Water Security and Gender Disparity: Indian Scenario

Introduction: The UN SDGs are a collection of ۱۷ global goals set in ۲۰۱۵ by the United Nations General Assembly intended to be achieved by ۲۰۳۰. Ensuring universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by ۲۰۳۰ is the target outlined by SDG ۶.۱. The indicator for measuring the same is the proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services. In ۲۰۱۷, only ۷۱ per cent of the global population used safely managed drinking water, an increase from ۶۱% in ۲۰۰۰, leaving ۲.۲ billion people without safely managed drinking water, including ۷۸۵ million without even basic drinking water. Also, in ۲۰۱۷, ۹۰% of the world’s population (۶.۸ billion people) used at least basic drinking water services, rising from ۸۲% (۵ billion people) in ۲۰۰۰. It is estimated that at this rate, global coverage would be around ۹۶% still following short of the universal access. This goal is far from being realized in the case of the Indian subcontinent which accounts for approximately ۱۷.۸% of the world population. As per international standards, a country with per-capita water availability less than ۱۷۰۰ m۳ is categorized as water stressed. According to the ۲۰۱۱ census India had a per capita water availability of ۱۵۴۳m۳ which is projected to further decline to ۱۴۰۱m۳ by ۲۰۲۵. Also India has a water stress score of ۴.۱۲ on a scale of ۰-۵ provided by the World Resources Institute. Moreover, there exists huge inequality in the distribution of access to water across states as well as difference strata of the population. Materials and Methods: This paper uses household survey data from India to determine factors which outline the choice of drinking water source. We use the definitions from the World Health Organization (WHO) and divide the water sources into ۳ broad categories: piped, improved and unimproved. It is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. The dataset comprises of ۶۰۱, ۵۰۹ households with around ۶۹۹, ۶۸۶ individuals. The survey has detailed information on various indicators like child mortality, nutrition indicators as well as characteristics of household members, household wealth and assets, location of source of water, person collecting water et cetera. Results and Discussion: The results highlight that household income is an important determinant and positively affects the choice of a better water source. Other significant factors include gender and schooling of household head. While for number of women of age group ۱۵-۴۹, there is clear trend throughout, having positive association with choosing an improved water source and negative association with choosing an unimproved water source, the number of men in the age group ۱۵-۵۹ is negatively associated with choosing an improved water source in rural areas but not significant for any water source when looked at urban India. Policies that augment household income could provide for a better source of drinking water. The wealth effect appears to be larger for urban India. The majority of water collection is done by women and girl child and thus any benefits from investments in such policies will be greatest for this segment of the population. Since the data shows around ۱۰% of the households to be still using unimproved drinking water sources, India as a long way to go so that it is able to achieve the target of safe drinking water for all by ۲۰۳۰. Conclusions: Education of household head is seen to be positive and significant with using a piped water connection when looking at India as a whole. Higher educational attainment means more empowerment and knowledge of the best health practices. Individuals feel powerless when they have limited opportunity to bargain owing to low levels of education. Educated heads realise the potential health benefits of improved quality of water, especially for women and girls. It also plays important role in children’s school performance as fewer illnesses mean reduced absenteeism and dropout rates.

کلیدواژه ها:

Water source ، Improved ، India ، Rural ، urban