Improvement in access to bare necessities: Eco Survey

The Economics of a Plate of Food in India", this year it took a step further to study access to 'the bare necessities' -- housing, water, sanitation, electricity and clean cooking fuel.

New Delhi: Disparities continue to exist despite improvements in people’s access to ‘the bare necessities’ across India in 2018 from 2012, and appropriate strategy needs to be designed for the country to achieve SDG goals by 2030, according to the Economic Survey 2020-21.

Building on previous year’s survey that examined access to food through the idea of “Thalinomics: The Economics of a Plate of Food in India”, this year it took a step further to study access to ‘the bare necessities’ — housing, water, sanitation, electricity and clean cooking fuel.

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It constructed a Bare Necessities Index (BNI) at rural, urban and all India level by summarising 26 indicators on five dimensions of access to water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, and other facilities.

States such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat had the highest access to the bare necessities while it was the lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura.
“The improvements are widespread…,” said the survey tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday.

However, while improvements are evident, the disparities in access to bare necessities continue to exist between rural-urban, among income groups and also across states, it said.

“There should be effective targeting of the needier population, be they in urban or rural areas or across states.” As civic amenities in urban areas are also provided by the local self-governments, there must be effective convergence in scheme implementation at the Centre-State and local levels.

“Similarly, we also find that improved access to ‘the bare necessities’ correlates with future improvements in education indicators,” it said.