Shameful India

The world leader in Open Defecation

Tops in exposed Bottoms

Summary:

India has amassed and produces a powerhouse of Intellectual Capital, which has and is making a difference both in India and across the world. However, despite the impressive progress India has made as a country, it reeks of the following:

• Corruption
• Crumbling and inadequate Infrastructure
• Deplorable living conditions of the poor, particularly Urban Slums
• Garbage everywhere and people thrashing the environment without a care
• Men urinating in public
• Open defecation in public

As a result of this situation, the Quality of Life of ALL segments of society suffer by way of disgusting visuals for the middle and upper class and unhygienic and appalling living conditions for those at the Bottom of the Socio-economic Pyramid.

Visualize this – 626 Million citizens of Indian poop in the open every day¹. That is over half the population of India drop their drawers or raise their sarees to expose their buttocks to relieve themselves, to leave their excreta for others to see and for others to avoid stepping on. Some consider it their birth right. Yeh hai Mera Bharat Mahan! (This is my great Bharat aka India)

India is #1 in the World in the field of “Open Defecation”². A “Badge of Honor” - Not!, more appropriately a "Badge of Horror", for being “Tops in Exposed Bottoms”.

             

This article focuses on the issue of Open Defecation and dwells into the situation on the ground by way of some pertinent observations, which is by no way exhaustive. Policy recommendations and tactics are proposed to get rid of this shameful practice of Pooping in Public (PIP).

Besides economical reasons there is cultural inertia that needs to be overcome. A combination of initiatives that include nudging, shaming and disciplinary actions is needed to eliminate India from the list of “Tops in Exposed Bottoms”.

It’s more than Government:

Government alone cannot be held responsible for solving the problem in its entirety. Citizens have to take some responsibility for improving their lives. Not all open defecation is unacceptable, particularly if it is done in the privacy of one’s field or property if they so choose. The real issue is Open Defecation in Public places. Government can facilitate the solution with subsidies as it does today. However, with just a “carrot and no stick” policy, is not working.

It is Cultural:

“Everyone here does it, what’s your problem, who are you to tell us not to do this?” is the answer given in Rural India, by men particularly by the coast, even where there are government provided community toilets. Women do use the community toilets and clean them. The men will have nothing to do with it.

On the flip side, there are families that have houses, with Satellite TV, every member has a mobile phone and off late, the young men are acquiring motor cycles, but no toilets! Constructing a toilet is not one of their priorities. In some cases they will spend money in constructing a place of worship; a Devastan, in their plot, but no toilet. “We don’t have place for a toilet,” is another excuse. Citing poverty as the sole reason is a handy excuse. Society’s and Government’s responsibility is to provide opportunities for people so that they can bootstrap themselves from their predicament. Not doing so is tantamount to oppression and that too has to be addressed.

Despite economic progress, this shameful mentality and practice is ingrained in the Indian culture and addressing the problem requires changing this mindset. Pooping in Public (PIPing) is an integral part of Indian culture!

Transference of Culture:

The slums in urban areas consist of emigrants from Rural India. They live they way they do “back home” only the conditions are more squalid and disgusting. To these people a trip back to their village with urban earned money is like a breath of fresh air.

Rural and Urban India – Two different environments:

The difference between the rural and urban context is that while the initiative needs to be taken by the individual families in rural India, a community based initiative is required in urban India. The problem can be addressed with Slum Redevelopment and Low-Cost Housing. The former takes time and the latter is stymied by the fact that the policy is severely skewed towards “ownership” as opposed to providing “rentals”. The fact that this is an “anti-socialist” policy is lost on those who uphold “Socialism” and “Communism”. The inability of the government to provide low cost housing, accompanied by rampant corruption and lack of policies prevent private parties from serving the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Lack of Cost Effective Solutions:

The standard practice is to “custom” build. But for the basin, doors and piping, everything is custom made and cost becomes a major hurdle. There is a dire need for innovation here to reduce costs and accelerate the “Time to Build and Operate”.

Solutions need to be provided at multiple price points with a “no frills” offering along with modular additions for more creature comforts. A lot of research has gone into “What” can be done. Less attention has been given to the “How” it can be done at a price that is in the reach of the poor.

All Carrot and no Stick:

The government provides subsidies to citizens living Below the Poverty Line (BPL) to build their own toilet. But as stated above, this neither motivates nor changes the prevalent cultural mindset. Some BPL citizens are also given a plot of land and a cash grant to build a house. The policy states that some portion of the grant is retained until a toilet is made. However, low level corruption not only eats away at the subsidy for toilets, and at times, for a kick back the money held back for the toilet is released.

BPL card holders who own land and house should be put on notice to either build a toilet or lose their BPL card.

Policy & Programs:

Access to toilets should be made mandatory in rental housing. In urban areas, this should be strictly enforced. The chawls of Mumbai are a good example of shared toilets.

Space is often a problem in Urban Areas. Where space is available, a Government/Corporate/Community partnership or Public/Private/Partnership(PPP) could be a viable solution. There is no blanket policy or program that can solve this. Slum redevelopment and building high rises that frees up space for parks and other purposes is the most feasible urban solution.

Both urban and rural India would benefit from a “cookie cutter” approach where economical, practical and reliable solutions are replicated without having to resort to custom solutions. The market is huge, and rather than giving the subsidy to the individual family, it could be used to subsidize the cost of a privately developed solution along with a loan program for the citizen.

The impact of corruption:

Builders lament that administrative hurdles and the demands of corrupt maggots whose only interest is in lining their pockets, make it unfeasible to build Low Cost Housing. In the case of infrastructure projects, money that could be used to provide facilities to the workers who are involved in construction is siphoned off by these maggots resulting in these workers living in make shift tents with no facilities. Builders need to make a reasonable return on their investment and with the corruption involved the quality of the work suffers as well.

Tactics:

The major hurdle is to change the citizens’ mind set. There are many “soft” approaches that can be taken such as:

• Educating young children
• Empowering young girls to not marry into house holds that have no toilet.
• Putting young men on notice - No Toilet, No Bride.
• Communicating the Policies and Programs (Subsidies & Solutions)
• Policing open defecators who flaunt not using community toilets.

Unless people are pushed they will not change. Granted, if people are provided better opportunities and earn more, they will respond. In the absence of “discretionary” spending into which toilets are bucketed, a more aggressive campaign that “shames” this practice is required, through signage and advertisements. After all, India has successfully launched a Moon Probe and yet the majority of Indian citizens are defecating openly.

While legal equality is guaranteed, people are accustomed to social inequality, be it due to caste, profession, or economic status. Not having a toilet should be positioned as a distinct attribute of social stigma. A series of pictures that shows a Rocket, a Car, a Motor Cycle, a man defecating along side a dog, with a bride showing alarm will get the message across.

Urbanites need to take some action as well. People employing domestic workers can ask if they have toilets and if not why not and how they can leverage a program (provided one exists) to assist in helping them acquire the same.

Conclusion:

The resistance to building one’s own toilet is due to multiple reasons that range from ingrained cultural attitudes, socio-economic reasons, lack of cost effective solutions and toilets not being a priority as compared to Satellite TV and Motor Bikes. Society’s and Government’s responsibility is to provide opportunities for people so that they can bootstrap themselves from their predicament. And for those who do have houses, a combination of policy, programs, laws and tactics is required to eliminate this shameful practice. If a person has a house they have to be nudged to acquire a toilet. Only dogs, cattle and pigs etc. defecate in the open in this day and age. The issue is with which animal species these people wish to identify with. From a social perspective society does not consider them equals. Are they sub-humans?

Note 1: There is some good news as well as bad news.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2012/fast_facts/en/index.html

Note 2:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-is-worlds-capital-for-open-defecation-ramesh/275057-3.html