New Delhi: Provisioning of social assets, including housing for all, drinking water and sanitation measures, has been a major pillar of the Government’s efforts at building social infrastructure. This is one of the key highlights of the Economic Survey 2019-20, which was tabled by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, in Parliament today.
“As per recent NSO survey on Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition in India 2018, about 76.7 per cent of the households in the rural and about 96.0 per cent in the urban areas had the house of pucca structures,” states the Economic Survey.
The two Schemes, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U), seek to achieve the target of housing for all by 2022. Under PMAY-G, the number of houses completed in a year increased by more than four times, from 11.95 lakh in 2014-15 to 47.33 lakh in 2018-19, states the Survey.
Since the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission- Gramin (SBM-G) in 2014, over 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas, says the Economic Survey. Further, over 5.9 lakh villages, 699 districts, and 35 States/UTs have declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF). Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2019, India’s largest rural sanitation survey, covered 17,450 villages in 698 districts across India, including 87,250 public places.
A 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029) has also been launched to focus on sustaining the sanitation behaviour change and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management, notes the pre-Budget Survey. Further, Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) was launched to accelerate progress on water conservation activities in the most water stressed blocks and districts across India. JSA has delivered over 3.5 lakh water conservation measures in 256 districts till date, and has seen participation of around 2.64 crore people, making it a Jan Andolan, the Survey emphasises.
