INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STRUCTURE OF BAWARIA CASTE IN NORTH-WEST HARYANA: A BLOCK-WISE ANALYSIS

The present research aims to analyze the income and expenditure structure of the Bawaria caste, a marginalized community among the scheduled castes in North-West Haryana. For this study, primary data has been collected from 945 households of Bawaria caste across 28 villages, with two villages selected from each of the 14 blocks in the study area. The data has been collected on monthly household income and expenditure across ten major aspects like food, clothing, lighting, fuel, luxuries, religious activities, education, health, transport, and mobile/internet usage. Household and per capita monthly incomes have been categorized into four income groups, each with a class interval of Rs.10, 000. Similarly, expenditures have been expressed as a percentage of the total monthly household expenditure. Based on the sample survey, the average monthly household income and per capita income have been recorded at Rs. 11,697 and Rs. 2,646, respectively. Likewise, the average monthly household and per capita expenditures have been observed Rs. 9,074 and Rs. 2,053, respectively. The highest average monthly household and per capita incomes have been observed in the Nathusari Chopta block, which also exhibited a similar trend in expenditure patterns. On average, 43 per cent of monthly household expenditure has been spending on food, followed by transport (10 percent), healthcare (8 percent), and clothing (7 percent). Among the blocks, Baragudha and Bhuna recorded the highest proportion of expenditure on food, while Bhattu Kalan showed the highest expenditure on transport (13 percent) and similar expenditure on education in Uklana. Dabwali recorded 11 per cent for healthcare and Jakhal reported 9 percent for clothing. The study concludes that a higher proportion of household expenditure on food and clothing reflects the poor economic status of households among the Bawaria caste.