.3 74 occupation code of the households
Madhya Pradesh 6.4 5.4 6.1 76 obtained from the survey. The above
Maharashtra 8.0 16.1 10.2 57
definitions are the same as those
Orissa 4.5 1.9 3.8 86
followed in the 48th round survey, but
Punjab 2.0 2.9 2.3 65
are somewhat different from those
Rajasthan adopted in the 37th and 26th rounds. In
4.7 3.9 4.5 76
Tamil Nadu these surveys, cultivators were
7.5 9.8 8.1 67
Uttaranchal
defined as in the 59th round, but non-
0.8 0.6 0.7 80
Uttar Pradesh
cultivators were classified in the
15.0 11.3 14.0 78
three categories mentioned above
West Bengal 8.2 7.5 8.0 75
depending upon the major source of
income of the households during the
Other states/UTs 1.4 1.9 1.5 66
365 days preceding the date of
All-India 100.0 100.0 100.0 73 survey, with occupations differing
somewhat from those adopted for the
48th and 59th round surveys. However, the different criterion adopted in the 48th and 59th round surveys
for classifying the households into occupational categories (see Para 2.6 of Chapter Two) is not
expected to affect significantly the comparison with the estimates obtained from the 26th or 37th round
surveys.

3.2.3 Categories of urban households: Depending upon the income of the households from the
different sources during last 365 days, each of the urban households is classified in one of the four
household types: self-employed, regular wage/salaried employee, casual labour and others. The
households in the urban areas are broadly categorized into two occupational groups such as self-
employed and other. The broad category other comprises households with household type regular
wage/salaried employee, casual labour and others. Those households for which household type could
not be recorded are classified neither as self-employed nor as other but are considered in the count of
total number of households. The self-employed urban households are further sub-classified into seven
occupational groups considering the entry for principal occupation code of the households.

12


These groups are:

1. professional, technical and related workers,
2. administrative, executive and managerial workers,
3. clerical & related workers,
4. sales workers,
5. service workers,
6. farmers, fishermen, hunters, loggers and related workers,
7. production and related workers, transport operators and labourers.

3.2.4 Statement 2 presents the percentage distribution of rural households by occupational category as
obtained from the present survey and that from the earlier Debt and Investment Surveys of NSSO. The
Statement 2: Percentage distribution of rural households by results indicate that during 2002, about 60%
occupational category during 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2002 of the households in the rural areas were
all-India cultivator households and the proportion of
household percentage of households households of this category shows a
occupational 1971 1981 1991 2002
category (26th) (37th) (48th) (59th)
systematic decline over the three decennial
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) time points since 1981, but at a slower rate
between the periods 1991 and 2002. The
cultivators 72.4 76.3 66.1 59.7 remaining 40% of the households in the rural
non-cultivators: areas could be termed, according to the
agr. labour 14.6 11.3 14.2 14.4 definitions adopted in the AIDIS 2002, as
artisans 2.4 1.6 3.8 5.2 non-cultivator households with the
others 10.6 10.8 15.8 20.7 composition, among them, of about 36%
all non-cultivators 27.6 23.7 33.9 40.3 agricultural labour households, about 13%
all households 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 artisan households and 51% other
Note: The estimates of households shown in this table actually refer to households. The percentage of non-
the periods 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2003, respectively.
cultivator households, along with its two
Statement 3: Percentage distribution of urban households
important components in terms of their
by occupational category during 1981, 1991 and 2002
all-India shares, viz., other and artisan households,
household percentage of households shows an increasing trend over the periods
occupational 1981 1991 2002 1981 to 2002 except for agriculture labour
category (37th) (48th) (59th) households for which the percentage share
(1) (2) (3) (4) remained almost stationary between 1971
self-employed: and 2002 with a dip of about 3% point in
professional etc. 1.7 1.6 1.7 1981. In respect of the different categories of
administrative etc. 2.4 3.9 8.0 households discussed above, the trend in the
clerical etc. 0.8 0.2 0.3 estimates between the periods 1971 and
sales workers etc. 10.6 11.2 11.5
service workers etc. 1.9 2.1 2.7
1981 was not the same as for the periods
farmers etc. 4.0 3.7 1.7 1981 to 2002.
production workers etc. 10.8 11.0 10.0
all self-employed 32.6 34.0 36.1 3.2.5 Similar to that for the rural areas, the
others 67.4 66.0 63.8 distribution of households by the
all households 100.0 100.0 100.0 occupational categories, obtained from the
Note: The estimates of households shown in this table actually refer to 37th, 48th and 59th round surveys of the
the periods 1982, 1992 and 2003, respectively. NSSO, is given in Statement 3 for the urban

13


areas. More than one-third of the urban households in India were self-employed in 2002. Among the
self-employed households, whose members were engaged as ‘sales workers’ or those engaged as
‘production and related workers’, ‘transport equipment operators and labourers’ or those engaged as
‘administrative, executive and managerial workers’ constituted the major part of the group. These
three occupational categories of the urban households constituted more than 29% of all households in
the urban areas.

3.2.5.1 The pattern in the distribution of households over the occupational categories have been quite
similar among the last three AIDISs. The percentage of self-employed households increased from 33%
in 1981 to 34% in 1991 and then had a lead by about 2 percentage points in 2002. As in 1981 and
1991, the two occupational categories, viz. 'sales workers’ and 'production & related workers, etc.’
were the two major groups among the categories of households in the urban areas in 2002. These two
categories of self-employed households
Statement 4: Percentage of cultivator households in rural areas accounted for about 22% of the urban
during 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2002 households both in 1991 and in 2002.
As observed from Statement 3, the
1971 1981 1991 2002
share of urban households whose
State th
(26 ) th
(37 ) th
(48 ) th
(59 ) members were engaged as
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) ‘administrative, executive and
Andhra Pradesh 61.6 65.8 55.8 43.0 managerial workers’ or engaged as
Assam 81.6 86.8 71.7 62.8 ‘service workers’ increased during the
Bihar 80.4 77.4 69.8 60.5 two decades ending 2002. The share of
Jharkhand - - - 76.1 the occupational group ‘administrative,
Gujarat 64.0 79.6 60.4 56.4
executive and managerial workers’
Harayana 60.0 57.0 57.3 58.9
increased by nearly 6 percentage points
Himachal Pradesh 92.4 87.4 84.2 75.3
and that of the occupational group
‘service workers’ increased by about 1
Jammu & Kashmir 93.9 83.3 86.3 88.6
percentage point during the two
Karnataka 68.7 75.1 69.3 57.4
decades. On the other hand, a decrease
Kerala 89.7 93.2 78.2 49.6
of about 2 percentage points is
Madhya Pradesh 82.0 80.3 70.8 66.1
observed in the proportion of the
Chhattisgarh - - - 75.3
farmer households in the urban areas
Maharashtra 68.8 67.4 60.2 55.0
during the two decades ending 2002.
Orissa 77.2 83.8 68.5 64.5
Punjab 42.9 63.3 43.7 53.7 3.2.6 Occupational Categories -
Rajasthan 86.8 84.8 80.4 74.6 Inter-state Comparison
Tamil Nadu 55.4 68.9 43.8 34.8
Uttaranchal - - - 74.0 3.2.6.1 The percentage of cultivator
Uttar Pradesh 77.8 78.4 76.4 74.9 households to the total households in
West Bengal 65.8 78.4 65.2 56.6 the rural areas for the periods 1971,
India 72.4 76.3 66.0 59.7 1981, 1991 and 2002 is given in
Note: The estimates of households shown in this table actually refer to Statement 4 for 20 major states in
the periods 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2003, respectively. order to study the changes during the
three decades ending 2002. As
observed from Statement 4, there is a wide inter-state variation in the percentage of cultivator
households. The percentage ranged from as low as 35 (in Tamil Nadu) to as high as 89 (in Jammu &
Kashmir) in 2002. Among the major states, the proportion of cultivator households to all rural
households was below the all-India level (60%) for the states Tamil Nadu (35%), Andhra Pradesh
14


(43%), Kerala (50%), Punjab (54%), Maharashtra (55%), Gujarat (56%), Karnataka (57%), West
Bengal (57%) and Haryana (59%). The states with a very high percentage of cultivator households
were Jammu & Kashmir (89%), Jharkhand (76%), Chhattisgarh (75%), Himachal Pradesh (75%),
Rajastahn (75%) and Uttar Pradesh (75%).
3.2.6.2 In India, the proportion of cultivator households to all rural households during 1971, 1981,
1991 and 2002 were 72%, 76% , 66% and 60%, respectively. Keeping aside the estimates for 1971,
the declining trend observed in the all-India estimates over the period 1981 to 2002 is generally
revealed in most of the major states under consideration. The variability, in terms of range, in the
percentage of cultivator households to all rural households across the major states was very high
during 1971 and 1991, and was somewhat moderate during 1981. The said percentage ranged from 43
(in Punjab and Tamil Nadu) to 94 (in Jammu & Kashmir) in 1971, 57 (in Haryana) to 93 (in Kerala) in
1981, and from 44 (in Tamil Nadu) to 86 (in Jammu & Kashmir) in 1991. As compared to the 1991
estimates, there has been a steady fall in the percentage of cultivator households in 2002 for all the
major states excepting Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab where a rise in this percentage is
noted.

3.2.6.3 Statement 5 presents the percentage of self-employed households among all urban households
for the 21 major states (including Delhi) as
Statement 5: Percentage of self-employed households in obtained from the 37th , 48th and 59th round
urban areas during 1981, 1991 and 2002 surveys of the NSSO on Debt and
Investment. As observed, there is a wide
1981 1991 2002 inter-state variation in the percentage of
state (37th) (48th ) (59th)
self-employed households. The percentage
(1) (2) (3) (4)
ranged from a low 26 (in Chhattisgarh) to a
Andhra Pradesh 34.6 32.4 34.0
high 50 (in Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and
Assam 38.9 39.9 46.7
Uttar Pradesh) in 2002. Among the major
Bihar 36.6 39.0 50.4 states, the percentage of self-employed
Jharkhand - - 27.3 households to all the urban households was
Delhi 30.6 30.6 35.4 much below the all-India level (36) for
Gujarat 32.8 34.5 37.2 states like Chhattisgarh (26), Jharkhand
Harayana 40.0 46.3 40.3 (27), Maharashtra (28) and it was very high
Himachal Pradesh 29.0 32.4 29.6 for the states like Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar,
Jammu & Kashmir 44.5 28.2 50.1 Uttar Pradesh (each with 50), Assam (47),
Karnataka 36.0 29.2 30.5 Punjab (44), etc.
Kerala 31.1 34.4 33.0
Madhya Pradesh 32.0 29.1 35.0 3.2.6.4 The all-India estimate of percentage
Chhattisgarh - - 26.1 of self-employed households to all the urban
Maharashtra 25.9 29.0 28.5 households during 1981, 1991 and 2002
Orissa 25.3 32.3 33.9 were 33, 34 and 36, respectively. In all
Punjab 44.5 43.1 44.4 the AIDISs, the estimates reveal a wide
Rajasthan 37.8 34.9 37.4 inter-state variation in respect of the
Tamil Nadu 27.5 28.4 31.1 percentage of self-employed households.
Uttaranchal - - 38.4 The percentage in the urban ranged from 24
Uttar Pradesh 42.1 47.9 49.9 (in West Bengal) to 45 (in Jammu &
West Bengal 24.3 33.4 40.0 Kashmir and Punjab) in 1981. In 1991, it
varied between 28 ( in Jammu & Kashmir
India 32.6 34.0 36.1
and Tamil Nadu) to 48 ( in Uttar Pradesh).
Note: The estimates of households shown in this table actually
refer to the periods 1982, 1992 and 2003, respectively.
15


During the period 1981 to 2002, there was a rise in the proportion of self-employed households in the
urban areas for most of the states excepting a few states like Andhra Pradesh (where dropped from
35% to 34%), Karnataka (where dropped from 36% to 31%).

3.3 Average Assets Holdings of the Households

3.3.1 Information on both physical and financial assets owned by the households as on 30th June, 2002
were collected in the 59th round survey on Debt and Investment. Under physical assets, land, buildings,
livestock, agricultural implements & machinery, non-farm business equipment, transport equipment
and household durables were taken into account while shares, deposits, etc., and cash and kind dues
receivable and cash in hand were considered under
financial assets. All these assets owned by the Statement 6: Percentage (P) of households
households constitute the asset holdings of the owning assets and average value of total assets
households. (AVA) owned as on 30.6.02
all-India
3.3.2 The average assets holdings (AVAs) of the occupational category P AVA
households, i.e. average values of all physical and (Rs.)
(1) (2) (3)
financial assets per household, are presented in
Statement 6 separately for each occupational category rural
in the rural and urban areas of India. The statement
cultivator 100.0 372632
also gives, along with AVAs, the percentage of
non-cultivator 99.8 107230
households reporting ownership of some assets. As
all rural households 99.9 265606
expected, almost all households, except 1 in 1000 rural
households and 2 in 1000 urban households, owned urban
some kind of physical or financial assets. The average
self-employed 100.0 554844
value of assets owned by a rural household was Rs.
others 99.7 339002
2.66 lakh and by an urban household Rs. 4.17 lakh --
nearly 57% more than a rural household. Large all urban households 99.8 417158
differences in AVA is observed among the
occupational categories in both the rural and urban areas. A rural cultivator household, on an average,
owned assets of Rs. 3.73 lakh, which were three-and-half times than those owned by its rural
counterpart (Rs. 1.07 lakh). The differences in the urban areas in this respect were narrower: AVA of
self-employed household at Rs. 5.55 lakh was 64% higher than AVA of other urban households at Rs.
3.39 lakh.

3.3.3 Inter-state comparison of AVA

3.3.3.1 In rural areas: Statement 7 shows the AVAs as on 30th June, 2002 separately for cultivator and
non-cultivator households in 20 major states. A state-wise analysis of AVA shows that it was the
highest in Punjab (Rs. 9.04 lakh), followed by Haryana (Rs. 7.16 lakh ), Jammu & Kashmir (Rs.6.15
lakh) and Kerala (Rs. 5.10 lakh). Orissa had the lowest AVA with Rs. 0.98 lakh per household and
close to it were Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 1.35 lakh), Assam (Rs. 1.46 lakh), West Bengal and Jharkhand
(each Rs. 1.52 lakh). In all the states, AVA for cultivator households is found to be much higher than
that for non-cultivator households. Moreover, the differences in the AVA values between the two
categories do not reveal any relationship with the overall magnitude of AVA.

16


Statement 8: Average value of assets (AVA) (in Rs.)
Statement 7: Average value of assets (AVA) ) (in Rs.)
per household by household category in urban areas
per household by household category in rural areas of
of major states
major states
self-
non-
state cultivator all state employ others all
cultivator
ed
(1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Andhra Pradesh 226316 66502 135146
Andhra Pradesh 406194 331113 356656
Assam 187935 74545 145782
Assam 276326 277486 276793
Bihar 294497 70867 206055
Bihar 388977 253970 321975
Jharkhand 175802 74913 151692
Chhattisgarh 448582 220340 280032
Gujarat 478126 133490 327864
Delhi 830021 433781 573990
Harayana 1070247 209556 716379
Gujarat 677682 329875 459333
Himachal Pradesh 563604 232830 481943
Harayana 972609 470177 672684
Jammu & Kashmir 654402 306421 614671
Karnataka 362150 94977 248409
Jammu & Kashmir 1311967 821052 1067081
Kerala 777734 245914 509679
Jharkhand 254268 240550 244288
Madhya Pradesh 316834 83302 237670
Karnataka 549828 302293 377726
Chhattisgarh 235531 57445 191602
Kerala 1166862 562661 762200
Maharashtra 388048 87450 252749
Madhya Pradesh 594344 365057 444952
Orissa 119536 60154 98454
Maharashtra 635438 333457 419667
Punjab 1461616 255634 903717
Orissa 315233 216899 250218
Rajasthan 412720 198373 358351
Punjab 780629 385013 560705
Tamil Nadu 331133 101323 181376
Rajasthan 686253 377414 492805
Uttaranchal 453982 204767 389222
Tamil Nadu 477193 251939 322129
Uttar Pradesh 400441 121113 330456
Uttaranchal 375058 477845 438424
West Bengal 211115 74535 151842
Uttar Pradesh 399427 338936 370084
India 372632 107230 265606 West Bengal 335112 313485 322023

India 554844 339002 417158

The AVA of cultivator households was 5.72 times that of non-cultivator households in Punjab, 5.20
times in Haryana, 2.14 times in Jammu & Kashmir, 3.16 times in Kerala, 3.40 times in Andhra
Pradesh, 2.52 times in Assam, 2.35 times in Jharkhand and 2.84 times in West Bengal. The
corresponding number was the lowest in Orissa – the AVA for cultivator household being 1.99 times.
3.3.3.2 In urban areas: Statement 8 shows the AVAs of the urban households as on 30th June, 2002 for
21 major states. This gives the AVAs separately for self-employed and other households in the states.
Similar features in respect of household categories are observed in the case of urban households as in
the case of the rural. The AVA of self-employed households was higher than that of other urban
households in all the states. The differencial in respect of AVA in these two urban categories of
households was smaller than the corresponding rural household categories of cultivator and other. The
states that reported very high AVA were Jammu & Kashmir (Rs. 10.67 lakh), Kerala (Rs. 7.62 lakh),
Haryana (Rs. 6.73 lakh ) and Delhi (Rs. 5.74 lakh). Punjab, which topped in the rural areas, reported
lower urban AVA of Rs. 5.61 lakh. Incidentally, rural Haryana is also better in respect of AVA per
household than its urban parts. On the other hand, Jharkhand reported lowest ownership of assets (Rs.
2.44 lakh), preceded by Orissa (Rs. 2.50 lakh), Assam (Rs. 2.77 lakh), Chhatishgarh (Rs. 2.80 lakh),
Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu (Rs. 3.22 lakh each).
17


3.3.3.3 Changes in Average Value of Assets (AVA) – Rural Areas: The changes in the average value of
assets (AVA) of the rural households over the two decades beginning with 1981 are shown in
Statement 9 for 20 major states and all India. It may be seen that there is a very little change in the
relative position of the states in respect of AVA during the two decades. Punjab, Haryana, Kerala,
Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have maintained their high AVAs in all the periods 1981,
1991 and 2002, and on the other hand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu
are found with low AVAs in these periods. In fact, the relative positions of the states in 1991 are
observed to be roughly the same as in 1981. Some new states have emerged through partitioning of
some big states during 1991 and 2002. In that sense, although strict comparison between the periods
1991 and 2002 is not possible, the relative positions of the states observed in 1991 have remained
nearly the same in 2002.

Statement 10: Average value of assets (AVA) per
Statement 9: Average value of assets (AVA) per rural
urban household during 1981, 1991 and 2002
household during 1981, 1991 and 2002
Urban
Rural
AVA (Rs.000)
AVA (Rs.000)
state 1981 1991 2002
state 1981 1991 2002 (37th) (48th ) (59th)
(37th) (48th ) (59th)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Andhra Pradesh 32 95 357
Andhra Pradesh 26 58 135
Assam 33 112 277
Assam 20 60 146
Bihar 36 99 322
Bihar 32 98 206
Chhattisgarh - - 280
Chhattisgarh - - 192
Delhi 92 284 574
Gujarat 37 103 328
Gujarat 43 160 459
Haryana 91 338 716
Haryana 60 151 673
Jammu & Kashmir 59 163 615
Jammu & Kashmir 84 202 1067
Jharkhand - - 152
Jharkhand - - 244
Karnataka 33 107 248
Karnataka 42 125 378
Kerala 77 182 510
Kerala 112 222 762
Madhya Pradesh 30 93 238
Madhya Pradesh 42 117 445
Maharashtra 35 93 253
Maharashtra 43 165 420
Orissa 18 46 98
Orissa 22 72 250
Punjab 97 329 904
Punjab 55 256 561
Rajasthan 41 159 358
Rajasthan 40 161 493
Tamil Nadu 20 62 181
Tamil Nadu 34 120 322
Uttaranchal - - 389
Uttaranchal - - 438
Uttar Pradesh 45 139 330
Uttar Pradesh 38 158 370
West Bengal 21 62 152
West Bengal 28 101 322
India 36 107 266
India 41 144 417

3.3.3.4 In urban areas: Statement 10 shows the changes in the AVA of the urban households over the
decade ending 2002 for 21 major states and all India. A state-wise analysis of AVA in the urban shows
similar features as for that in the rural areas. The relative position of the states in respect AVA in the
urban areas did not change much during the two decades, except in the case of Andhra Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh. These two states show a significant upward movement in terms of AVA. The change
in the case of Madhya Pradesh could be due to its partition to form Chhattisgarh, where the AVAs was
lower.

18


Figure 1: Average value of assets of rural households during 1981, 1991 and 2002

1000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
Kerala

West Bengal
Haryana

Assam

Andhra Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir

Himachal Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh
India
Gujarat

Tamil Nadu
Karnataka

Orissa
Uttaranchal
Punjab

Maharashtra

Bihar

Jharkhand
Chhattisgarh
Rajasthan

1981 1991 2002

Figure 2: Average value of assets (Rs. 000) of urban households in 1981, 1991 and 2002

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Assam
Tamil Nadu
Haryana

Karnataka
Kerala

Gujarat

WB
Uttaranchal
J&K

Rajasthan

Maharashtra

Orissa
Bihar

Chhattisgarh
Delhi

AP

Jharkhand
India

Uttar Pradesh
HP

MP
Punjab

1981 1991 2002

3.3.4 Average value of assets by land owned

19


3.3.4.1 Statement 11 shows the average value of Statement 11: Average value of assets (AVA) (in Rs.) per
assets (AVA) as on 30th June, 2002 for household in rural areas by size class of land owned
households of different land ownership classes all- India
separately for cultivator and non-cultivator size class of
occupational categories of the households
households in the rural areas. It is seen that the land owned
AVA increased with the size class of land (ha) cultivator non-cultivator all
owned for rural India as a whole. This is also (1) (2) (3) (4)
true for cultivator and non-cultivator nil 45614 24849 26256
households. Secondly, the AVA for cultivator less than .002 65751 45856 46491
households has been, as expected, higher in the .002 - 1.00 212651 106482 165255
size classes than that for non-cultivator 1.00 - 2.00 455667 463986 456143
households. This picture was only to be 2.00 - 10.00 902458 754907 895071
expected, given the overwhelming importance ≥ 10.0 2705407 2086224 2699565
of land as an item of asset in rural India. all 372632 107230 265606

3.3.4.2 State-wise Pattern –Rural Areas: Statement 12 shows that the pattern seen at the national level
holds good for most of the states. However, in some states like Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh,
Jharkhand and Orissa, the AVA is seen to fall slightly in second lowest ownership class, viz. ‘less than
0.002 ha.’ compared to the lowest class, viz. ‘nil’.
Statement 12: Average value of assets (AVA) (in Rs.) per household in rural areas by size class of land owned
state size class of land owned ( ha.)
nil less than .002 .002 - 1.00 1.00 -2.00 2.00-10.00 ≥10.0 all
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Andhra Pradesh 15151 25982 95563 247750 509001 2538591 135146
Assam 30038 32854 108774 270522 440970 - 145782
Bihar 20783 50658 145932 557545 1017923 1953962 206055
Jharkhand 47774 14345 115842 310831 537157 - 151692
Gujarat 16047 124034 169541 463427 946953 2858165 327864
Haryana 5752 62849 279998 1381703 2494409 9170857 716379
Himachal Pradesh 89682 55755 424451 822912 1429125 3709752 481943
Jammu & Kashmir 8542 28446 508269 693998 1616881 6414450 614671
Karnataka 29123 44676 146577 313872 643050 3339505 248409
Kerala 42234 - 424355 1746216 4619229 - 509679
Madhya Pradesh 42020 43003 102099 229708 584750 1840102 237670
Chhattisgarh 27864 18200 87612 202198 495699 3811543 191602
Maharashtra 25702 37802 137933 313235 620002 2872284 252749
Orissa 19787 14882 67322 181837 358955 5159318 98454
Punjab 41816 54830 302383 1704627 3585975 7585698 903717
Rajasthan 48338 54130 181230 375004 640224 1343583 358351
Tamil Nadu 29639 63809 142785 463359 1034551 4168806 181376
Uttaranchal 26739 60881 316603 882643 2042880 - 389222
Uttar Pradesh 39949 44647 195503 658210 1401626 3734565 330456
West Bengal 21929 27293 125553 471176 887719 - 151842
India 26256 46491 165255 456143 895071 2699565 265606

Note: ‘-‘ is used to indicate that no sample household was obtained in that land class for that state
3.3.5 Average value of assets by monthly per capita consumer expenditure (mpce)

20

NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India

NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India

Similar to NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India (20)

More from CSISA

More from CSISA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

NSSO 2005 Household Assets and Liabilities in India