Housing Conditions and Health Outcomes Among Dalit Households in Rural Prayagraj

Housing is an important determinant of health and disease prevalence. It has a sociological dimension that has a role in understanding health in rural Indian contexts. This paper examines the relationship between housing conditions, infrastructure, and health outcomes among Dalit households in rural Prayagraj district. The study involves a primary survey of 50 Dalit households in rural Prayagraj. The paper analyses multiple dimensions of housing quality, such as type of house type, ownership status, ventilation, access to sunlight, sanitation facilities, drainage systems, drinking water sources, dampness, pest prevalence, and socio-economic factors such as education and income. The findings reveal housing deprivation characterised by semi-pucca and kachcha structures, inadequate ventilation and sunlight, poor drainage, dependence on a poor source of drinking water, and high prevalence of dampness and pest infestation. Studying these housing conditions is significant because they are linked to respiratory illness, communicable diseases, fungal infections, and mental stress. The paper also argues that housing infrastructure functions as a mechanism of social reproduction by transmitting health disadvantages. The paper concludes that health outcomes result from the quality of housing, sanitation, water supply, as well as income security, among other factors.