Comments
In an indication of improved living conditions of a vast majority of people, Government data released on Tuesday said 80 per cent of rural households and 97.9 per cent urban households had electricity for domestic use, and 88.5 per cent households in rural India and 95.3 per cent in urban areas had improved source of drinking water.
The data is part of the 69th round survey carried out during July to December 2012 by the National Sample Survey Office on drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and housing conditions in India. The percentage of households who get drinking water facilities within premises was 46.1 per cent in rural India and 76.8 per cent in urban India during the period (35 per cent and 71 per cent according to Census 2011), while about 62.3 per cent of rural households and 16.7 per cent of urban households did not have any bathroom facility.
In fact, more than half of the rural population still defecates in the open, which has been pointed out by various organisations as a serious health hazard, especially for women and children. According to the data, 59.4 per cent and 8.8 per cent households in rural and urban India (78.1 per cent and 26.3 per cent according to Census 2011), respectively, had no latrine facilities.
According to the survey, 94.2 per cent households in rural India had secured tenure in their dwelling, while in urban India, the corresponding figure was 71.3 per cent, but when it came to ‘good ventilation’, only 26.3 per cent and 47.1 per cent households in rural and urban India, respectively, had the facility.
On sanitation, despite improvement, there is still much to be done in rural India, as only 31.7 per cent households had ‘improved drainage’ facility in the environment of their dwelling units, compared with 82.5 per cent in urban households.
“The key results of the survey are based on the central sample consisting of 4,475 villages in rural areas and 3,522 urban blocks spread over all States and Union Territories. The total number of households surveyed was 95,548 (53,393 in rural areas and 42,155 in urban areas),” a release by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.