Census report shows progress on vital fronts

Assam seems to have improved on a few vital fronts. According to the provisional census data released in Guwahati on Friday, 44.1% of households avail banking services, as against 20.5% as reported in the previous Census. In the rural areas, 38.3 % people avail banking services and figure in urban areas is over 75%.

Over 66 percent of households resided in homes having walls made of grass, thatch or bamboo. But, 74.2% houses had roofs made of GI, metal or asbestos sheets.

For 37.1 % households electricity was the main source of lighting, up from 25 % in 2001 Census. But kerosene remained the major source of light for 61.8 % households and 0.8% were using solar power.

Only 54.8% of households have drinking water facility available within their premises, up from 37.9% as per the 2001 Census. The Census was conducted between 1 April to 15 May 2010, covered a population of 3.11 crore in over 26,000 villages and 214 towns of Assam. It covered 63.7 lakh households.