Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19th every year, and it’s a big deal! This day aims to raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis, with over 3.5 billion people lacking access to safely managed sanitation. India has made significant strides in improving sanitation access, with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiative aiming to eliminate open defecation. As of 2023, approximately 12.5% of households, mostly in rural areas, still lack toilets, affecting over 162 million people. Sanitation is a global development priority. Diarrhea caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kills 315,000 children every year. Open defecation, unlike in other places, where it has a negative connotation, here it is something that is completely normal, and even sometimes wholesome, like the fact that you have gone for a morning walk, and you have exercised your body and you have gotten up early. Lack of access to toilets has been identified as a huge problem, particularly in rural. It not only spreads diseases like diarrhea but also exposes women to the risk of sexual assault when they go into the fields after dark. Cultural norms are hard to change and according to some, open-air defecation is seen as more sanitary by those who prefer to relieve themselves in the open rather than share a toilet. Disease transmission at work mostly caused by poor sanitation and hygiene practices, causes 17% of all workplace deaths.
The government continues to work towards achieving its sanitation goals, with initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Jal Shakti Ministry’s efforts to improve rural sanitation coverage. Public toilets with good water facility are the need of the hour. In a country like India it is very difficult and takes a long time to change the practice of open defecation in rural areas. Most of the toilets which are started for public use are being neglected by the people due to improper maintenance. It is the matter of hygiene that can attract more people to use toilet. 95.4% of surveyed households have access to toilets, with 95.4% using them regularly. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand account for over 70% of households without toilets. Households with lower socioeconomic status are significantly less likely to have sanitation facilities.
India actually achieved its goal of having toilets in every house in 2019, 11 years ahead of the UN’s 2030 target. The country’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aimed to construct 111 million latrines in five years, and they’ve made significant progress. As of 2019, almost 80 million household toilets have been built, and the country has been declared open defecation free. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put it high on the national agenda, but the challenge could be daunting in a country where defecating in the open is a common sight and is accepted by many as normal.
It is surprising that the E-toilets installed in the city are not maintained properly. It is the malodour that discourages people from using public toilets. Most of the public toilets are not usable because of lack of cleanliness, electricity and water. As no efforts are taken by the local bodies to maintain them, e-toilets remains in poor condition. It is also observed that the toilets have no proper water supply and are badly maintained. It is a grave health issue. With many people coming to work daily the public toilets should be of use to the local as well as floating population a daily commuter to the city. There should be a monitoring system to put in place to check the maintenance of e-toilets. Only education and awareness can do something. Educated or uneducated, people in rural areas, for want of indoor plumbing use open space for defecating. There are people who think that open defecation is more hygienic and having an indoor toilet is dirty and filthy. We need a grass root campaign on how many diseases can be avoided by basic cleanliness and how spending on toilets is as important as developing other infrastructure. We don’t need to build new temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras etc. Public toilets with good water facility are the need of the hour. Bringing about a change in mindset is the paramount need.
Modi’s approach is to use improved sanitation as a tool to combat poverty, develop the economy, and make India more attractive to business investment. The proposition is not an easy one: Half of India’s population, at least 620 million people, defecates outside.
Toilets play a crucial role in creating a strong economy, as well as improving health and protecting people’s safety and dignity, particularly women’s and girls’. While provision of hygienic toilets for the public is the buzzword in our country lack of adequate public toilets and appalling state of existing ones is a reality that the city can’t deny. Are the authorities listening to our voice?
(The author is a freelancer and can be reached at [email protected])
