Survey: 99% households have access to banking

NEW DELHI: Among all government schemes being delivered on a mission mode, it is banking that now covers 99% households while access to gas connections has seen the sharpest increase over the last 10 years, a survey has showed.
The survey by think tank People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE) showed that between 2011 and 2021, the increase in the ownership of mobile phones has kept pace with access to banking services, both rising by nearly 40 percentage points each (see graphic). The survey also revealed how a combination of rollout in rural areas and greater affordability of the handset as well as services has led to a higher pace of a jump in ownership in rural pockets than in urban areas.
The findings also revealed that the government will have to step up efforts on access to toilets across the country as less than three-fourths of the households were covered until the last round of survey conducted in 2021, compared with 63% in 2016. According to the 2021 survey, 88% urban households had access to toilets compared to 65% in rural areas.

The PRICE survey, which covered around 3 lakh households, showed that now two-thirds of the households in the country had access to tap water – 57% in rural areas and 85% in urban areas.
The findings come at a time when PM Narendra Modi has called for saturation of all government schemes in the run up to the 2024 general elections. The survey has also shown that over half the Indian households now own two-wheelers, compared to one in every five 10 years ago (Census 2011). There is sharper jump in rural areas – from 14% in 2011 to 50% now, which is probably on account of higher income levels and better road connectivity.
The numbers also estimated that more than three-fourths of the households had television sets, while the ownership of four-wheelers at the national level was pegged at 14%.