While 97.8 per cent of households have toilet facilities and 95.7 per cent have access to improved sources of drinking water, only 63.4 per cent use clean fuel for cooking, according to the results of the Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey (CAMS) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday.
According to the survey for the period July 2022 to June 2023, 92.9 per cent of households in urban areas used clean cooking fuel, while the share of households using clean fuel in rural areas stood at merely 49.5 per cent. Separately, for households having access to clean drinking water, the share stood at 94.9 per cent in rural areas and 97.5 per cent in urban areas.
A state-wise analysis of the data for households with access to clean fuel shows that Goa (99.2 per cent) has the highest share of households with access to clean cooking fuel, followed by Sikkim (97.2 per cent), Telangana (97.2 per cent), and Karnataka (92.5 per cent). Meanwhile, Jharkhand (31.7 per cent) has the lowest share of households with access to clean cooking fuel, followed by Chhattisgarh (36.4 per cent), Odisha (36.8 per cent), and Rajasthan (40.4 per cent).
To provide households with clean cooking fuels, which were otherwise using traditional and hazardous cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, and cow-dung cakes, the government launched its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in 2016. Under this scheme, the government currently provides a subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2-kg domestic cylinder. In March this year, the Cabinet extended the scheme until the end of 2024-25. According to the latest available data, there are 103.3 million PMUY beneficiaries.
According to the survey, the ‘primary source of energy’ for cooking was defined as the source of energy that the household used the majority of the time for cooking. A household is categorised as using clean fuel for cooking if it uses cooking gas (LPG), biogas, electricity (including that generated by solar/wind power generators), or a solar cooker.
As part of the 79th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), the survey collected data from households on indicators like drinking water, sanitation, energy use, birth registration, and access to transport facilities, among other things.
The data collected in this survey represents the demand-side information of the households surveyed. In contrast, administrative data, wherever available, typically reflects supply-side metrics. The report noted that variations in methodology, scope, and timeframes may affect the comparability of results across different data sources.
First Published: Oct 09 2024 | 9:04 PM IST
