In India, sanitation is a challenge that is seldom addressed as a serious issue. People like to put a lid on the issue of sanitation as something irrelevant, hideous and something that does not affect their lives at all. No wonders then, that in India more than 600 million people practice open defecation which is a staggering number by any parameter. Here, in this country, close to 60% of rural houses do not have any access to toilets at all.

But why is such the case?

The issue of lack of toilets and bathing space has always been a bone of contention in rural India, as people associate these two with something ‘dirty and slimy’ that should not be part of the houses at all. A toilet is also considered to be a sign of deviating from traditional path and the repercussions can be best illustrated in the way the two girls were brutally raped, murdered and hung from trees in Badaun when they ventured out to relieve themselves. The parents of the girl when questioned, as to why they did not build a toilet in their home, tersely replied that the people ‘do not allow them that.’ But the worst case probably is in Orissa where a staggering 99% do not have any toilet facility whatsoever. All these mindboggling numbers are part of the Baseline Survey 2012 of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation and it clearly points out that the large states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are also part of the top offenders when it comes to sanitation.

The central government has realized the gravity of the situation and has earmarked 37, 159 crores to ensure that everyone has an access to toilet but the biggest problem would be the way people ‘see’ a toilet. No wonders then, that a mass education program regarding its benefit should be a priority of the government. But certainly, what should be the biggest shame for India is that while close to 50 percent defecate in the open here, only 4percent do so in China, the most populous country in the world.

To address the situation several volunteers have sprung up and the first among this is Gram Vikas, an NGO that has been doing pioneering work in Mohuda, Berhampur in Orissa. One of the most celebrated NGO’s of India, the Gram Vikas, started a water and sanitation program that addresses the root cause of rural populations’ health problems. The Gram Vikas’ founding fathers came to Orissa in the 1970s as volunteers with the Young Students’ Movement for Development (YSMD), Chennai, to serve victims of a cyclone and then took up the cause of sanitation for people. The NGO now serves more than 4, 00,900 people in 1250 habitations of 25 districts in Orissa.

For its great work the Gram Vikas has been awarded several prestigious prizes like: Most Innovative Development Project Award from the Global Development Network of the World Bank for the Rural Health and Environment Programme (2001), World Habitat Award for the Rural Health and Environment Programme awarded by the Building and Social Housing Foundation, UK (2003), Laureate in the Economic Development category of the Tech Museum Awards, awarded by the Tech Museum of Innovation and several others.

The Gram Vikas’ Executive Director, Mr. Joe Madiath has also been awarded with the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur 2001, 2002 and 2003 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, and the Social Lifetime Achievement award of the Red and White Bravery Awards from Godfrey Philips (2005).

Speaking on the lack of sanitation drive, Mr. Madiath said that sanitation is a big challenge in India particularly in areas that the Gram Vikas works in because its operations are mostly in rural and tribal pockets of Orissa. He said that their program depends a lot on government and relies on the incentives or subsidies that it provides for the construction of toilets. The NGO provides sanitation facility but it clubs it with a bathing room and provides 24 hours running water supply to the toilet and the bath house. This NGO, he believes, helps the women the most as a bathing room is equally important for them as they need privacy to bathe and clean properly.

A vicious circle ahead for patients and their families

Speaking about the inspiration behind taking up the work, he disclosed that when the team of their NGO was researching about the reason for poor quality water they found that 80% of all diseases are due to fecal contamination that was polluting water resources and it was this water that the rural population was using in their day to day activities.

Now, if anyone knows the situation of rural India then he would know that medication is almost always out of reach of poor people and lack of hygiene adversely affects everyone, as diseases lead to debt and failure to pay this debt leads to slavery and sometimes, due to lack of money, diseases even claim lives, leading a family completely desperate and broken. Mr. Madiath also vouched that the government has the most important role to play in this but he particularly pointed out that the worst hit due to lack of sanitation facilities nearly always remained the women. While he believed that government is working in this direction, yet he believes that the government needs to do a lot more in rural India.

He said, “Indian government has played some part (in ensuring sanitation), but there are urban areas where government has invested so much money in infrastructure, disposal of human waste, treatment of urban waste and also in providing water but in rural areas it (Indian government) is providing tube-wells here and there to provide water, but that is all. In sanitation too, there is not much involvement of government that could ensure universal rural sanitation.” His views echo what experts have been saying for long and the Baseline Survey report clearly adds more weight to this argument as well. But he most certainly does not believe that cities are ‘far superior’ in ensuring sanitation than the rural areas as he pointed out that there exists sewerage systems, drainage systems and cleaning systems in almost all cities but none of these exist in the villages. He also added that even in cities most of the poor people do not have access to sanitation facilities and there as well, they have to fall back on using open spaces to bath and to defecate.

The way forward

But what could solve this problem? Mr. Madiath is of the view that public determination, political and bureaucratic will, will do the job. He also opined that just construction of toilets is not going to change centuries of practice and that there needs to be a lot of awareness, creation, motivation, building of facilities and most importantly good governance to bring about a positive change. He also gave example of last minister Jairam Ramesh, and praised him for doing a good job.

But what remains to be seen is whether the new government will be able to provide the hygienic and sanitation conditions that are so lacking in India. The good news is that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had in an earlier interaction listed ‘toilet first’ in his scheme of things, hence, it is highly likely that the motivation that Mr. Madiath also bespoke of will be derived by the Indian bureaucracy from the most powerful man in the country. But till then the rural India sits and awaits its rescue by Indian polity from a grim, uncertain and an unhygienic future.

Credit for images: blogbigtime.com and indiaspend.com