Since the Prime
Minister emphasized the need of toilets on the last Independence Day, the
subject has assumed new proportions. Generally the neglected and least talked
about toilet is suddenly catapulted into the vortex of national policy making.
He advised the legislators both at central and state levels to spare their
constituencies developmental funds for this urgent requirement so that within a
year, at least all schools were provided with toilets. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak,
Founder, Sulabh Sanitation Movement, in his editorial of the sulabh india
(monthly periodical/July 2014 issue) has given an apt and catchy slogan, ‘Let
poo go to loo’. The Finance Minister has assured that by the 150th
birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019, the country, which accounts for
60% of the defecation al fresco, will get rid of this bane, a cause, so dear to
that great man.
A few days back, a team
of documentary producers landed in the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
to do a story for the History Channel. They laid stress on me to give an
authentic data oriented presentation. I
feel to share some of such interesting data with my friends. According to a
World Bank survey, India is financially losing 5,400 crore dollars per year due
to poor sanitation which mainly includes lack of toilets and clean potable
water. It is understandable that insanitation leads to multiple diseases
causing losses in productivity and more
expenses on medication. Till a decade back, 63% people in india resorted to
open defecation. By now it has come down to 54%. Still the country has to go a
long way. A Japanese minister, some years back had expressed that like defence,
investment in sanitation is also necessary. An estimate has been made that
every dollar spent on sanitation gives back eight times more benefits by way of
improved health, decreased absenteesm and saving on medical bills. Yet one
interesting figure says that they who go for open evacuation, spend some time
to search a spot with privacy and the sumtotal of that time means that he loses
2.5 days of his life per year. An official of UNICEF has recently said that if
a school bus meets with an accident and twenty children die, it makes a front
page news in all national dailies. However, he wondered that it causes no
concern despite knowing that 1,400 children under five die every day in the
world due to insanitation related diseases including diarrhoea which is
generated by contaminated water. A recent survey in Bangladesh has revealed
that lack of toilet and clean water are badly affecting the height of children.
So what is the tale
that the toilet tells?
“ It is never late to
have a toilet”. What the toilet demands?
“Use me well and keep
me clean, I will not tell what I have seen”.
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