Sanitation Infrastructure in the Tribal Communities: A Comparative Analysis of the Barman and Naga Families

Accomplishment of sanitation basically depends on its infrastructure, ie, basic sanitation facilities, comprising toilet, drains, water, a separate kitchen and cooking fuel. In India there exists a disparity in access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation among different regions. A wide variation in the pace of implementation of total sanitation campaign is seen among the Northeastern states. Yet they have scored fairly well on sanitation where toilet coverage and studies have reported a satisfying sanitation in the region. But to know the status of modern sanitation practices one better looks into the basic infrastructure of sanitation. If basic infrastructure is found to have been existing there can be expected various services covered under sanitation. The tribal people communities settled in the rural and urban areas are the simplest of social organizations offering the best opportunity to know about the sanitation infrastructure. This paper therefore makes a comparative analysis of the sanitation infrastructure of urban and rural families of two tribes; namely, the Barman and the Naga in the district of Cachar of the Assam State, the largest one, in the region.