Spatial Patterns of Social Inequality in India: A Geographical Analysis

Social inequality in India is expressed not only through differences in income and wealth but also through uneven access to education, employment, nutrition, housing, infrastructure and other capabilities. These inequalities have a pronounced geographical dimension, with substantial variation across states, districts, rural and urban areas, and social groups. This paper examines the spatial patterns and multidimensional character of social inequality in India using a descriptive, analytical and comparative secondary-data research design. Evidence is drawn primarily from the National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023, based on NFHS-5 (2019–21), the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023–24, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025, AISHE 2022–23 provisional results reported by the Ministry of Education, and the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), supplemented by peer-reviewed geographical and development research. The analysis demonstrates substantial progress in reducing multidimensional poverty and consumption inequality at the national level, but also reveals persistent territorial concentrations of disadvantage. Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of central and eastern India, and several rural regions continue to experience comparatively high multidimensional deprivation, while social identity, gender and class interact with location in differentiated ways. Consumption, educational participation and female labour-force participation show distinctive and sometimes contradictory spatial patterns, indicating that no single indicator adequately represents social inequality. The paper concludes that Indian social inequality is multi-scalar, intersectional and spatially embedded. Policy therefore requires geographically targeted universalism, stronger sub-state monitoring and interventions addressing both territorial disadvantage and unequal capabilities within regions.