Economic Survey 2021: Odisha Among States Having Lowest Access To Bare Necessities

By OB Bureau On Jan 29, 2021

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Survey 2021 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Friday has bracketed Odisha in the group of states having the lowest access to bare necessities for the households in 2018 compared to 2012.

While access to bare necessities is highest in Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Gujrat, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Goa, Mizoram and Sikkim, it is lowest in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura.

Though Odisha registered improvement in the bare necessities index (BNI) of the survey compared to 2012, it was found acutely lacking in major parameters like water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment and other facilities.

Drinking Water

States such as Sikkim, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are at the top while Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand are at the bottom on drinking water accessibility index.

The indicators were in terms of the per cent of households that have piped water supply to the plot, dwelling unit or premises.

Sanitation

The indicators used are percentage of households having access to latrine for exclusive use, types of latrine, piped sewer system, septic tank etc.

Here also, Odisha fares less than Bihar and Jharkhand though ahead of West Bengal and Tripura.

Housing

The survey states that the housing index measures not only the structure of the house but also quality in terms of type of dwelling unit and condition of structure.

In this index, Odisha has not made any significant stride remaining behind Chhattigarh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Micro-Environment

The micro-environment index measures the percentage of households who are living in a dwelling unit with access to drainage, without problems of flies and mosquitoes and efforts made by the local authorities to tackle these problems.

As measured by the index, micro-environment has improved in 2018 for all states except for Assam in rural and Odisha and Assam in urban areas.