Electrification, drinking water facilities improve in Sikkim

The Himalayan state of Sikkim has made excellent progress in providing electricity and drinking water to citizens, according to the latest National Family Health Survey for Sikkim.

A total of 92% of the 1,11,830 households in the state have electricity and 78% have drinking water.

The 92% households having electricity, include 90% in rural areas and 100% in urban areas.

During the last survey, electrification stood at 82%.

Though 78% of households had drinking water, only a little over one third had piped water.

In rural households only 20% had piped drinking water, while in urban areas it was 90%, according to the 2005-06 survey, the third and latest in the Himalayan state released last year.

88% of households treated water to make it potable with 86% boiling it and 10% using ceramic, sand, or other water filters.

Toilet facilities in households had also improved. There were only 11% households without toilets, which was an improvement from the last survey when it was 27%.

More than half of the families in the state used solid fuel for cooking, with wood being the most commonly used.

The statistics also revealed that, of the total households, just over half of them, that is 51%, lived in pucca houses, most of them in urban areas.

Sikkim is primarily rural with only 20% of the households located in urban areas.

On an average, households comprised 4-5 members. One-seventh (14%) of households were headed by women.

Nearly three-fifths of households in Sikkim had household heads who are Hindu (58%), followed by Buddhists/Neo-Buddhist (30%) and Muslims (2%).

9% of household heads belonged to Scheduled Castes, 36% to Scheduled Tribes, and 41% to Other Backward Classes (OBC).

In Sikkim, 31% of the population was under the age of 15 and only 5% was aged 65 and above.

In all, 75% were below 18 years and lived with both parents, 12% with one parent, and 14% with neither parent.