I flere fattige delstater har 3/4 ikke latriner, men forretter deres nødtørft i det åbne, viser ny stor statistisk undersøgelse af kæmpelandets milliard-befolkning – og forbavsende få har internet.
Nearly half of India’s 1,2 billion people have no toilet at home, but more people own a mobile phone, according to the latest census data, reports BBC online Wednesday.
Only 46,9 per cent of the 246.6 million households have lavatories (toliet med vask) while 49,8 percent defecate (forretter deres nødtørft) in the open. The remaining 3,2 per cent use public toilets.
Census 2011 data on houses, household amenities (faciliteter) and assets reveal that 63,2 per cent of homes have a telephone.
Analysts say the census reveals a country where millions have access to cutting-edge technology and consumer goods but a larger number of poor who lack access to even basic facilities.
About 77 per cent of homes in the eastern state of Jharkhand have no toilet facilities, while the figure is 76,6 per cent for Orissa and 75,8 per cent in Bihar. All three are among India’s poorest states with huge populations which live on less than a dollar (5,60 DKR) a day.
The data also reveal that Indians now largely live in nuclear families with 70 per cent homes consisting of only one couple – a dramatic change in a country where joint families were always the norm.
The census figures show changes in how people access information and entertainment.
More than half the population – 53,2 per cent – have a mobile phone, while the reach of computers with internet access is still minuscule (minimal), with only 3,1 per cent of the population connected, notes BBC.
