Article Title - State of Housing in India: What Data Shows
Source - Livemint
Author - Tadit Kundu
Date - November 20, 2018
Link - Click Here for the Article
Summary
This article presents the data analysis done by Mint comparing the state of housing stock between the Census 2011 and the fourth National Family and Health Survey conducted in 2015-16. The analysis showcases that the proportion of households in India staying in pucca houses increased from 55 per cent in 2011 to 71 per cent in 2015-16. The increase in share of pucca houses is attributed in part to subsidies for low-income communities through housing schemes such as Indira Awas Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban and Rural.
The article further states that while housing conditions have enhanced overtime, there were disparities in the progress across regions and communities - for instance, the northern states of India had a higher proportion of pucca houses than the rest; fewer households in the lowest rung of caste hierarchies graduated from kutcha to pucca houses; and there was a sharper rise in the proportion of pucca houses in rural areas compared to urban.
The article also points out a key difference in the definitions of a ‘pucca’ house employed by the two datasets used in the analysis, deeming the Census 2011 definition more lenient, requiring only the walls and roof to be made of permanent materials, as opposed to the NFHS definition, which includes permanent materials for floor specifications as well.