What India spends on libraries
India's states spend about ₹15.30 per person per year on public libraries. The best-funded state spends roughly 1,400× the worst — both under the same Constitution. Here is the money, in full.
31 states. One scandal.
Per-capita public-library spending, ₹ per person per year, latest year reported. Goa, at the top, spends about ₹140; Jharkhand, at the bottom, spends 10 paise.
We had the money.
Every public library in India, for a whole year, set beside what the same Union government found for a statue and a single corporate tax cut. One scale.
A rounding error.
Per-capita public-library spending, ₹ per person per year, order-of-magnitude. India's line is barely visible — that is the finding.
How these numbers are built.
Per-capita figures come from the CAG Combined Finance & Revenue Accounts (Major Head 2205, sub-head 105) and the Ministry of Culture's state-wise series, 2014-15 to 2020-21. The ₹4.66 hero figure is the nominal series deflated to constant 2011-12 ₹ via the MoSPI implicit GDP deflator; the real-terms peak was ₹7.87 in 2018-19. Comparators (statue, corporate tax cut) are from the Government of Gujarat (2018) and CAG / Finance Ministry annexures (FY 2019-20). A fuller per-state write-up is in preparation.