NEW DELHI: Nearly 93% of rural women feel safer from assault by not going out in the open to defecate, a survey on the impact of Swachh Bharat Mission has found.

The survey was carried out by the UNICEF and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on Wednesday in the run up to International Women’s Day on March 8.

A total of 6,993 women across the five states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh , Maharashtra , Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were covered and it was conducted last month.

The survey released by Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday found that 91% women save up to one hour of their day, which they earlier spent on walking to defecation sites. Nearly 88% of women respondents said they are proud to own a toilet.

Similarly, 93% women respondents felt that they need not have to stop eating to control the urge to defecate anymore while 81% said they need not worry about privacy while changing menstrual hygiene material. Another big finding was 93% said they no longer fear contracting infections as they use household toilets.

"The increased access to household toilets has led to the improvement in the suvidha (convenience), suraksha (safety) and swabhimaan (self-respect) of women in rural India," an official statement said.

Shekhawat on Wednesday also launched the phase-II of Swachh Bharat Mission ( Grameen ) on Wednesday.

The second phase of SBM (gramin) will be implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25 in a mission mode with a total outlay of nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore.

"This will be a novel model of convergence between different verticals of financing. Of this Rs 52,497 crore will be allocated from the budget of Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, while the remaining amount will be dovetailed from the funds being released under 15th Finance Commission , MGNREGS and revenue generation models particularly for solid and liquid waste management," the jal shakti ministry said in a release.

