Share

Indian officials to track toilet use

accreditation
Toilet silhouettes from Shutterstock
Toilet silhouettes from Shutterstock


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is launching a nationwide online programme to check whether people are using toilets as part of his cleanliness drive.

Indians defecate in the open

From next month, officials will head out with mobile phones, tablets and iPads to report on whether toilets are being used in rural India, with results uploaded onto a website in real time.

India's shortage of toilets costs the country more than $50 billion a year, mostly through premature deaths and hygiene-related diseases, according to a World Bank study. India suffers a greater cost than other Asian countries from the poor collection of human excreta, the study found.

About 626 million Indians defecate in the open compared with 14 million in China, the World Health Organisation said in a 2012 report.

Since taking office in May, Modi has repeatedly lamented the poor state of sanitation and public cleanliness in India, vowing to solve the problems within the next five years.

The government has doubled spending on a toilet building programme and requested financial donations from some of the country's largest companies to help.

"Earlier, the monitoring was done only about the construction of toilets, but now the actual use of toilets will be ascertained," the government said in a statement.

In October, Modi annoyed government officials by ordering them to come to work to clean toilets on a national holiday.

Read more:

UN seeks to end toilet ‘taboo’
The toilet – problems & solutions

Leaky toilets waste water


Image: Toilet silhouhettes from Shutterstock

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE