Deprivation of Basic Amenities in Andhra Pradesh

Despite the noble concept of equity wherein every citizen has equal right to live a decent life irrespective of their socio-economic and regional/geographic characteristics, the phenomenon of inequality is persistent in everyday life of people especially those living in developing countries such as India. Especially the people living in rural areas have been constantly encountering the locational disadvantage: being located in rural areas the access to basic amenities is denied or inadequate. In this respect the President of India advocated that provision of urban amenities in rural areas is an essential component of rural development. The present paper is prepared in this context and it follows the framework of Sen’s Capability Approach to development wherein it examines the levels of deprivation of rural people in terms of their access to basic amenities like, housing, drinking water, sanitation etc. It also evaluates the degree of relative disadvantage of rural people when compared with their urban counterparts.