Meghalaya is known for its picturesque beauty and cleanliness. Spread over an area of 22, 429 Sq.Km. on the eastern sub-Himalayas, it shares the international border with Bangladesh on the South and West sides; on the North and the East boundaries is the state of Assam. It lies in the extreme eastern part of the great Himalayas. Here the Himalayas give way to smaller ranges that extend along India's borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Jaintia, Garo and Khasi Hills are branches of the range in the west. Collectively, they form the famous Shillong (Meghalaya) Plateau. Many rivers and streams flow out of the plateau, creating deep, narrow, steep-sided valleys making it a biodiversity hub and a tourist attraction.
Meghalaya acquired statehood on January 21, 1972, paving a new era of development and governance. The state government prioritises education, health, sports, business, and the environment with a people-first approach. In Meghalaya, almost 80.4% is rural population, higher than all India figures of 72.2 %. According to a Department of Planning, Government of Meghalaya report of 2008 “Rural Meghalaya is marked by a high incidence of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, poor infrastructure and absence of basic facilities”. But with Rural Development in Meghalaya on Mission mode, let’s see what statistics say.
The socio- economic characteristics of the household population describes their living conditions. In my opinion, the best way to judge the living conditions of any society is by looking into four parameters i.e., access to clean drinking water, sanitation conditions, clean fuel for cooking and electricity. Let us have a look at the access of people in different districts of Meghalaya to these four parameters. The National Family Health Survey-5 data is insightful. See the story of how households in Meghalaya have moved from 2014-15 (NFHS-4) to 2019-20.
Access to Clean Drinking Water
People use water from varied sources for drinking and other household chores. Clean water or improved sources of water protects against outside contamination, making it safer for human consumption. These sources in rural areas include piped water, public taps, standpipes, tube wells, boreholes, protected dug wells and springs, rainwater, tanker truck, cart with small tank, bottled water, and community reverse osmosis (RO) plants. Meghalaya is proud to be the first state in the country to implement the Water Policy.
Refer to Fig 1: In Meghalaya, only three out of total eleven districts i.e., East Khasi Hills, South Garo Hills and Ribhoi had access to improved drinking-water till 2014-15. But within next 5 years by 2019-20 the entire state had access to clean drinking water source though the variation is wide, from 90% in East Khasi to mere 51.50% in North Garo Hills (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Access to Clean Drinking-Water Source
The story of South Garo Hills needs attention. While 72.70% households had access to improved drinking-water source in 2014-15, the percentage decreased to 60.40% in 2019-20.
Three districts - North Garo Hills (51.50%), South West Garo Hills (58.60%) and South Garo Hills (60.40%) have only over half of the households with improved source of drinking-water. (Fig 1)
On national level, 99% urban and 96% of rural households use an improved source of drinking water. Most rural Indian households (68%) have water on their premises. Those who do not have, send family members, mostly females aged 15 years and above to collect water.
Sanitation Conditions:
Sanitation is one of the basic needs just like other amenities like clean drinking water, health services, food, and shelter. Though under the NFHS-5 survey, this indicator does not denote access to toilet facility, but it talks about households using sanitation system in some form which is not shared with any other household.
Figure 2: Improved Sanitation Facility in Households
As Fig 2 shows, in 2015-16, majority of the population in South Garo Hills (86.50%), East Khasi Hills (67.8%) and Ribhoi (58.1%) had improved sanitation facility. But by the year 2020, 80% households in all districts had the sanitation facility except for West Jaintia Hills (75.1%) and South West Garo Hills (71.4%).
Clean Fuel for Cooking
In Meghalaya till 2014-15, only 3 of the 11 districts then, namely East Khasi Hills, the South Garo Hills and Ribhoi had access to clean fuel for cooking purposes. The respective percentages of households having clean fuel for cooking like electricity, LPG/natural gas, biogas was 43.1, 8.8 and 8.6. (Fig 3)
Figure 3: Access to Clean Fuel for Cooking across Meghalaya
The government’s initiative subsequently led to greater and wider use of clean fuel for cooking in all the districts of Meghalaya. As the Figure 3 shows, by the year 2020, this figure increased to more than 47% in East Khasi and South Garo Hills to 8.60% in the West Khasi Hills. However, there is too much variation in the households with access to clean fuel.
Noteworthy is the fact that West Garo Hills region have zero access till 2015 but within the next 5 years this region was leading in this sector. In the same report (NHFS-5) all India Statistics show only 59% of households used clean fuel.
Electricity in Households
By 2020, households in all eleven districts had electricity. The percentage households having the electricity supply varied from 85% in West Khasi Hills to 98.6% in South Garo Hills. This shows much wider access of electricity in 2020 as compared to 2014-15 when households of only three districts, South Garo Hills (99%), East Khasi Hills (96%), and Ribhoi (86.70%) had electricity. (Fig 4)
Figure 4: Population living in households with Electricity
A look at the data on national level shows the percentage of population in households with electricity increased from 88 in 2014-15 to 98.6 in 2019-20. The total population in households with electricity I rural India was 95.7%. Meghalaya very well replicates the national success in the supply of electricity to households. (Fig 4)
In Fig 5, all the above data on select 4 socio-economic characteristics have been shown at one place. This figure clearly shows that till 2014-15 there was a wide disparity in amenities available for residents in the eleven districts of Meghalaya. During this period all efforts were visible in three districts only. But subsequently, the efforts were expanded to cover all the districts in the state so that benefits reached the 'last mile'.
Figure 5: Household with access to Clean Water, Sanitation, Clean Fuel, and Electricity
As a result, by 2020 all the districts had better access to all the above amenities. But there is wide variation in the percentages of access in different districts. This point needs a thorough study.
To achieve 100 percent mark for the above four parameters there is a need to identify regions where the schemes have not shown the desired results, evaluate the schemes progress at micro level, strategize interventions and address the disparity and achieve quality living uniformly. Here are some of the crucial implications*. (Fig 6)
Figure 6: Evidence-based policymaking: Analysing the data collected regularly over time can be instrumental for better decision-making.
Identification of regions in need of attention: The district-level estimates provided in the report can help policymakers identify areas within the state where ongoing schemes are yet to show desired results and target interventions accordingly.
Micro-monitor progress: The district-level monitoring of the government schemes' progress on select indicators over time can help policymakers evaluate the effectiveness of programs.
Addressing disparities: The report highlights disparities in key indicators across different districts in the state, and working on the select lines can help achieve quality living uniformly.
Overall, there has been substantial progress from 2014-15 to 2020. It also highlights the areas where further improvements are needed to ensure basic amenities reach the 'last mile' and achieve the 100% mark.
This description provides valuable information for policy decisions and guide interventions to improve the well-being of people on Meghalaya.
References:
https://megplanning.gov.in/MSDR/rural_development.pdf
https://main.mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/NFHS-5_Phase-II_0.pdf