The 6th National Family Health Survey NFHS fact sheets, when finally released on Friday, May 29, display some ‘Houdini tricks’. A set of crucial data on cooking fuel, sanitation, anaemia, quality of planning services, knowledge about HIV, and several population and household indicators are missing in the latest fact sheet.

While the NFHS-5 fact sheet had 131 key indicators, it has dropped to 101 in the latest document, with crucial data on anaemia, sex ratio at birth, infant and child mortality, and quality of family planning services missing. It is unclear whether some of these indicators were omitted in the fact sheets but would be included in the detailed national report that is normally published within a couple of months after release of the fact sheet.

One of the key indicators missing is the ‘percentage of households using clean fuel for cooking’ which was available in the previous NFHS reports and fact sheets. While NFHS-4 (2015-2016) had shown use of clean cooking fuel in 43.8% of households, the next survey (NFHS-5) showed that it increased to 58.6% in 2019-21, nearly a 15% increase. However, latest data is unavailable to compare it with the impact of the crores of additional connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), a pet scheme promoted by the Prime Minister himself. 

Another missing indicator, linked to the BJP government’s popular Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme, is the data on sanitation.

The Union government in 2019 celebrated the........

© newslaundry