The structure and distribution of poverty groups measured in terms of size of landholding, value of assets, caste or unemployment, is not uniform throughout the country. In Rajasthan which by 1968 had become one of highest poverty states the data show some distinct features. This paper examines the position of the generally identified rural poverty groups in the state in terms of the distribution of consumption expenditure, income, assets and liabilities as well as food consumption patterns for both all-rural population and the weaker sections. What emerges is that the consumption levels of a significant number of labour households are higher than those of other sections of the population; that rural labour households are not necessarily the poorer sections; and that in fact, small cultivators turn out to be the worst sufferers.
