Experts cast doubt on Modi's claims over success of sanitation mission
Experts have urged Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to continue his focus on improving access to toilets as he prepares to make a speech claiming that the practice of open defecation has ended in India.
On October 2, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr Modi is due to make a speech in his home province of Gujarat claiming that his Swachh Bharat – or Clean India Mission – has brought toilets to all Indian households.
Mr Modi made ensuring that everyone has access to a toilet a key policy when he became prime minister and in 2014 pledged that he would end the practice of open defecation by ensuring 100 million toilets were built.
The practice has been widespread in India but going to the toilet in the open puts children and adults at risk of picking up and spreading a host of diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and hepatitis A.
Diarrhoea alone killed around 117,000 children in India in 2015, said Unicef warning that it can also lead to malnutrition and stunting – a huge problem in the country.
Experts have commended Mr Modi for bringing discussion about toilets into the open but have cast doubt on his claim that his mission is over.
Jamie Myers, research officer at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, said that the momentum and scale of Mr Modi’s Clean India mission was impressive.
“I think it is fair to say that at the beginning of the mission very few people believed anything like this was achievable. Saying that, our work, and that of others, has shown that there are still many people who do not have access to toilets and even more who continue to practise open defecation despite having access to functional toilets,” he said.
According to the latest data from Unicef and the World Health Organization, which monitor progress in improving sanitation, the proportion of people in India who practise open defecation has plummeted over recent years.
In 2000, 73 per cent of the population did not use a toilet compared to 26 per cent in 2017, the latest year for when figures were available. In rural areas the progress has been even more stark and the practice has gone down from 90 per cent to 36 per cent.
Anecdotally it is clear that open defecation is still practised in the country. Just last week two children were murdered by a mob after going to the toilet in the open.
Avinash Kumar, director of programmes and policy at WaterAid India, said there had undoubtedly been dramatic progress in increasing access to toilets for people across India over the past five years.
He added: "However, our experience in many countries that we work in would suggest that reaching every single community and maintaining that change requires continued investment and political commitment.”
Last week, Mr Modi received an award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his toilet-building programme, sparking widespread controversy. In an open letter an international group of academics said that his record on human rights meant that he was not a worthy recipient.
“During his time as Gujarat chief minister and India’s prime minister, inflammatory hate speech, vigilante nationalism and violent acts against Christians, Muslims and women have been widespread,” they wrote.
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