Poverty and backwardness has been recorded more in villages than urban areas of the State, reveals an official statistics.
While more families live in villages than cities, they lead a poor standard of life than the people in urban areas. As per the 2011 Census, out of the State’s total4.19 crore-population, 3.49 crore live in villages while around 70 lakh people live in urban centres.
Over all, around 83 per cent people live in villages, and the percentage of residents in cities is less than 17. However, annual population growth has been recorded at 2.69 per cent in cities while it is 1.18 per cent in villages.
Out of the State’s total 1.75 crore labourers, 1.51 crore are in villages and 24.37 lakh in cities. While only 4.76 lakh women labourers are in cities, 51.72 lakh are in villages. Of the total population living in 96,61,085 houses, the number is 81,44,012 in villages and 15,17,073 in cities.
Out of the total houses, only 28,53,361 are in good condition, around 60 lakh houses in bad condition and 7.15 lakh houses are about to collapse any time.
There are total 22.71 lakh concrete-roof houses in the State. A concrete-roof house has been a dream for around 65 lakh families. There are more than 33 lakh cottages, 26 lakh tile huts in the State. The Government is planning to include all the houses in the Indira Awas Yojana and Mo Kudia and Biju Pucca Ghar schemes.
Around 86 per cent houses are yet to have drinking piped water connections. While 75 lakh houses are deprived of getting piped water supply connections in the villages, over half of the total houses have the water facility in city areas.
Power connection has been provided to around 42 lakh houses in the State, out of which around 13 lakh are in cities and 29 lakh in villages while 50 lakh houses are still deprived of the facility in villages.
Only 22 lakh houses have toilets in the State and 75 lakh houses have no toilets, out of which the number of houses having no toilets in the villages is 70 lakh.
Around 69 lakh families in the villages defecate in open ground. While 5.50 lakh families have separate bathrooms in villages, the number is two times higher in cities with such facility. lPG connection has been provided to around 10 lakh families, out of which only 2.50 lakh families have cooking gas connection in villages.
Besides, the percentage of illiterates and half-educated is higher in villages than cities. Besides, the average income per head and average expenditure per head are comparatively higher in cities than villages.
The statistics also reveal that the standard of life in cities is better than the villages, for which villagers are moving away to urban areas in search of jobs and other facilities.