Dear Editor,
It must be noted that there are cultural and religious reasons that contribute to poor sanitation habits among many Hindu households. Some Puranic teachings encouraged defecation in the open, farthest from home, to avoid ritual impurity. This mindset needs to be confronted and gradually changed.
When I developed the Sulabh toilet in 1968, almost none of the households in rural India had toilets: I founded the Sulabh Sanitation Movement. But in the last 45 years there has been a slow but significant positive change as more and more people are using toilets. However, there are a number of factors responsible for the slow progress. First, when the national campaign to build toilets was started in 1986, the government encouraged the one-pit latrine. When the pit got filled up, people stopped using it and were reluctant to dig a second pit. We advocated a two-pit latrine, which needs less water and which can be used alternately. It can be cleaned manually as the long period of bacterial digestion makes the waste safe enough to handle. Also, the government’s policy of providing subsidy was not very successful. It would have been better if the cost of the toilets was partially supported by the government, with the rest coming from the beneficiary. That would have given beneficiaries a sense of ownership and they would have opted for sustainable two-pit toilets. However, it is heartening to see the Prime Minister according the highest priority to the sanitation programme. I am confident that with the right measures, India can be made free of open defecation by 2019.
Bindeshwar Pathak,
New Delhi
