Get going with the Nirmal Gram Yojana

The brutal rape and hanging of two teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh has again brought India’s sanitation crisis into focus. Yes, open defecation makes women vulnerable, but is an occasion, not cause, for the crime. The root cause for rape is the unequal distribution of power between men and women, and to reverse this, societal values must change. Undoubtedly, ending open defecation should be a priority, not just for women’s safety but also to enhance public health. Every home should have a toilet with proper sewerage connections/septic tanks to allow safe disposal of waste. The larger point is to fix the unhinged sanitation system, the damage which does is serious, especially in densely populated urban slums. This should be done through an integrated public health programme in all states and monitorable inter-ministerial coordination.

Open defecation — India accounts for 60% of open defecations in the world — poses health and environmental risks. It should end, millennium development goals or otherwise. Simply improving sanitation will bring in huge gains: the ADB reckoned it could add 4% to our GDP. The WHO estimates that every $1 invested in improved sanitation delivers around $9 in socioeconomic benefits. Infection and morbidity levels will come down, lowering healthcare costs and enhancing productivity.

So, the government should step up investment in programmes such as the Nirmal Gram Yojana that seek to build toilets, involving local communities. Efforts taken by NGOs such as Sulabh International in improving sanitation are welcome, but the need is to build more private toilets when space is available. Strengthening public-private partnership and technological innovations will help. It is imperative for the government to scale up the war against poor sanitation.