Assessment of Health and Sanitation Security of Rural Households in Haryana

Agriculture is the principal source of food and livelihood in India. "Livelihood" connotes the means, activities, entitlements and assets by which people make a living, attempt to meet their various consumption and economic necessities, cope with uncertainties and respond to new opportunities The study was conducted in two districts of Rohtak division namely Sonipat and Karnal by random selection and by selecting one block from each selected district and two villages from each of the selected block at random. From the selected four villages a sample of 300 respondents i.e. 75 small and marginal farm families from each village was drawn at random to assess status of shelter/water and sanitation and health security of farm families. Regarding shelter/water and sanitation security, majority (64.0%) of farm families had shelter for livestock outside home and 84.0 per cent used dung as a cooking fuel. About health security, majority (58.0%) of families faced illness once or twice in a week and 56.3 per cent families could afford professional treatment with some difficulty.