Basic sanitation is described as having access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste,

as well as having the ability to maintain hygienic conditions. Throughout the world, an estimated
2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation (more than 35% of the world's population)

Defecating in the open is an unfortunate fact of life for many people in India as well. An
estimated 620 million people about half of the population defecate in the open every day.

, the survey reveals that poor urban households pay 65 per cent more than the average urban
household and 75 per cent more than a rural household for sanitation facilities. Explaining the
impact on education, it cites the high dropout rate of girls. Almost 23 per cent of girls drop out
of schooldue to lack of toilet facilities. In some places, nearly 66 per cent of girls skip school and
one-third of them eventually drop out. Also, 40 per cent of schools lack functional toilets, the
survey reveals.
Over 70 per cent of the households in the analysed cities, the survey found, have no access to
toilets or a sewerage system. Some places such as Surender Nagar receive water supply for only
30 minutes once a week, it points out.
The survey claims nearly 60 per cent of the slums in Delhi do not have sewerage facilities.
Proximity of slum communities to un-disposed sewerage and resultant polluted water has serious
ramifications on their health. As per estimates, inadequate sanitation cost India almost $54
billion or 6.4% of the country's GDp, Over 70% of this economic impact or about $38.5 billion
was health-related, with diarrhea followed by acute lower respiratory infections accounting for
12% of the health-related impacts.[4] Evidence suggests that all water and sanitation
improvements are cost-beneficial in all developing world subregions.[5]
From being the humble recipient of human waste, the toilet has reached the exalted status of
being the subject of speeches by Indias Narendra Modi. The prime minister promised to put a
toilet in every home by 2019 in his independence day speech in August, and recently reaffirmed
a government target to build 5.2m lavatories in the first 100 days of his tenure About 35m toilets
that were paid for, at least in part, by the government simply do not exist now.
A major fault in the programme lies with the people who are supposed to benefit. Yet, using
government figures, 490 million people in rural India, of the total rural population of 888
million, have toilets. This implies that there are millions of people defecating in the open despite
supposedly having access to a loo.There is an explanation for this. Studies from different parts of
India indicate that the use of toilets, even where they do exist, is low at about 35%. That means
only about 220 million people in rural India actually use their toilets. Another 270 million do not.

Why is this happening? Part of the problem is the poor quality of the toilets. But another part is
the previous programmes fundamental flaw: only small amounts of money were allocated to
promote better hygiene and trigger a change in behaviour. It began as a demand-led campaign,
teaching people about the hazards of open defecation, so that they would then presumably
demand toilets. But it has become driven by achieving numbers, rather than ensuring that the
loos are used.Modis new campaign to end open defecation in the next five years does not
address this systemic flaw. This ambitious campaign sets a target of 17m toilets a year for the
next five years. But funding for education in hygiene and behavioural change remains a small
fraction of the total amount. The danger is this, too, will be driven purely by numbers.It takes six
to eight months to convince a village of the need and usefulness of toilets according to a study by
the World Bank. It takes a lot of time and resources, but leads to better construction and much
higher levels of use. Focusing on the importance of hygiene before, during and after the
construction of toilets can take a community from realising why they need toilets to demanding
and using them.Most people are aware of subsidies for building toilets and will comply with the
letter of the scheme. However, they may not comply with its spirit and fail to use the toilets.