DNA Special: How many people in India still use landline phones?

According to a new report by the National Family Health Survey, mobile phones in India have now completely replaced landline phones. Today only two percent of the people in India use landline phones whereas the number of people using mobile phones in the country is 95 percent. Among them there are 75 crore people who have smartphones. This means that 6 out of every 10 people have a smartphone. According to an estimate, 100 crore people in India will have smart phones by the year 2026. This shows that mobile phones are the first priority of the people of India.

Smartphones have also reduced the popularity of computers among people. People are now buying computers less. In the year 2005, 8 percent of the people in the cities had their own computer whereas in villages this figure was 0.6 percent. But in 2021, the number of people using computers in cities has increased to about 20 percent. Whereas in rural areas, even today only four and a half percent people use computers. That is, in 15 years, the number of people using computers has increased by only 9 percent in the country. All this has happened with the advent of smartphones.

The way heat is soaring in different states at this time, it seems that now at least air coolers must be used in every house. But according to this report, only 26 percent of the households in India use air conditioners and air coolers while 90 percent of the households have electric fans.

Buying air conditioner and air cooler in villages is still a dream. Only 16 percent of the households in the villages of India have been able to install air conditioner and air cooler in their house. Whereas in cities this figure is 40 percent. Even here 60 percent of the population is such, whose homes do not have AC. This shows that ACs and coolers have not yet become the priority of the people of India.

Apart from this, people who live in villages in our country still prefer to wash clothes by hand and use earthen utensils for cold water. In the year 2005, refrigerators were used in only 6 percent of the households in the villages. And even after 17 years, this picture has not changed much. Even today, 75 percent of the population of the villages do not use the refrigerator. Whereas in cities this is not the case. Now, 64 percent of the people in cities have refrigerators in their homes.

The washing machine which was invented 171 years ago in the year 1851, people of India do not consider that washing machine necessary even today. Today, only 36 percent of households in cities use washing machines for washing clothes. In villages this figure is even less with only 9 percent of the households in the villages have been able to buy a washing machine.

Even today in India, more people buy two-wheelers than cars. Only 8 percent of the households in India have their own car. 54 percent of India's people still use two-wheeler.

Currently, 60 percent of households in urban India have at least one scooter or motorcycle. Whereas 44 percent of the people in the villages have their own two-wheeler. However, even today in villages, when a person buys a car, it makes his name in the society. That is because, even today, buying your own car in the villages is a dream come true. According to this report, only 1.5 percent of the people in rural India have their own personal car. Whereas in urban India, there are only 14 percent people who have been able to buy their own private vehicle. These figures show that buying a car in India is still out of reach for the common man.

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