The GOI has released the socio-economic and caste census, the first Census released after 1932. The government says the data will help in identifying the root causes of poverty. It was released by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely. The census contains various details with regard to specific regions, communities, caste and economic groups and measures the progress of the households in India. The census report says just 4.6 per cent of all rural households in the country pay income tax while such households with salaried income are close to 10 per cent.

Points to Note

• The census survey was carried out in all the 640 districts of the country.
• Of all the rural households, 7.05 crore were termed ‘Excluded Households’ which did not have an income of over Rs 10,000 per month, or did not own either an automobile, fishing boat or a kisan credit card.
• 5.39 crore (30.10%) out of total rural households depended on crop cultivation for sustenance.
• 9.16 crore (51.14%) earned income through manual casual labour.
• Some 44.84 lakh worked as domestic helps, 4.08 lakh were rag pickers and 6.68 lakh beggars.
• Of all the rural salaried households, 5% earned salaries from the government while those employed in the private sector constituted 3.57% of the total households.
• Public sector-employed households made up 1.11% of the total.
• The census said 94% of the rural households owned a house with 54% having 1-2 room dwellings.
• Landless ownership was 56% of the total rural population, with 70% of SCs and 50% of STs being landless owners.
• Over 11% rural households possessed refrigerators and 20.69% had either an automobile or a fishing boat.