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NEWS ALERTS | Rural sanitation needs behaviour change
Rural sanitation needs behaviour change

Rural sanitation needs behaviour change

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published Published on Jul 7, 2014   modified Modified on Jul 7, 2014
Two political leaders from rival camps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, have brought the spotlight on rural sanitation and have rooted for defecation-free India by investing in toilet construction on war footing. But a recent study by a group of eminent development economists led by Prof. Dean Spears-a visiting economist at the Delhi School of Economics - has concluded that when it comes to toilet use, cultural issue matter more than construction of new toilet buildings.

The study shows that open defecation could be as much the issue of the mind as it is of more investment in construction of new toilets.

Consider the following fact: Nearly 89% of Indian households without a toilet are living in rural areas per the Census 2011. Even if latrines were made by the Government for every household that didn't already have one in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, most people would still prefer to defecate in the open. This is because such a move by the Government would have completely ignored or undermined changing toilet preferences of the people. This has been found by the recent working paper entitled 'Revealed preference for open defecation: Evidence from a new survey in rural north India', which is brought out by the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE) based at Connecticut, USA. The study is based on a survey conducted among 22,787 individual household members in villages of five Indian states i.e. Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Given the fact that open defecation kills babies, impedes the physical and cognitive development of surviving children, and reduces human capital, the Government gave emphasis on toilet construction under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. The recent paper fills up the knowledge gap in understanding why toilets constructed may not be in usage or demand by looking at the beliefs and preferences of the people.

The paper by Dean Spears et al shows that over 40% of households with a working latrine have at least one member who defecates in the open.

About 47% of those who defecate in the open say they do so because it is pleasant, comfortable, or convenient. This preference coincides with little awareness of the health benefits of latrine usage. 51% of people who defecate in the open report that widespread open defecation would be at least as good for child health as latrine use.

Indian households rarely build the types of inexpensive latrines that are widely used by poor households so as to reduce open defecation and save infant lives in Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, finds the study.

The study shows that the big issue could be about changing social behaviour of the citizens regarding toilet usage. Generating demand for latrine use in rural India is essential if India has to achieve its goal of eliminating open defecation by 2019.

References

Revealed preference for open defecation: Evidence from a new survey in rural north India -Diane Coffey, Aashish Gupta, Payal Hathi, Nidhi Khurana, Dean Spears, Nikhil Srivastav, and Sangita Vyas, Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, Squat Working Paper No. 1, 26 June, 2014 (please click here to download)

Are Children in West Bengal Shorter Than Children in Bangladesh? -Arabinda Ghosh, Aashish Gupta and Dean Spears, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 8, February 22, 2014 (please click here to access)

Missing toilets: Is India's sanitation drive ‘In Deep Shit'? (please click here to access) 

For taller, smarter kids get toilets & sanitation (please click here to access) 

‘SuperAmma' drive alters handwashing behaviour in rural Andhra (please click here to access) 

Focus on usage, not construction -Yamini Aiyar and Avani Kapur, Live Mint, 4 July, 2014 

People in about 40 % rural households in five states prefer to defecate in open-Kundan Pandey, Down to Earth, 26 June, 2014 (please click here to access) 

The battle for toilets and minds -Rukmini S, The Hindu, 9 June, 2014 (please click here to access)

Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation Movement, speaks to Fozia Yasin, The Times of India, 27 June, 2014 (click here to access)

No toilets for girls in one-fifth of India's schools, enrolment on decline-Midhat Moini, Down to Earth, 24 June, 2014 (click here to access)

Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open? -Shannti Dinnoo, BBC, 17 June, 2014 (click here to access) 

Toilets at home will not stop rapes, but can reduce risks-Namita Bhandare, Live Mint, 17 June, 2014 (click here to access) 

Narendra Modi plans multi-million dollar sanitation project to clean up 1,000 Indian towns -Vasudha Venugopal, The Economic Times, 24 May, 2014 (click here to access)

Toilets or not, paturiyas always -Neha Dixit, Deccan Chronicle, 11 June, 2014

Going to toilet in Katra Sadatganj -Pritha Chatterjee, The Indian Express, 8 June, 2014 (click here to access) 

Will access to toilets guarantee women's security in rural India? -Jitendra, Down to Earth, 7 June, 2014 (click here to access) 

Lack of toilets proves a serious threat to women's safety-Bindu Shajan Perappadan, The Hindu, 1 June, 2014 (click here to access) 

Why India has woken up to the importance of toilets -Sumit Mishra, Live Mint, 9 May, 2014 (click here to access) 

Image Courtesy: UNDP India



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