Up to 23 million households (in over 292,000 villages) without electricity; 7 percent (43,000) villages without mobile services; 17 percent rural habitations without clean drinking water; 25 percent of 14 to 18-year-olds (nearly 88 million) in rural areas cannot read basic text in own language.
Of 640,932 villages in India (597,608 inhabited and 43,324 uninhabited), all inhabited villages have been electrified – according to the government, although this is unverified – but over 23 million households in rural areas are without electricity.
Of more than 219 million rural households, 195 million, or 89 percent, have been electrified, official data show.
Of 23 million rural households to be electrified, Uttar Pradesh leads the list with over 12 million households, followed by Assam (1.9 million) and Odisha (1.8 million), as on 22 August 2018.
The first mobile phone call in India was made in 1995; now, 23 years later, 43,000-odd inhabited villages do not have mobiles services as on 27 July 2018, according to government data.
Of 1,78,184 eligible habitations to be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY, or the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Programme), started in 2000 to ensure all-weather roads across villages, 31,022 or 17 percent habitations are yet to be connected, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha on 22 March 2018.
There is a 19 percent shortfall in health sub centres, 22 percent shortfall in primary health centres (PHCs) and 30 percent shortfall in community health centres (CHCs) at the end of March 2017, according to data from the Rural Health statistics.
The CAG survey found that 73 percent sub centres were more than 3 km from the remotest village, 28 percent were not accessible by public transport and 17 percent were unhygienic, IndiaSpend reported.
About 25 percent of the 14-18 age group (~88 million) in rural areas still cannot read basic text fluently in their own language, according to the Annual Status of Education Report, 2017 by Pratham, an advocacy.
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