Socio-economic impact on the availability of basic amenities: a comparative analysis of villages of hilly states, India
Management of Environmental Quality
ISSN: 1477-7835
Article publication date: 14 June 2022
Issue publication date: 17 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
India has taken a successful step towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by providing access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water, waste management, drainage systems and bio-compost pits in households. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that significantly impact access to such basic amenities in villages in two states in the hilly regions of India.
Design/methodology/approach
Village-level secondary data collected from the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) website has been analyzed using multiple linear regression and non-parametric statistical tests. Socio-economic and demographic variables are the independent factors in regression whereas availability of basic amenities is the dependent variable.
Findings
Findings reveal that in Himachal Pradesh, gender ratio, annual income per family, percentage of BPL households, percentage of pucca houses, and percentage of village population above graduation, significantly impact access to piped water in village households. Also, literacy rate and percentage of population with education above graduation significantly impact availability of compost pits. Further, in Uttarakhand, percentage of pucca houses influences access to waste collection system and availability of compost pits. Availability of drainage systems is influenced by literacy rate. A comparison between the two hilly states reveals that Himachal Pradesh is better off in terms of ease of access to drinking water whereas Uttarakhand is ahead in terms of other amenities.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other studies have used socio-economic and demographic variables to study access to basic amenities in villages in hilly states in India.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the data uploaded in UBA (Unnat Bharat Abhiyan) website for getting the valuable insights for carrying out this research work. Also, the authors are thankful to Prof. Deeparghya Mukherjee, IIM Nagpur for his advice during improvising of the paper.
Citation
Patra, P., Roy, A., Ghosh, A. and Malik, P. (2023), "Socio-economic impact on the availability of basic amenities: a comparative analysis of villages of hilly states, India", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 37-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-12-2021-0283
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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