The day each one of us gets a toilet to use, I shall know that our country has reached the pinnacle of progress ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
The Central Bureau of Investigation has reportedly decided to exhume the bodies of the Badaun rape victims in UP for a fresh autopsy as the agency feared that the right procedure had not been followed (The Statesman, 9 July 2014). The incident of rape and hanging of two Dalit girls, who were on their way to the field for outdoor defecation, had made Indians hang their heads in shame before the world. This heinous crime raises two important issues which merit serious reflection.
A few months back, a former Union minister, Jairam Ramesh, had triggered a debate when he expressed his preference for toilets over temples. Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, expressed the same view on the essential need for toilets. According to the 2011 Census, half of India's population defecates in the open. India lags behind other countries in the task of providing sanitation. China has affected a ‘latrine revolution’. Only 4 per cent defecate in the open. Bangladesh, which is far poorer, has succeeded in providing access to indoor toilets to 93 per cent of its population. Sri Lanka stands first in this respect. Even 70 per cent of the population in Pakistan has indoor toilet facilities. Uganda claims adequate sanitation in about 85 per cent of households.
India's cities, towns and villages are among the dirtiest in the world. However, some states have achieved marked improvement in providing access to toilet facilities, notably Pondicherry (86 per cent), Punjab (98 per cent), Chandigarh (96 per cent), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (92 per cent), Nagaland (89.9 per cent). Haryana (85 per cent) and Kerala (83.8 per cent). These states are small in size and relatively richer. Many others have lagged behind, going by the 2011 census ~ Jharkhand has 92.4 per cent rural households without toilets, Odisha 85.9 per cent, Chhattisgarh 85.5 per cent, Bihar 82.4 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 78.2 per cent, Gujarat 67 per cent and West Bengal 64 per cent.
Availability of and access to sanitation facilities is an indicator of the quality of life. The Millennium Development Goals set increasing access to sanitation and water supply as an important target to be achieved by 2015. But we are behind in the creation of ‘Nirmal Bharat’. How many of the existing household toilets, both in urban and rural areas, are ‘useable’ or ‘functional’ or ‘sustainable’? Most, if not all, household toilets in rural areas and a majority of urban toilets are what they call ‘dry-latrines’ without water supply. According to official statistics, only 14 per cent households have water-based toilets in rural areas and barely 20 per cent of the urban population has access to the flush system. A recent all-India survey shows that only 20 per cent of the households surveyed had access to water supply facility in toilets. Naturally, most of the toilets are actually poorly maintained latrines, unclean, unhygienic, ‘unsustainable’ and ‘unusable’. Ultimately, the toilets become the breeding ground for flies and diseases.
Nearly, half a million children die each year on account of dysentery, hook-warm, or cholera. Diarrhoea claims the highest number of lives in the country. Another problem is the severe soil and water contamination. Prevention of environmental pollution and promotion of safe and hygienic sanitation are two critical components of a healthy and productive society.
Apart from health hazards, outdoor defecation endangers the life and security of women. The UPA-II government had acknowledged in October 2013 that lack of toilets at home is one of the many factors responsible for the increasing number of rape cases. A study also stated that 30 per cent of the women who step out of their homes for outdoor defecation became victims of rape and other sexual assaults. The Badaun gangrape case in Uttar Pradesh has not only exposed the lack of security for women but also the pathetic sanitation system in India.
In spite of stringent anti-rape legislation, the incidence of rape is on the rise. There were 18,359 rape cases in 2005; 19,348 in 2006, 21,467 in 2008 and 21,397 in 2009. An estimated 22,172 rape cases were reported in 2010 and such incidents had increased to 24,206 in 2011. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there was a sharp rise in crimes against women in 2013, in comparison to the previous year. The list is headed by Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
One method to achieve the universal provision of toilet facilities and to check the rising trend of crimes is to empower women through the process of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Empowerment is the process of challenging existing power relations and gaining control over the source of power and income. The SHG is a secular micro body with members belonging to various religions, castes and sub-castes. Empowerment of women through SHGs has become a reality. Many SHGs all over the country have recorded substantive success in such segments as poverty reduction through the generation of employment opportunities, regular savings, cash-flow, provision of indoor sanitation facilities, redemption of debts, decline in borrowings, decline in the incidence of alcoholism, and a crackdown on rape and atrocities against women, decline in the school dropout rate and increase in enrolment. The editorial in The Statesman (3 January 2013) had rightly stated, ‘Rather than depend on the Government, young girls and women would be better advised to rely on self-help initiatives and take security in their own hands to ward off lurking rapists’. Increased patrolling by police is no substitute for self-help.
There are many success stories of women in the matter of providing and maintaining household toilet facilities. Women in China’s Henan province, one of the most densely populated parts of the country, have recorded substantive success.
Mr Bindheshwar Pathak, founder of ‘Sulabh Sanitation’, fought for a better sanitation system. In his book, Princes of Alwar, he recounted several instances of how women can improve the situation. He quotes Lalta Nanda, a former scavenger in Alwar district of Rajasthan ~ “All I missed was my dignity...wasted down the years.” From an untouchable she became the face of women's empowerment. The traditional power structure is steadily declining in the face of the robust presence of SHGs. These entities have emerged as a potent force in the reckoning of both traditional and modern leaders. They have effected a transformation from victim to victor, from a dependent to an independent person. In the net, this has led to greater gender equality and gender balance.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has reportedly decided to exhume the bodies of the Badaun rape victims in UP for a fresh autopsy as the agency feared that the right procedure had not been followed (The Statesman, 9 July 2014). The incident of rape and hanging of two Dalit girls, who were on their way to the field for outdoor defecation, had made Indians hang their heads in shame before the world. This heinous crime raises two important issues which merit serious reflection.
A few months back, a former Union minister, Jairam Ramesh, had triggered a debate when he expressed his preference for toilets over temples. Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, expressed the same view on the essential need for toilets. According to the 2011 Census, half of India's population defecates in the open. India lags behind other countries in the task of providing sanitation. China has affected a ‘latrine revolution’. Only 4 per cent defecate in the open. Bangladesh, which is far poorer, has succeeded in providing access to indoor toilets to 93 per cent of its population. Sri Lanka stands first in this respect. Even 70 per cent of the population in Pakistan has indoor toilet facilities. Uganda claims adequate sanitation in about 85 per cent of households.
India's cities, towns and villages are among the dirtiest in the world. However, some states have achieved marked improvement in providing access to toilet facilities, notably Pondicherry (86 per cent), Punjab (98 per cent), Chandigarh (96 per cent), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (92 per cent), Nagaland (89.9 per cent). Haryana (85 per cent) and Kerala (83.8 per cent). These states are small in size and relatively richer. Many others have lagged behind, going by the 2011 census ~ Jharkhand has 92.4 per cent rural households without toilets, Odisha 85.9 per cent, Chhattisgarh 85.5 per cent, Bihar 82.4 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 78.2 per cent, Gujarat 67 per cent and West Bengal 64 per cent.
Availability of and access to sanitation facilities is an indicator of the quality of life. The Millennium Development Goals set increasing access to sanitation and water supply as an important target to be achieved by 2015. But we are behind in the creation of ‘Nirmal Bharat’. How many of the existing household toilets, both in urban and rural areas, are ‘useable’ or ‘functional’ or ‘sustainable’? Most, if not all, household toilets in rural areas and a majority of urban toilets are what they call ‘dry-latrines’ without water supply. According to official statistics, only 14 per cent households have water-based toilets in rural areas and barely 20 per cent of the urban population has access to the flush system. A recent all-India survey shows that only 20 per cent of the households surveyed had access to water supply facility in toilets. Naturally, most of the toilets are actually poorly maintained latrines, unclean, unhygienic, ‘unsustainable’ and ‘unusable’. Ultimately, the toilets become the breeding ground for flies and diseases.
Nearly, half a million children die each year on account of dysentery, hook-warm, or cholera. Diarrhoea claims the highest number of lives in the country. Another problem is the severe soil and water contamination. Prevention of environmental pollution and promotion of safe and hygienic sanitation are two critical components of a healthy and productive society.
Apart from health hazards, outdoor defecation endangers the life and security of women. The UPA-II government had acknowledged in October 2013 that lack of toilets at home is one of the many factors responsible for the increasing number of rape cases. A study also stated that 30 per cent of the women who step out of their homes for outdoor defecation became victims of rape and other sexual assaults. The Badaun gangrape case in Uttar Pradesh has not only exposed the lack of security for women but also the pathetic sanitation system in India.
In spite of stringent anti-rape legislation, the incidence of rape is on the rise. There were 18,359 rape cases in 2005; 19,348 in 2006, 21,467 in 2008 and 21,397 in 2009. An estimated 22,172 rape cases were reported in 2010 and such incidents had increased to 24,206 in 2011. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there was a sharp rise in crimes against women in 2013, in comparison to the previous year. The list is headed by Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
One method to achieve the universal provision of toilet facilities and to check the rising trend of crimes is to empower women through the process of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Empowerment is the process of challenging existing power relations and gaining control over the source of power and income. The SHG is a secular micro body with members belonging to various religions, castes and sub-castes. Empowerment of women through SHGs has become a reality. Many SHGs all over the country have recorded substantive success in such segments as poverty reduction through the generation of employment opportunities, regular savings, cash-flow, provision of indoor sanitation facilities, redemption of debts, decline in borrowings, decline in the incidence of alcoholism, and a crackdown on rape and atrocities against women, decline in the school dropout rate and increase in enrolment. The editorial in The Statesman (3 January 2013) had rightly stated, ‘Rather than depend on the Government, young girls and women would be better advised to rely on self-help initiatives and take security in their own hands to ward off lurking rapists’. Increased patrolling by police is no substitute for self-help.
There are many success stories of women in the matter of providing and maintaining household toilet facilities. Women in China’s Henan province, one of the most densely populated parts of the country, have recorded substantive success.
Mr Bindheshwar Pathak, founder of ‘Sulabh Sanitation’, fought for a better sanitation system. In his book, Princes of Alwar, he recounted several instances of how women can improve the situation. He quotes Lalta Nanda, a former scavenger in Alwar district of Rajasthan ~ “All I missed was my dignity...wasted down the years.” From an untouchable she became the face of women's empowerment. The traditional power structure is steadily declining in the face of the robust presence of SHGs. These entities have emerged as a potent force in the reckoning of both traditional and modern leaders. They have effected a transformation from victim to victor, from a dependent to an independent person. In the net, this has led to greater gender equality and gender balance.
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