National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20 Union Territory Fact Sheet: Chandigarh

Of the total people surveyed in Chandigarh, 99.9 per cent lived in households with access to electricity.

The fact sheet states that around 78.7 per cent of women and 90.2 per cent of men (both between 15 and 49 years of age) were ‘literate’ ­– meaning those who had “completed standard nine or higher and women/men who can read a whole sentence or part of a sentence”.

About 85 per cent of the population in Chandigarh had access to an improved sanitation facility – 85.4 per cent in urban areas and 47.6 per cent in rural areas. This, the fact sheet states, is a slight improvement compared to the 83.7 per cent noted during NFHS-4.

As high as 99.1 per cent of the urban households and 100 per cent of the rural households had access to an ‘improved drinking water source’, making an aggregate of 99.1 percent. This is a marginal decline from the 100 per cent noted during NFHS-4.

The percentage of female population (aged 6 years and above) who had ever attended school was 86.8 per cent in urban areas and 69.2 per cent in rural areas.

Among women aged 20-24 years, around 9.7 per cent had married before the legal minimum age of 18 years. This was a reduction from NFHS-4 figures of 12.7 per cent.

The total fertility rate in Chandigarh was 1.4 children per woman – 0.2 points lower than the 1.6 children per women noted in NFHS-4. In urban areas, the fertility rate was 1.4 children per woman, while the data from rural areas was not available.

The fact sheet states that 77.4 per cent of the women in Chandigarh who were married currently used any method for family planning – 3.4 per cent higher than that in NHFS-4.

Among women who had given birth in the five years preceding the survey, about 82 per cent had received antenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancy.

As high as 83.2 per cent of the institutional deliveries in the five years preceding the survey happened in public facilities, the fact sheet states.

As many as 54.6 per cent of the children in the union territory (aged 6-59 months) were anaemic. This, however, was a steep decline from the 73.1 per cent recorded in NFHS-4. Further, around 60.3 per cent of women and 8.1 per cent of men (aged 15-49) also suffered from anaemia.

About 25.3 per cent of children under five years of age were stunted (too short for their age) while 8.4 per cent of children in this age group were wasted (too thin for their height).

The fact sheet states that 9.7 per cent of women aged 18-49 years who had ever been married reported experiencing violence from their spouse. This number decreased from the 22.5 per cent noted during NFHS-4.

Focus and Factoids by Debadrita Saha.

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