A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human waste in a hole in the ground. Urine and feces enter the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for user comfort. Pit latrines can be built to function without water or they can have a water seal. When properly built and maintained, pit latrines can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation. This decreases the transfer of pathogens between feces and food by flies. These pathogens are major causes of infectious diarrhea and intestinal worm infections. Infectious diarrhea resulted in about 700,000 deaths in children under five years old in 2011 and 250 million lost school days. Pit latrines are a low-cost method of separating feces from people.
Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is an approach used mainly in developing countries to improve sanitation and hygiene practices in a community. The approach tries to achieve behavior change in mainly rural people by a process of "triggering", leading to spontaneous and long-term abandonment of open defecation practices. It focuses on spontaneous and long-lasting behavior change of an entire community. The term "triggering" is central to the CLTS process: It refers to ways of igniting community interest in ending open defecation, usually by building simple toilets, such as pit latrines. CLTS involves actions leading to increased self-respect and pride in one's community. It also involves shame and disgust about one's own open defecation behaviors. CLTS takes an approach to rural sanitation that works without hardware subsidies and that facilitates communities to recognize the problem of open defecation and take collective action to clean up and become "open defecation free".
Manual scavenging is a term used mainly in India for "manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or sewer or in a septic tank or a pit". Manual scavengers usually use hand tools such as buckets, brooms and shovels. The workers have to move the excreta, using brooms and tin plates, into baskets, which they carry to disposal locations sometimes several kilometers away. The practice of employing human labour for cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is also prevalent in Bangladesh and Pakistan. These sanitation workers, called "manual scavengers", rarely have any personal protective equipment. The work is regarded as a dehumanizing practice.
In 2020, 97.7% of Indians had access to the basic water and sanitation facilities. India faces challenges ranging from sourcing water for its megacities to its distribution network which is intermittent in rural areas with continuous distribution networks just beginning to emerge. Non-revenue water is a challenge.
The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, India:
Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outside rather than into a toilet. People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation. They do so either because they do not have a toilet readily accessible or due to traditional cultural practices. The practice is common where sanitation infrastructure and services are not available. Even if toilets are available, behavior change efforts may still be needed to promote the use of toilets. 'Open defecation free' (ODF) is a term used to describe communities that have shifted to using toilets instead of open defecation. This can happen, for example, after community-led total sanitation programs have been implemented.
Swachh Bharat Mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2nd October, 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management and to create Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages. The program also aims to increase awareness of menstrual health management. It is a restructured version of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2009 that failed to achieve its intended targets.
This is a list of Indian states and territories ranked by the availability of toilet facilities per household. Figures are from the 2011 census of India.
India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI) www.idfoi.nic.in is a not for profit Trust established in 2008 by Government of India with the approval of the Cabinet to serve as a credible institutional avenue to enable overseas Indians to engage in philanthropy to supplement India's social and development efforts. The New Delhi-based Trust is chaired by Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs and is exempt from the provisions of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA).
Kunwar Bai Yadav was a woman who lived in a village in Dhamtari district in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In her old age, inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, she sold seven of her goats to raise the money to build a toilet at her house. In 2016, the district was declared the first in the state to be free of open defecation, and she was declared a mascot of the campaign and visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Swachh Survekshan (lit. Sanskrit "Swachh" for Cleanliness and "Survekshan" for Survey - (सर्व + ईक्षण is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in villages, cities and towns across India. It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2 October 2019. The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities ; by 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4242 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. The surveys are carried out by Quality Council of India.
An electronic toilet or eToilet is a type of public toilet that is used in India. The increase in use of eToilets is in support of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which intends to reduce the practice of open defecation.
Baghuwar is a village located in the Narsinghpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The village is located in the Jabalpur division of Madhya Pradesh. It is approximately 201 kilometres (125 mi) away from Bhopal, which is the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.
Sunita Devi is an Indian mason honoured for building toilets. In her village 90% of the women did not have access to a toilet. After her work they all now have access. She was given the Nari Shakti Puraskar award in 2019 by the President of India.
Parameswaran Iyer is an Indian civil servant and the former CEO of NITI Aayog. He is currently serving as India's nominee as an Executive director in World Bank.
Swachh Andhra Corporation is an organization set up by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Its main job is to make the state cleaner and manage waste like trash and garbage.
