The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) developed in September 2016 the National Indicator Framework (NIF) of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for monitoring the progress of SDGs at the national level. The framework is a consolidated list of 306 possible national indicators to serve as a backbone for monitoring of SDGs. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) conducted the Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS) in 2014 for the first time. It collected the data to cater for the requirements of various national indicators of SDGs for which the data were not available with different ministries.
Between January and December 2020, the NSSO was to collect the 78th round of data for the MIS. However, due to the pandemic, the data collection was extended up to August 2021 in order to complete the survey operation in terms of its coverage.
Objective
The objectives of the MIS were as follows:
- To collect information for developing estimates of some important SDG indicators;
- To collect information on purchase/construction of house(s)/flat(s) by the household for residential purpose after March 31, 2014, and information on migration; and
- To collect some information on access to mass media and availability of birth registration certificates.
Sample Design
The whole of the Indian Union was surveyed except for some villages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which were difficult to access. In this survey, two-stage stratified sampling was used, where FSU were villages/sub-units (SUs) in rural areas, and urban frame survey (UFS) blocks/SUs in urban areas. The FSUs were allocated to states and union territories (UTs) in proportion to the population, as per Census of 2011. The second stage units (SSUs) were households in both rural and urban areas. The selection of FSUs and SSUs was done by a scheme known as Simple Random Sampling without Replacement (SRSWOR).
Key Findings
Household and population For the central sample, the survey was spread over 14,266 first stages units (FSUs): 8,469 (rural areas) and 5,797 (urban areas). The total number of sample households surveyed were 2,76,409, including 1,64,529 (rural areas) and 1,11,880 (urban areas). Thus, at the all-India level, about 11,63,416 persons were enumerated, including 7,13,501 (rural areas) and 4,49,915 (urban areas).
Drinking water, sanitation, and hand washing About 95 per cent of the persons in the rural areas and about 97.2 per cent of the persons in the urban areas used ‘improved source of drinking water,’ including bottled water, piped water into dwelling, piped water to yard/plot, piped water from neighbour, public tap/standpipe, tube well, hand pump, protected well, public tanker truck, private tanker truck, protected spring, and rainwater collection.
About 56.3 per cent of the persons (rural areas) and about 76.3 per cent of the persons (urban areas) used improved source of drinking water located in the household premises which was sufficiently available throughout the year.
Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha are among the states that have worst access to drinking water for both rural and urban households. In Kerala, Manipur, Nagaland, and Jharkhand, less than 90 per cent of people have access to improved sources of drinking water.
About 78.7 per cent of the households (rural areas) and about 97.1 per cent of the households (urban areas) reported that majority of household members had access of toilets. Among those who reported access to toilets, about 97.5 per cent of the persons (rural areas), while about 99.0 per cent of persons (urban areas) had access to improved toilets which included flush/pour-flush to piped sever system, flush/pour flush to septic tanks, ventilated improved pit latrine, composting latrine, etc.
About 77.4 per cent of the persons (rural areas) and about 92.7 per cent (urban areas) had access to hand washing facility with water and soap/detergent within the premises.
Among the persons who reported access to toilets and hand washing facility, about 73.3 per cent (rural areas) and about 81.4 per cent (urban areas) had exclusive access to improved latrine and hand washing facilities with water and soap or detergent within the household premises.
The lowest proportion of rural households with access to a special toilet is found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, where more than 30 per cent of households did not have toilet facilities.
Energy used by households The survey said that 63.1 per cent of the households, about 49.8 per cent (rural areas) and about 92.0 per cent (urban areas), were using clean fuel as the primary source of energy for cooking. Primary source of energy is the source of energy which the household used most of the time and it included liquified petroleum gas (LPG), other natural gas, gobar gas, other biogas, electricity (including generated by solar/wind power generators), and solar cooker.
Firewood is the primary source of energy for cooking in more than 70 per cent of households in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland, and Madhya Pradesh. Less than 25 per cent of households in these states, along with Jharkhand, used LPG for cooking, the lowest percentage of any state or UT.
Education and information and communication technology skills According to the survey, education covers non-formal education [acquired through non-formal education courses (NFEC), total literacy campaign (TLC) or adult education centres (AEC), etc., and formal education (acquired through formal schooling and covers general, technical, professional, vocational courses offered by schools, colleges, university or other institutions)].
About 33 per cent of persons (rural areas) and about 39.4 per cent of persons (urban areas), aged 15–29 years, were in formal and non-formal education and training for the 12 months preceding the survey.
About 30.2 per cent of persons (rural areas) and about 27 per cent of persons (urban areas), aged 15–24 years, were ‘not in education, employment or training’ (NEET) as on date of survey.
In this survey, ability of performing different information and communication technology (ICT) skills of each of the surveyed persons of age 15 years and above were collected. The data showed that a large share of the relatively young persons of the country were reluctant to completely shift work and education online. Only 15.6 per cent of those in the 15 years and above age group could send emails with attached files. This number improved to only 27.5 per cent among the younger 15–25 years age group. The report stated that even if education was to be conducted through compact discs (CDs) or other removable drives, not all students might be able to pursue such an education easily. Only 43 per cent people in the 15–25 age group (35 per cent in rural areas) could copy or move a file or folder.
Among the larger states, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Kerala, and Delhi had the highest proportion, over 20 per cent of males, aged 15–24, who had no formal education, employment or training at the time of the survey. The proportion of females was highest in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Bihar.
Mobile, broadband, and mass media About 67.8 per cent of persons, aged 18 years and above in rural areas, and about 83.7 per cent of persons, aged 18 years and above in urban areas, used mobile telephone with active sim card at least once during the last three months preceding the date of the survey.
About 16.1 per cent of males and 43.8 per cent of females, aged 15–24, were not studying, working, or training during the survey period. Percentage of those, aged 18, who had special access to a mobile phone was less than 50 per cent.
In Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, less than a third of people, aged over 18 years, have exclusive access to a mobile phone.
Financial inclusion and indebtedness Among the persons, aged 18 years and above, about 89.3 per cent of persons (rural areas) and about 89.6 per cent of persons (urban areas) had an account individually or jointly in any bank/other financial institution/mobile money service provider. Out of 1,00,000 persons, aged 18 years and above, 16,223 persons (rural areas) and 14,889 persons (urban areas) were indebted to any institutional/non-institutional agency as on the date of survey.
Birth registration About 86.6 per cent of the persons (rural areas) and about 93.2 per cent of the persons (urban areas) had registered with the civil authorities for birth certificate. (Registered cases included persons who had received birth certificates as well as persons who had not received birth certificates, but had registered with the civil authorities such as municipality, panchayat, or a government health institution, etc.)
Other facilities: road and public transport Information was collected on some facilities of the household for generating SDG indicators like availability of all-weather roads within 2 km from the place of living (for rural households). Similarly, information was collected for urban households who reported availability of public transport within 500 metres and availability of open public space within 500 metres from the place of living.
About 92.5 per cent of households in rural areas reported availability of all-weather roads within 2 km from the place of living. About 89.6 per cent of urban households had public transport facility available within 500 metres from their place of living. About 64.8 per cent of urban households had open public space within 500 metres from their place of living.
Purchase/construction of new house/flat for residential purpose The survey has showed that 9.9 per cent of the households reported the purchase or construction of any new house or flat after March 31, 2014, i.e., about 11.2 per cent of households (rural areas) and about 7.2 per cent urban areas. About 96.5 per cent of households (rural areas) and about 96.7 per cent (urban areas) owned that house/flat as on the date of survey.
Among the households which reported purchase or construction of any new house or flat after March 31, 2014, for residential purpose, about 47.5 per cent of households (rural areas) and about 57.9 per cent of households (urban areas) purchased or constructed any new house or flat for the first time.
Migration In MIS, detailed information on migration particulars were collected at person level. For the purpose of this survey, a person was considered to have migrated if his/her present place of enumeration was different from the last usual place of residence. It was found that 29.1 per cent of Indians are migrants.
About 26.8 per cent of persons (rural areas) and about 34.6 per cent of persons (urban areas) had current place of residence different from the last usual place of residence.
Among males, employment was the main reason for migration, being 38.7 per cent (rural areas) and 56.1 per cent (urban areas). For females, marriage was the main reason for migration, being 93.4 per cent (rural areas) and 71.5 per cent (urban areas).
The survey further found that 56.2 per cent of migrant people reported an increase in their income while 21.9 per cent reported a decrease and some percentage of people who reported no change. Migrants to urban areas reported an increase more than the average migrant. About 67.7 per cent of urban migrants reported an increase in income, while incomes decreased and remained the same for 12.2 per cent and 20 per cent of such migrants, respectively.
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