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TitleIndia : a country case study in rural sanitation
Publication TypeCase Study
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsGanguly, S
Pagination6 p.; ill.; photographs
Date Published01/2012
PublisherS.n.
Place PublishedS.l.
Keywordscase studies, india, rural sanitation programme (india), sustainable development
Abstract

The First Five Year Plan for development that independent India formulated for the duration 1951-1956 argued for a higher allocation in public health, in particular protected drinking water supply, drainage, sanitation and environmental hygiene. Since then eleven Five-Year Plans have been implemented but progress in sanitation (both urban and rural combined) has been painfully slow - creeping up from about 5% in the first five year plan in 1954 to 31% in 2008 (JMP 2010)1. Rural India where 70 percent of the population live, has recorded even lesser progress, from about 1% in 1981 to 21% in 2008. Statistics available from government documents occasionally sate rural sanitation coverage as 31 % by including shared toilets and unimproved facilities. “Despite an investment of more than INR 6 Billion and construction of 9 million toilets in rural areas, rural sanitation grew at just 1 % annually throughout the 1990s” was the candid admission of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation at the National Conference of State Ministers in charge of Sanitation held in October 2010. This is partly on account of lack of demand due to ample availability of open spaces and partly because of a host of other reasons such as generally low education levels, lack of access to information particularly on hygiene and sanitation, lack of promotion and marketing of household sanitation, lack of availability of sanitation hardware and inadequate infrastructure to provide skilled masons / technicians to build appropriately designed toilets given India’s huge diversity in geography, topography and climate. Notably, although in the early eighties 50% of rural India had access to safe drinking water, less than 6% had any sanitary means of excreta disposal. [authors abstract]

Notes

With references on p. 4

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