Most Indians' living area is smaller  

 than prison cells

The majority of India's population, both rural and urban, lives in homes with space smaller than the minimum floor area per person recommended for prison cells. This shocking reality emerges from comparing the NSSO 69th round survey report on housing conditions with the Model Prison Manual 2016. The manual outlines guidelines of the prison administration based on constitutional provisions, SC orders and international conventions.

About 80% of the poorest rural households, whose average size is 4.8 members, have an average floor area equal to or smaller than 449 sq ft. This means that only 94 sq ft or less is available per person. This is smaller than the 96 sq ft (8.92 sq m) of ground area recom mended for prison cells by the jail manual. Similarly , in urban areas, the poorest 60% of families live in houses that have an average floor area of 380 sq ft or lower. With the average household size of 4.1, the per capita space is 93 sq ft for these houses, which again is lower than the recommended specifications for an ideal prison cell.

Of course, some households among these would have fewer than the average number of members or somewhat bigger homes and hence have more space per person than the averages. So the propor tion of people with smaller living spaces than the model prison cell may not quite be 80% of the rural population and 60% of urban Indians. But it is safe to say that despite these deviations, a majority would be living in such tiny spaces.

Expectedly , dalits, adivasis and poorer families have lesser space per person, as do families in poorer states. The per capita space available for scheduled caste people is 70.3 sq ft while for scheduled tribes, it is 85.7 sq ft, both lower than the jail yardstick. Similarly, the poorest 20% has a per capita living space of 78 sq ft in rural areas and 75 sq ft in urban areas. For the richest 20%, the average is 102 sq ft in rural areas and 135 sq ft in urban areas. The average floor area available for rural households is lowest in Bihar ­ at 66 sq ft. In total, 15 states and UTs have their rural population living in space more cramped than an ideal prison cell. In eight statesUTs, per person average floor area in cities, too, is lower than a jail cell.

Aug 28 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)