Is India really open defecation free despite Narendra Modi’s bold toilet claim?
- The Indian PM made his ‘latrines for all’ pledge when he first took office in 2014. Five years and almost 100 million toilets later, has it been a success?
Experts say millions still lack access to a toilet, and that because of old habits many of the tens of millions of the new facilities that have been built are not even being used.
Modi made his “latrines for all” pledge when he first took office in 2014 and was set to make his announcement on Wednesday evening to coincide with the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, an icon not just for Indian independence but also sanitation.
The government claims to have built almost 100 million toilets in the past five years, winning Modi plaudits abroad – including last week’s award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In March, his administration said fewer than 50 million people now relieved themselves outside, down from 550 million in 2014, and that 93.1 per cent of households had access to a toilet.
