Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition in India: NSS 76th Round (July-December 2018)

This November 2019 report by the National Statistical Office presents the results of the survey ‘Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition in India’. It was conducted as part of the 76th round of the National Statistical Survey (NSS), administered between July and December 2018. The last such survey was taken in 2012 by the National Sample Survey Office as part of the NSS’s 69th round.Its objective was to understand the conditions necessary for a household to live a decent and healthy life, and to develop indicators for such an assessment. For this purpose, the NSS examined the living conditions of households across India (rural and urban), except those villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that were difficult to access. A total of 106,838 households (63,736 in rural and 43,102 in urban areas) were surveyed. Information was collected on a range of parameters, including: the type, condition, and ‘tenurial status’ of the dwelling/residential unit, the drainage system of the unit, system of disposal of household wastewater and garbage, and problems of flies and mosquitoes. The report notes that these determine the quality of living conditions of the members of a household.