Rural Gujarat's 47 per cent people defecate in open, 63 per cent villages don't have drainage facility: NSSO

By A Representative
Latest Government of India data suggest that, despite the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) cleanliness dive launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014, 47.1 per cent of Gujarat’s rural population still defecates in the open, which is worse than as many as nine other major Indian states.
Released in “Swachhta Status Report 2016”, prepared by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), India’s premier data collection centre, the data show that the best performer remains Kerala, where just about 2.3 per cent of people defecating in the open.
The 2011 Census of India figures, released about three years ago, show that Gujarat, considered a model for other states to follow, had 65.76 per cent of 6,765,403 rural households, which would roughly be 2.28 crore of the rural population, used open fields to defecate.
Explaining the reasons for coming up with the report, the NSSO says, “The aim of the SBM is to achieve Swachh Bharat by 2019, as a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. Especially in the rural areas, it says, it would improve “the levels of cleanliness through solid and liquid waste management activities and making gram panchayats open defecation free, clean and sanitised.”

Among its other objectives are, it says, to remove “the bottlenecks that were hindering the progress, including partial funding for individual household latrines from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and focussing on critical issues affecting outcomes.”
The focus areas identified for the SBM in rural areas, according to the NSSO, are not just construction of individual household latrines, saying, “The programme is aimed at covering all the rural families. Incentive as provided under the scheme may be extended to all below poverty line (BPL) households and Above Poverty Line (APL) Households restricted to SCs/STs, small and marginal farmers, landless labourers with homestead, physically challenged and women headed households.”
“The construction of household toilets will be undertaken by the household itself and on completion and use of the toilet, the cash incentive will be given to the household in recognition of its achievement”, the NSSO points out.
Despite the targets, the data show that, despite the SBM, Gujarat has a long way to go, with 44.5 per cent rural households still do not have what the NSSO calls “sanitary toilets” – a category which “ensures safe confinement and disposal of faeces (excreta) and does not require the need for human handling.”

This is against just about 2.4 per cent of Kerala’s rural households not having sanitary toilets, Himachal Pradesh’s 9.6 per cent, Haryana’s 9.8 per cent, Punjab’s 13.3 per cent, Uttarakhand’s 19.5 per cent, Assam’s 33.3 per cent, West Bengal’s 34.9 per cent, and Telangana’s 38.9 per cent.
Interestingly, 62.7 per cent of the villages of Gujarat, if the report is any indication, do not have drainage arrangement, which is worse than the national average of 44.4 per cent – suggesting that even if 55.5 per cent rural households may be having sanitary latrines, many of them are deprived of any facilities in the form of what NSSO calls katchi nali or pakki nali.
---
Download HERE for full report

Comments

From algorithms to exploitation: New report exposes plight of India's gig workers

By Jag Jivan The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services.

Countrywide protest by gig workers puts spotlight on algorithmic exploitation

By A Representative A nationwide protest led largely by women gig and platform workers was held across several states on February 3, with the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) claiming the mobilisation as a success and a strong assertion of workers’ rights against what it described as widespread exploitation by digital platform companies. Demonstrations took place in Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states, covering major cities including New Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Mumbai, along with multiple districts across the country.

India’s road to sustainability: Why alternative fuels matter beyond electric vehicles

By Suyash Gupta* India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

Over 40% of gig workers earn below ₹15,000 a month: Economic Survey

By A Representative The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while reviewing the Economic Survey in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the rapid growth of gig and platform workers in India. According to the Survey, the number of gig workers has increased from 7.7 million to around 12 million, marking a growth of about 55 percent. Their share in the overall workforce is projected to rise from 2 percent to 6.7 percent, with gig workers expected to contribute approximately ₹2.35 lakh crore to the GDP by 2030. The Survey also noted that over 40 percent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Budget 2026 focuses on pharma and medical tourism, overlooks public health needs: JSAI

By A Representative Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI) has criticised the Union Budget 2026, stating that it overlooks core public health needs while prioritising the pharmaceutical industry, private healthcare, medical tourism, public-private partnerships, and exports related to AYUSH systems. In a press note issued from New Delhi, the public health network said that primary healthcare services and public health infrastructure continue to remain underfunded despite repeated policy assurances.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Death behind locked doors in East Kolkata: A fire that exposed systemic neglect

By Atanu Roy* It was Sunday at midnight. Around 30 migrant workers were in deep sleep after a hard day’s work. A devastating fire engulfed the godown where they were sleeping. There was no escape route for the workers, as the door was locked and no firefighting system was installed. Rules of the land were violated as usual. The fire continued for days, despite the sincere efforts of fire brigade personnel. The bodies were charred in the intense heat and were beyond identification, not fit for immediate forensic examination. As a result, nobody knows the exact death toll; estimates are hovering around 21 as of now.

When compassion turns lethal: Euthanasia and the fear of becoming a burden

By Deepika A 55-year-old acquaintance passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. Why so many people are dying relatively young is a question being raised in several forums, and that debate is best reserved for another day. This individual was kept on a ventilator for nearly five months, after which the doctors and the family finally decided to let go. The cost of keeping a person on life support for such extended periods is enormous. Yet families continue to spend vast sums even when the chances of survival are minimal. Life, we are told, is precious, and nature itself strives to protect and sustain it.

Search This Blog