Determinants of access to improved drinking water and sanitation in India: evidence from India Human Development Survey-II (IHDS)

Access to improved drinking water and sanitation has been declared a fundamental right by the UN General Assembly. However, around 25 and 50% of the global population lacked access to safely managed drinking water and improved sanitation in 2020, respectively. India, the second most populous country in the world, has around 3.7 and 31% of its population without access to improved drinking water and sanitation, respectively. This paper explores the factors determining a household's access to improved drinking water and sanitation in India, using India Human Development Survey (IHDS) II data. The results indicate that urban households with bigger family sizes, with fewer rooms, married but uneducated household heads, belonging to forward castes, were more likely to have access to improved drinking water. Similarly, households with married female heads, belonging to forward castes, small household sizes, older aged heads with primary education, from Non-EAG (Empowered Action Group) states, located in urban areas, earning higher incomes and having more number of rooms were more likely to have access to improved sanitation. Findings suggest subsidized improved water and sanitation services and an increase in public investment to make these facilities affordable for poor rural householdsHIGHLIGHTSA considerable share of the global population remains deprived of safe drinking water and sanitation.There is an urgent need to understand the factors influencing their access as any policy intervention aimed to improve sanitation and drinking water problem must first identify the population at risk.Studies on the determinants of access to improved drinking water and sanitation in the Indian context are limited.