Coffee Diane

The paradox of poor sanitation in India

Scholars of development are puzzled that other regions where people are poorer, literacy rates lower, and drinking water more scarce, are better off that India when it comes to open defecation.

Aashish Gupta

Payal Hathi

Dean Spears

Nikhil Srivastav

Sangita Vyas

Posted on 28 Jan, 2016 09:17 PM

Despite India's rapid economic growth in recent decades, open defecation rates continue to be very high. This presents a unique puzzle for scholars of development because other regions where people are poorer, literacy rates lower, and drinking water more scarce, are better off that India when it comes to open defecation.

The open defecation puzzle in India (Source: Sourabh Phadke)

Factors affecting toilet adoption in rural India

Men prefer to defecate in the open more than women, latrines are considered a luxury item and open defecation isn't considered a threat to health, finds a study done in rural North India.

Kathleen O’Reilly

Posted on 20 Oct, 2014 05:58 PM

Since the rebranding of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan to the Swach Bharat Mission, newspapers have been flooded with articles and discussions on the need to improve the sanitation scenario in India.

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