What Is The Household Asset Distribution In Rural India Like?

Indoor pollution is one of the biggest causes of death worldwide, but, 67 per cent of rural Indians still use firewood. In India alone, about a million deaths happen because of household air pollution. This does not mean that the situation is not improving. In the past two decades, the number of rural households that use firewood has declined by 12 per cent. This is, however, a moderate decline. The situation is not much different in the case of other assets, except in the case of mobile phones that became too common in the past two decades. However, since Independence, rural India has improved a lot, though this is because of slow growth over a long period.

Of the 246.7 million Indian households surveyed in the census, 46.5 per cent have mud-floored houses. Most of these houses are in rural India. We see a similar pattern in the case of other amenities too. Most houses that lack basic amenities are in rural India. For example, of the 167.83 million rural households surveyed, only 56 million rural households have televisions. Of the 78.86 million urban households surveyed, 60.49 million households have televisions.  

Of the 167.83 million rural households, only 3.78 million households have a car, van of jeep. In urban areas, however, 10 per cent of the households have a car, van or jeep. 91.21 million rural households have telephones. Though this is still not high, the numbers have really risen in the recent past, especially after the census figures were published. 145.21 million households used firewood in 2011, though this has fallen to 67 per cent, according to recent estimates. Only one-eighth of rural households use LPG. In 2011, only about one-fourth of the urban households used firewood. Only 0.19 million rural households use electricity for cooking. The situation is not much better in urban India. Only 0.18 million households in urban India use electricity for cooking. But 51.29 million urban households use LPG, and this is about two-third of urban households. Even though a large fraction of urban Indians live in slums or informal houses, the amenities they enjoy are comparable to that of the rest of urban India.

Only about 20 per cent of the rural households have water closets, while about 72 per cent of the urban households have them. About 30 per cent of the rural households even have latrine facilities. 116.25 million rural households do not have latrine facilities at all. As many rural households do not have drainage facilities either. In urban India, 14.7 million households do not have latrine facilities, and this is about 18 per cent of the households.

About 30 per cent of the rural households have access to tap water. In urban India, this is about 70 per cent. Only 45 per cent of the rural households have a separate kitchen. In urban India, this is about 77 per cent. On close observation, even if you are poor, the best way to have access to basic amenities is to live in urban areas.