15th August 2014-Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi promised in his speech to the Indians that in his upcoming years of rule,proper care of the hygiene and sanitation of the people would be taken into account.Building toilets in rural India was one of the major promises Mr Modi made in his speech.Just a thought that we being Indians do not allow our daughters or even wives to step out of the house once it gets dark outside but we can allow them for defecation in the open.At least 55 percent of the Indians do not have access to toilet.Women specially in rural areas feel constrained to relieve themselves as only under cover of dark for reasons of privacy to protect their dignity.Open defecation posses a great threat to women,danger of physical attack and encounters snake bites.Recently an upcoming case of open defecation which shocked many people came from Ichagarh in Seraikhele kharswan district where more than 200 girls have left their studies at a government run school because of insufficient toilets.The school had just 5 toilets for 220 boarders forcing them to relieve themselves in the nearby field where they were regularly harassed by the local boys.The school had no boundary wall making it easy for locals to harass the girls.
According to the reports of the UN,595 million people do not use toilets in India,this is more than half the total population.Open defecation cases Chronic Diarrhoea that leads to stunting.1000 lives are lost everyday due to Diarrhoea. About 22 million girls do not have access to separate toilet facility in school.25 percent of all children under five years of age died of diarrhoea in 2012 e;i 188,000.On one side we have established various camps,organisations,NGO's for women development or women empowerment.Where the agenda for women empowerment is taking a steep rise but on the other hand this serious issue of open defecation is being neglected..According to the experts" it is the attitude that needs to be changed not the infrastructure".According to the government reports,the private sector has just completed 424 toilets or 8% of its commitment of 5,134 toilets.Overall the gap continues to be high with 68% 2,98,458 toilets yet to be build. Now let us have a glance at the big picture
1-Globally India has the largest number of people still defecating in the open,more than 595 million.One in two uses a toilet.
2-An even lower proportion of India's rural population uses toilets.About 65 percent of people in rural areas do not have access to toilets.
3-With 44 percent of mother's disposing of their child's faeces in the open,due to high risk of Microbial contamination(bacteria,virus)
According to the lower officials money which was signed by the center did not reach to his assigned destination.We cannot always wait for the government to take an initiative,its the collective responsibility of all the citizens towards the safety of all the people and specially women.In every field India finds its place in the last row,be it Literacy Rate,Female sex ratio.education value but bags first row in issues like crime,terrorist activity.India ranks no 1 in open defecation.
Now let us see if the government really gets stick to its promises and construct toilets in every vicinity or these promises will be like those who are still in the queue to get fulfilled.
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