The Himalayan state of Sikkim has made excellent progress in providing electricity and drinking water to citizens, according to the latest National Family Health Survey for Sikkim.

A total of 92 per cent of the 1,11,830 households in the state have electricity and 78 per cent drinking water.

The 92 per cent households having electricity, include 90 per cent in rural areas and 100 per cent in urban areas.

During the last survey, electrification stood at 82 per cent.

Though 78 per cent of households had drinking water, only a little over one third had piped water.

In rural households only 20 per cent had piped drinking water, while in urban areas it was 90 per cent, according to the 2005-06 survey, the third and latest in the Himalayan state released last year.

Eighty-eight per cent of households treated water to make it potable with 86 per cent boiling it and 10 per cent using ceramic, sand, or other water filters.

Toilet facilities in households had also improved.

There were only 11 per cent households without toilets, which was an improvement from the last survey when it was 27 per cent.

More than half of the families in the state used solid fuel for cooking, with wood being the most commonly used.

The statistics also revealed that of the total households, just over half of them, that is 51%, lived in pucca houses, most of them in urban areas.

Sikkim is primarily rural with only 20 per cent of the households located in urban areas.

On an average, households comprised 4-5 members.

One-seventh (14%) of households were headed by women.

Nearly three-fifths of households in Sikkim had household heads who are Hindu (58%), followed by Buddhists/Neo-Buddhist (30%) and Muslims (2%).

Nine per cent of household heads belonged to Scheduled Castes, 36 per cent to Scheduled Tribes, and 41 per cent to Other Backward Classes (OBC).

In Sikkim, 31 per cent of the population was under the age of 15 and only 5 per cent was aged 65 and above.

In all, 75 per cent were below 18 years and lived with both parents, 12 per cent with one parent, and 14 per cent with neither parent.