Towards Improved Access and Use of Toilets in Karnataka: Status and the Way Forward
Alarmingly, 3.6 billion
people in the world do not have access to safe sanitation. In order to raise
awareness on the need to address and tackle the global sanitation problem, the
United Nations observes World Toilet Day on 19th November every year. Access to
safe sanitation facilities is an important prerequisite for health and hygiene
and a dignified life. Realising the importance of sanitation, Karnataka has
initiated several programmes for the improvement of sanitation. Against this
background, the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru,
organised a webinar where the faculty members presented findings of their
research and policy implications that emerge from these studies.
Prof. D Rajasekhar,
Director, ISEC, welcomed the participants and Dr. A. Ravindra, IAS (Rtd.), the former Chief Secretary, Government
of Karnataka, chaired and moderated the discussion. Dr. Ravindra remarked that
in India the situation of sanitation gained momentum after the launch of the
Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014-15. Despite this, sanitation as a whole still
lags behind in rural and urban areas. He also said that although there has been
increase in the construction of public toilets, they are inadequate. He quoted Mahatma
Gandhi’s significant statement ‘Sanitation
is more important than Independence; unless we get rid ourselves of our dirty
habits and have improved latrines, Swaraj can have no value for us’.
Prof. D.
Rajasekhar, Director of ISEC, noted that
over 71% of samples households in rural Karnataka were having an access to individual
toilets. This is revealed by a study on Swachh Bharat Mission carried out in
rural Karnataka. As compared to 2014, overwhelming large majority of the sample
households constructed individual toilets, especially in Chamarajanagara and
Davanagere. However, the situation continued to be grim in Gulbarga wherein a
majority of the households were without toilets. Two important factors
affecting the access to individual toilets are high construction costs and
space constraints. In general, irrespective of the ownership of individual
toilets, the households do not share the toilets. Where public toilets were
available, their use was, in general, low (except in Dakshina Kannada) because
of their poor maintenance. He suggested customized awareness suitable to the
needs of the region and democratization of awareness so that sanitation
programmes focus on people.
Dr. R. Manjula,
Assistant Professor, Centre for Decentralisation and Development, ISEC, dwelled
upon ‘Sustainable use of individual household toilets in rural Karnataka’. She
argued that sustainable use of toilets was hindered by distance of toilets from
the house, poor quality of toilet construction, lack of facilities in the
toilet. Over 92% of sample households having access to individual toilets were using
their toilets. This proportion was 100% in developed district (Dakshina Kannada)
and the least (68%) in backward district like Kalaburagi. Overall, more women
use toilets regularly. Only 8% of households reported that they did not use
toilets because they were converted as storage places and bathrooms, lack of toilet-use
culture, water shortage and construction inadequacy. Of the households having
access to individual toilets, 88% of the households stated that they do not
practice open defecation. The proportion of households practicing open
defecation was 40% in Kalaburagi, 16% in Davanagere and 13% in Chamarajanagar
despite having individual toilets.
Dr. Manjula noted sustainability
potential of toilets constructed under government programmes was relatively
less as compared self-funded toilets. Hence, there is need to increase the
assistance amount to Rs.40,000. Secondly, emphasis should be on behavioural
change through awareness and education, and provision of rainwater harvesting to
promote toilet use. Third, the process of declaring a grama panchayat as open
defecation free (ODF) should not be based on ‘what is in the book’ and should
be on ‘what is practiced at the ground level’.
Dr. S. Manasi, Associate Professor,
Centre for Research in Urban Affairs, ISEC, presented her findings on ‘Usage
and Access to ‘Toilets in Urban areas – Problems and Prospects’ from research
study on Bengaluru. She
highlighted that among the slums surveyed,
40% of the slums had inadequate number of toilets, thus affecting access,
leading to open defecation. Despite having access to water, 33% of slum
dwellers found that water is insufficient.
Major concern was poor operations and maintenance. 44% of households were
unable to use the toilets due to problems of toilet damage by rodents and termites, over flowing of pits
during rainy season and pit collapsing due to heavy rains. Only 89% and 65% of public
and community toilets, respectively, had caretakers. About 60% of the toilets
had repair work attended within two days when raised a complaint by caretakers
and for the rest, the remaining took 3 to 24 days.
Dr. Manasi
concluded that toilet access and usage will improve if proper infrastructure is
provided, operation and maintenance is improved and hygienic condition is
better. She suggested few policy of prominence such as sustainable use of toilets viz, Operations
and Maintenance to be give due prominence, Need for public/community toilet
guidelines, Upgrade Quality and improve aesthetics for welcome appeal, improving
data and information systems, addressing concerns of sanitation workers,
innovation needed in cleaning technology, design, IEC. Besides, stakeholder
involvement in implementing need-based interventions is crucial.
Dr. Channamma Kambara,
Assistant Professor, Centre for Research in Urban Affairs, ISEC, made
presentation on ‘Safety and Privacy Issues of Toilets for Women’. Based on primary
Survey conducted across 8 zones of Bengaluru, she found that 78% and 8% of women
faced safety and privacy issues in public and community toilets, respectively. Reasons
for poor quality of toilets are the following: 56% women complained of not
having doors to toilets, 41% noted that door locks are improper and 3% reported
that toilets are close to liquor bar affecting the access. To overcome the inconveniences,
31% postponed defecating to reduce frequent use of toilets and reduced the
intake of food and water. This affected their health; 50% of women complained
of stress, 47% reported frequent stomach upset, 3% suffered from urinary tract
infection. Along with these, the cleanliness and hygiene, and poor lighting were
also matters of concern, affecting pregnant and aged women as the floors are
slippery making it unsafe and inconvenient for women. Limited timings of the
toilets also added to their problems.
Location, distance, approach road affected the use and access of women
as it affected their privacy and safety.
She suggested that gender
mainstreaming of sanitation facilities is important wherein women not treated as
passive recipients but as active partners. They have to be included in the
design and construction of toilets and other related programs. Sex
disaggregated data are needed to understand the needs and demands of women. Introduction
of family cards will be of help for unlimited toilet visits in a day. Creating
awareness on toilet use, and disposal of sanitary pads to avoid clogging are important.
Finally, Dr. Ravindra congratulated all the panelists for taking
up this very important topic for discussion as sanitation is very vital and is
also related to environmental issue. He noted that although the Swachch Bharat
Mission has brought out several interventions, it is important to focus on issues
of people besides the infrastructure.
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