Livelihood literally is ‘a means of making
a living’. It encompasses people’s capaci-
ties, assets, income and activities required
to secure the means of living. Livelihood is
sustainable when it enables people sustain
a reasonable quality of life and cope with
shocks and stresses that occur from time to
time. Livelihood that is sustainable should
help people enhance their well-being in the
future without undermining the natural
environment of the resource base. In the
context of livelihood situation in India,
several of these issues related to people’s
capacities, assets and opportunities will be
examined. However, as stated by Sankar
Datta in last year’s report, livelihoods
involve various other aspects of life apart
from income enhancement. For example,
the status of health and education, impact
of climate change, government policies and
strategies, and social safety nets are all a part
of the livelihood situation.
The macroeconomic context of liveli-
hoods has gradually improved over the last
two years or so. The
Economic Survey
1
says,
“The macro-economy has been rendered
more stable, reforms have been launched,
the deceleration in growth has ended and
the economy appears now to be recover-
ing, the external environment is benign,
and challenges in other major economies
have made India the near-cynosure of eager
investors.” As per the new series of national
accounts numbers, at the country level, gross
domestic product (GDP) increased by 7.3
per cent in 2014–15 compared to 6.9 per cent
in the previous year. Though there are some
unresolved issues in changing the base year
for national income statistics series from
2004–05 to 2011–12, the higher growth rate
reported in GDP is a cause for optimism.
2
The
Economic Survey
concludes that GDP
growth will be of the order of 8 per cent to
8.5 per cent in 2015–16.
3
This forecast ismade
on the basis of four factors, the first factor
being the reforms that have been introduced
and are being planned. The second stimuli
to growth is expected to come from declin-
ing crude oil prices and the monitory easing
expected to be carried out by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) on account of moderate
inflation. Thirdly, declining input costs led by
a reduction in oil prices increase the profit
margin and hence the investing sentiments
of the corporate sector. Fourthly, declining
inflation is also expected to boost household
spending and borrowing for investment and
consumption led by reduced interest rates.
Overview: Taking Stock
Chapter
1
1
The Economic Survey 2014–15
, Ministry of Finance,
GoI.
2
The Economic Survey
says this about the new series
of GDP, “These numbers seem difficult to reconcile
with other developments in the economy. 2013–14
was a crisis year—capital flowed out, interest rates were
tightened, there was consolidation—and it is difficult
to see how an economy’s growth rate could accelerate
so much in such circumstances…. Regardless, the lat-
est numbers will have to be the prism for viewing the
Indian economy going forward because they will be the
only ones on offer.”
3
RBI in its Monetary Policy Statement has fine-
tuned its projection of growth to 7.2%.
