BARE NECESSITIES

This chapter focuses on the idea of minimum needs. It advocates that development can be
synonymous to providing the people with Bare Necessities.

It further showcases the various policies and schemes undertaken by the government to fulfil the
vision of basic needs for all like-

 Swachh Bharat Mission – 2019 – To eliminate open defecation and municipal solid waste
completely.
 Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna - By 2022, all people will have a home.
 Jal Jeevan Mission – 2019 – To ensure that everyone has access to safe drinking water by
2025.
 Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna – 2017 – To provide universal electrification to the households.
 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna - launched in 2016 in order to provide clean cooking fuel to
the poor people.

We are also provided with an introduction to BNI. It explains that to measure the progress in the
delivery of “the bare necessities”, the Survey develops a composite index called the Bare Necessities
Index (BNI). BNI has been created for all states for 2012 and 2018 using data from two NSO rounds
viz., 69th and 76th on Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition in India. It has
witnessed a substantial rise in the index from 2012 to 2018. Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat,
Uttarakhand, Delhi, Goa, Mizoram, and Sikkim had the best access to basic essentials in 2018, while
Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tripura have the worst. . When compared to urban regions,
the improvement in rural areas is substantially larger. However, disparities in access to basic
requirements persisted among states and between rural and urban areas.

Drinking water: According to the survey, for example, access to drinking water to households in
most of the states improved in 2018, compared to 2012, in rural, as well as urban areas. On the
drinking water accessibility index, Sikkim, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat are at the top, while
Odisha, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh are at the bottom. Despite the fact that differences in
urban areas have decreased, regional disparities have increased in 2018.
Sanitation:

INDICATORS- Access to laterines , pipes sewer systems , septic tank.

Access to sanitation improved for all states in rural areas and for most of the states in urban areas in
2018, compared to 2012. The survey also noted that regional disparity in access to sanitation had
declined, as states having low access to sanitation in 2012 gained more. The level of access to safe
sanitation increased in lowest income quintile. However, there are still significant differences in
sanitation access between states. Swachh Bharat was established as a continuation of the
government's efforts through different government programmes, such as the Total Sanitation
Campaign. In 2014, the mission was launched. More than 10 crore toilets were erected in rural areas
as part of the programme

Housing:

INDICATORS- Pakka or Katcha houses, quality of houses of dwelling unit, condition of structure.
According to the survey, the improvement in the Housing Index also indicated improvement in
access to housing and reduction in inter-state disparities, with disproportionate benefits for the
lowest income group in 2018, vis-à-vis 2012.

Micro-environment: The Economic Survey also noted improvement in the micro-environment for all
states in 2018, except for Assam in rural areas and Odisha and Assam in urban areas, as compared to
2012. Here also the improvement was especially in the lowest income quintile.

Other facilities: The survey also noted improvements in access to other facilities, such as the
availability of kitchens, kitchens with water taps, good ventilation in houses, access to bathrooms,
electricity use and type of fuel used for cooking.