More Muslims live in their own houses than Hindus, but the average floor area of a Muslim house is 387sqft as against 431sqft of a Hindu house and 634sqft of a Sikh house
"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment all you have is all you need," is the famous quote of American author Sara Ban Breathnach. A big chunk of Indians, mostly Muslims, who stay in tiny homes feel exactly the same.
A latest report says more Muslims (64%) live in their own houses than Hindus (60%) in India. However, the average floor area of Muslims household is only 387sqft, which is lowest among all religious groups and below the national average. Hindu houses are only slightly bigger, with an average floor area of 419sqft. On the other hand, Sikhs and Christians in the country have the most spacious houses with an average area of 635sqft and 532sqft, respectively.
Besides this, the percentage of Muslim households using tap water is also the lowest — 63.7 % compared to 69.7 % in Hindus households.
These statistics are part of Prof Amitabh Kundu committee's report submitted to the Union ministry of minority affairs last week. The Committee was constituted by the UPA government a year ago for an assessment of the socio-economic status of the Muslim community seven years after the implementation of the Justice Sachar Commission, which had highlighted the community's poor socio-economic condition. The report is based on NSSO data.
Underlining the discrimination of the community, the report states, "One would infer that the difficulties for Muslim families in renting houses in urban property market in a way compels them to become owners, despite them having lower affordability. Higher ownership figures reported by the Sikhs (83%) can be attributed to their higher level of economic well being."
A key indicator of economic well being is monthly per capita consumption expenditure in which urban Muslims figure at the bottom (Rs297), followed by the scheduled castes (Rs284) and scheduled tribes (Rs283), as against upper caste Hindus (Rs556) and other religions (Rs527), states the report.
"This can be attributed to the fact that the Sts, and to some extent Scs, move out of rural areas for accessing education or employment in government sectors, due to the policy of reservation, that results in their higher consumption expenditure in relative terms," observes the report, adding that migration by Muslims, on the other hand, is due to economic distress, seasonality and social discrimination leading to more poverty.
In rural areas, ST Hindus are at the bottom of the ladder, followed by SC and then Muslims, their ranking remaining unchanged over the past two decades.
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