BETWEEN 2000 AND 2017, INDIA REDUCED OPEN DEFECATION BY HALF

INDIA ACCOUNTED FOR BIGGEST REDUCTION

THE SWACHH BHARAT IMPACT

BUT GREAT INEQUALITY PERSISTS IN ACCESS TO BASIC SANITATION IN THE COUNTRY

Source: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2017. Special focus on inequalities. Unicef and WHO, 2019

NEW DELHI: Given its population, India's role is crucial in achieving the massive improvements needed to meet UN’s Sustainable Development Goals . Open defecation is one area where the country has made strides in the last two decades with the Swachh Bharat programme providing added impetus in recent years, as UN notes in a new report.India is near the top of the list of 16 countries worldwide that have reduced open defecation by more than 20 percentage points since 2000 with only Cambodia and Ethiopia doing better.The global population practising open defecation halved from 1.3 billion to 673 million. A total of 23 countries reduced open defecation rates below 1% and were classed as reaching ‘near elimination'.According to World Bank and WHO data, the proportion of Indians practising open defecation was a high 66% in 2000. But that rate has kept coming down over the last two decades to less than 40% in 2015. Even so, the latest UN report warns that in 2016, over 60% of child faeces in India was buried, thrown into garbage or not disposed of properly.Between 2000 and 2017, 91 countries reduced open defecation by a combined total of 696 million people with Central and Southern Asia accounting for three quarters of this reduction.However, in the same period, 39 countries recorded increases, totalling 49 million people. Most of these countries were in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has seen rapid population growth since 2000.Launched in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission, the report notes, has led to rapid reduction in open defecation in rural areas.Between 2000 and 2014, open defecation decreased by almost three percentage points per year, while from 2015-2019 it came down by of over 12 percentage points per year.While Swachh Bharat has greatly expanded sanitation cover, the poorest fifth of the population still lacks access to the basics. For instance, compared to the richest fifth, only 10% of the poorest quintile has access to basic sanitation.The picture is starker when it comes to open defecation with a staggering 82% of the poorest fifth still practising it against only 1% of the richest fifth.