The number of households in rural areas in Uttar Pradesh having mobile phones has increased from 2.4 per cent in 2001 to 63.6 per cent in 2011, showing a massive upsurge in telecom penetration. In the urban households during the same period, the mobile phone penetration has jumped from 18.3 per cent to 78.3 per cent.
UP has also forged ahead of the rest of the country on the telephone usage parameter — state has 67 per cent households using mobiles as well as landline, compared to the national average of 63 per cent while 61 per cent households use only mobile phones.
While the mobile phone penetration has escalated, the shocking truth is that only 36 per cent households in UP have a toilet facility and 56 per cent households still have open drainage.
This household and assets data has been released by the census department and reveals the lopsided development in the state.
On one hand, 92 per cent households in the state use taps and hand pumps for drinking water and, on the other, 12 per cent people still have to travel more than 500 metres in rural and 100 metres in urban areas for drinking water.
According to the data on households, amenities and assets, UP has shown progress on several socio-economic parameters. There has been a substantial increase, for instance, in the quality of houses. The number of people in the state living in self-owned houses is 94.7 per cent which remains unchanged since the last census in 2011. Electricity is another area where UP has been found severely lacking. Data suggests there is still a huge gap between demand and supply. Nearly 36.8 per cent people use electricity in the state, kerosene remains the main source of lighting in 61.9 per cent households. In more than 20,000 homes, there is no source of lighting.
With an improvement in the wealth indicators in the state, changes have also been observed in family structures. Nuclear families are emerging with nearly 64 per cent households being single couple homes and households with two or more couples showing a steady decline.