Gini Coefficient, a standard measure of income/ expenditure inequality, has further deteriorated from 32.9 per cent in 1993 to 36.2 per cent in 2004. Per capita spending in absolute terms would suggest that there is lot more to be done to fend off hunger and malnutrition.
As per NSS 61st round, per capita consumption expenditure of more than 60 per cent population was less than Rs. 20 per day in 2004-05.