New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Residents of Delhi, having the highest per capita income in the country, are happy with the quality of life but at the same time feel unsafe in the city, an official report said Saturday.
“Delhi’s average per capita income, at more than Rs.2 lakh per year in 2012-13, is the highest in India,” said the Delhi Human Development Report 2013.
The report was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari along with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at a function held here.
“Citizens of Delhi are satisfied with the quality of life they lead as assessed on the basis of indicators like employment, education and healthcare. Satisfaction levels may vary across age, gender, social groups etc. but the variation is not large,” said the report.
“The household income was considered to be stable by more than 60 percent of the people,” it said further.
Basic amenities like water, sanitation, and electricity have improved greatly in Delhi in the last ten years but barring electricity supply, disparities in the access to these services continues to prevail, said the report.
“Delhi has seen an overall improvement in housing between 2001 and 2011, with housing shortage declining from around 2.5 lakh to 1.5 lakh. However, an estimated 50,000 people are homeless.
While around 80 percent of households receive water within their premises, in poor localities, the supply is plagued with shortages.
“Around 70 percent of the respondents in unauthorized colonies and 40 percent in slum clusters rated the water supply in the capital as below average.”
More than half of the respondents gave below average ratings to public toilets
The report lauded Delhi for providing 99 percent of the households with electricity and said that almost 80 percent of the respondents rated the power supply as above average.
The Delhi Metro, low-floor buses new flyovers etc. have given a major boost to transportation in the city. Commuting by Metro was the most popular as it offered cleanliness, comfort and safety especially to women.
However, Delhi residents were not too happy with the roads in their locality with only one third of the respondents rating road conditions in their locality as good, though 58 percent were satisfied with the street lighting.
With only two clinics and less than four government physicians for every 10,000 people, Delhi is in urgent need of more clinics, dispensaries and health personnel, said the report adding that despite the shortcomings, life expectancy in Delhi has improved over the last three decades.
Unfortunately, the nation’s capital has failed to provide a sense of security to its residents with less than one third of the people rating personal safety as “good” or “very good” while 90 percent of them feeling that crime has risen over the years.
Many respondents were dissatisfied with police due to lack of both approachability and promptness of response displayed by them.
