29.3% persons aged 15-24 yrs not in education, employment or training: NSSO

A total of 29.3 % persons aged 15-24 years are not in education, employment or training, said a Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

The survey was initially planned to be conducted during the period January-December, 2020 but the field work was extended till August 15, 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The NSSO carried out the survey covering the entire country in its 78th round.

The survey said that 34.9 % persons aged 15-29 years were in formal and non-formal education and training for the 12 months preceding the survey.

The survey showed that 9.9 % of the households reported the purchase or construction of a new house or flat after March 31, 2014. A total of 49.9 % of the households reported the purchase or construction of a new house or flat for the first time, among the households which reported the purchase or construction of a new house or flat after March 3, 2014, it said.

The survey said that 63.1 % of the households were using clean fuel as the primary source of energy for cooking. Moreover, the data showed a substantial difference in the rural and urban areas in the use of clean fuel as 49.8 % households in rural and 92 % in urban areas used clean fuel as the primary source of energy for cooking.

The primary source of energy has been defined as that source which the household uses most of the time. Clean fuel for cooking included LPG, other natural gas, gobar gas, other biogas, electricity including that generated by solar/wind power, and solar cookers.

As per the survey report, 72.7 % persons aged 18 years and above used mobile phones during the three months preceding the survey.

The survey said that 95.7 % persons reported to have improved sources of drinking water. That included bottled water, piped water into dwelling, piped water to yard/plot, piped water from neighbour, public tap/standpipe, tubewell, hand pump, protected well, public/private tankers, protected spring and rainwater collection.

Similarly, 98 % persons reported access to improved toilets, among those who reported access to toilets. These included flush/pour-flush to piped sewer system, flush/pour-flush to septic tank, flush/pour-flush to twin leach pits/single pit, ventilated improved pit latrine, pit latrine with slab, composting latrine.

As per the survey, 81.9 % persons reported access to hand washing facilities with water and soap/detergent within the premises.

The objective of the MIS was to collect information for developing estimates of some important Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators and to collect information about purchase/construction of house(s)/flat(s) for residential purposes after March 3, 2014 and information on migration.

--IANS

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