Human beings have a need and a right for good sanitation. When people defecate in the open, it raises an important question of sanitation and hygiene. According to UN reports (WHO, 2015) 2.4 billion people live without improved sanitation. One in ten defecates in the open. Transmission of diseases due to open defecation is an important factor.
A multipronged approach is needed to face this problem. First of all, one should ask why this malady of open defecation. In rural areas it is the rule rather than the exception. Poverty may be a serious factor. Building toilets may be costly for a poor family. But, even people who can afford a simple toilet are habituated to sit under trees or in fields to ease themselves. In large families with many members sharing a single toilet people prefer to move out into the open under cover of darkness. Even when toilets are provided in school/college hostels, students who are not habituated to use a toilet prefer to move out to ease in the open and enjoy some fresh air as well.
Open air defecating has to do with the poverty factor and also lack of education or awareness among people. Both factors need to be tackled. With UN prodding governments in developing or poor countries toilets are being constructed for the poor. But, due to lack of proper supervision at the implementation level, cheap toilets costing Rs.12,000.00 are built with less than half that amount. The petty contractor walks away with the toilet money.
Lack of imagination in toilet construction is another factor. Villagers complain that the structure is too narrow inside and the 5 inch walls with ordinary bricks are unsafe and the three feet deep septic tanks are too small for a family toilet. In addition, they say lack of water facility makes the toilets dirty and unapproachable. So, alongside sensitizing people about the need for toilet use, government-sponsored toilets need to be properly built. Toilet building project by Blocks should not be a matter of photo op. Often it looks like that given the way ads and news are splashed across to highlight the success of the scheme.
It is also important the poor are provided with sanitation facilities by the governments in power. The schemes should be done with proper supervision.
It is needed to note that, in a country like India, awareness in health and hygiene should not be limited only to latrine use. Lack of proper education and concern for others are demonstrated in spitting around, urinating in public places, littering, blowing tobacco dust into the neighbour’s nostrils in the process of eating tobacco and such indecent behaviour which many Indians are prone to. As kids we learnt good manners from our parents and also from our school teachers. But, in some parts of India, such awareness building formation is a distant dream.
One only hopes that parents, educators, community representatives, elders and all will make a cooperative effort to help bring sanity and sense into our day to day practices for better hygiene and improved health.