TN: Joint family system fading away

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is witnessing a rise in nuclear families as figures indicate that one married couple per household here is above the national average, said S Gopalakrishnan, director of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu, releasing the Census 2011 Data on Houses, Household and Amenities and Assets.According to the census data, households in the state have 74.4 per cent single married couples, which is above the national average of 70.1 per cent, he said. Interestingly, households in the state having more than two married couples is also below the national average. While the national average is 14.1 per cent, the state average is only 10.1 per cent.The census also found that there has been an increase in the number of households with one to four members and decline in households with  five or more than five members, besides a  decrease in proportion of households with four or more married couples. Single married couples in one household average more than 70 per cent across all the districts with Chennai averaging 77.6 per cent. The census also indicated that 74.5 per cent of them live in own houses. However, Chennai ranks at the bottom with 47.2 per cent ownership, followed by Coimbatore 59.4 per cent and Madurai 61.6 per cent.According to the census, 47.9 per cent of households in the state use LPG for cooking, compared to the national average of 28.6 per cent. In rural areas 28.6 per cent use LPG, while in urban areas the figure is 66.7 per cent.The census also revealed that 93 per cent of  households in the state rely on electricity which is way above the national average of 67.3 per cent. Interestingly, six per cent of households in the state still rely on kerosene.However, the state is way below the national average when it comes to households availing of banking services. Tamil Nadu is ranked 26th in the nation with 52.2 per cent having access to banking services, compared to the national average of 58.7 per cent. The stumbling block is in rural areas where only 45.19 per cent have access to banks.The census also revealed that five per cent of households in Tamil Nadu do not have any basic assets. Dharmapuri, Dindigul and Salem are the districts where there is prevalence of people having no basic assets.