More than a quarter of rural households have no separate kitchen
There is no separate kitchen space to cook food in more than one in four rural households in India. Even in urban areas, nearly one in five households where cooking takes place indoors do not have a separate kitchen.
The National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2019-21, asked household heads whether cooking is usually done inside the house, in a separate building, or outdoors. If cooking was done inside the house, the survey further asked whether there is a separate room used as a kitchen. The responses reveal that a large share of Indian households lack a dedicated cooking space.
A majority of urban households cook their food in a separate kitchen. In rural areas, on the other hand, fewer than half of households use a separate kitchen within the house.
These arrangements have major long-term health implications. Cooking without a separate kitchen means that smoke from stoves or chullahs can easily spread through the living space, reducing the indoor air quality and exposing all household members to harmful pollutants. Inhaling this for a prolonged period of time increases risk of respiratory diseases including lung cancer.
In most Indian households, this responsibility falls primarily on women, making them particularly vulnerable to the health risks associated with household air pollution. This is particularly the case in rural areas where fewer than half of households use clean cooking fuels such as LPG.
Read more about the use of cooking fuel in India.
