Why in News?
Access to bare necessities like drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and housing conditions continue to exist between urban and rural India. This is despite so many improvements in each of these aspects. This is why the Economic Survey for 2020-21 has introduced a newly constructed “Bare Necessities Index” (BNI).
About Bare Necessities Index:
The BNI talks about 26 indicators over five dimensions namely water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, along with various other facilities.
It has been created for all states in 2012 and 2018 using the data by NSO.
The specifications about the index are that it classifies areas on three levels of access which is high, medium and low to all bare necessities.
In this survey, it has been underlined that the Government needs to focus on reducing variations in the access to bare necessities in rural and urban areas, and also between various income groups.
Key Takeaways:
- In India, access to the Bare Necessities for all income groups in 2018 is significantly better compared to 2012.
- India has seen an improvement in access to drinking water to households in 2018 compared to 2012. It is visible both in rural as well as urban areas.
- States having low access to sanitation in 2012 have gained more. The regional disparity in access to sanitation has declined after this.
- As per the survey, there is an improvement in Housing Index and reduction in inter-States disparities for the lowest income group in 2018 compared to 2012.
- The economic survey saw an improvement in microenvironment for all States in 2018. Only some like Assam in rural and Odisha and Assam in urban areas didn’t see an improvement compared to 2012.
- Survey points towards a positive correlation between access to bare necessities and better health and education outcome.
-
In 2018, access to bare necessities was the highest in states such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat, and lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura.
- The survey also notes an improvement in child survival, decline in stillbirths, malnutrition, and infant mortality with improved access to sanitation and clean drinking water.
- J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh showed improvement in access to bare necessities in rural areas between 2012 and 2018.
- In 2012, urban areas of only Bihar and Manipur fell in the lowest BNI category.
- In 2018, the lowest access in rural India was seen in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Manipur, and Tripura.
As per the Survey, “the improvement inequity is particularly noteworthy because while the rich can seek private alternatives, lobby for better services, or if need be, move to areas where public goods are better provided for, the poor rarely have such choices.”
Way Forward:
There must be an effective targeting of the government schemes for both poorer population in both urban or rural areas. The Centre-State government must coordinate with the local governments because they are responsible for civic amenities in urban areas. The BNI also needs to be constructed at a district level. They must use large annual household survey data to show progress.
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation