Quality of Drinking Water and Sanitation in India

Abstract

Wide disparity exists in access to drinking water across social groups in rural and urban India. This article shows that the economically weaker sections or the lower quintile class does not have access to water within the premises both in rural and urban areas. This indicates that low income or wealth would mean poor access to basic amenities for households. Similarly, access to toilets and incidence of open defaecation reflect social disparities. The regression results show that an increase in the household income increases the predicted probability of maintaining an exclusive latrine. Further, compared to the ‘General Category’, the ‘Scheduled Castes’ and ‘Other Backward Classes’ have a lower probability of constructing an exclusive latrine facility, in the rural and urban areas.