Easy access to clean toilets essential for human dignity

Context: The Supreme
Court on Wednesday declared that easy access to clean public toilets for all —
including men, women, persons with disabilities, and transgender people — is
not just a matter of convenience but a basic right and an essential part of
human dignity. State governments and Union Territory administrations have an
important duty to not only provide easy access to clean washrooms and drinking
water to all regardless of their sex or gender but also ensure that these
restrooms were maintained throughout the year.

Key points

·      
Overview: For 10 years, the
government has embarked on several campaigns of environmental health and
development. These included the Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM), the Atal Mission
for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and
the National Clean Air Programme.

·      
Persistent Traditional Beliefs Regarding
Sanitation Work: Sanitation and waste management in India are
associated with the wide prevalence of caste. Historically, the subjugated
castes have been forced to carry out sanitation work. The SBM tried to create a
narrative that sanitation is everyone’s job. Instead, it has ended up
continuing the same old caste practices.

·      
No Universal Access to Toilets: The Union
government claims that India is open defecation-free, but the reality is
different. A Comptroller and Auditor General report in 2020 raised many
questions about the government’s claims over the success of the SBM on this
front. It indicated the poor quality of construction of toilets under this
scheme.

·      
Lack of Sanitation Inspectors: In March 2024,
in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the Urban Development Department said that
there are just five sanitation inspectors in the Shimla Municipal Corporation,
which comprises 34 wards. Instead of recruiting more such inspectors, this
cadre is being declared dead after they retire.

·      
Ways to Improve: Focussing on
Vulnerable Sections - While, India has made substantial progress in
sanitation coverage, some individuals, households, and community belonging to
disadvantage sections of the society such as female-headed household, landless
people, migrant labourers, and disable people-still do not have toilets in
their home or find the existing toilets not accessible.

Integration With
Public Health Infrastructure - Educational institutions, child-care centres,
hospitals, and other government facilities need further development in
sanitation practices. Sanitation coverage disaggregated data in public
facilities and among the government departments requires innovation to make it
a long lasting and feasible option, which will be vital in public health
infrastructure.

Robust Waste Management
Systems - With pollution levels in cities growing and the overflowing of
landfills, there is an urgent requirement to reinvent garbage management in
cities so that waste is fully processed and not landfilled.

·      
Conclusion: No doubt, India
has made rapid progress to achieve the SDG 6 by increasing nationwide toilet
access under SBM. At the same time, India must scrutinize its success within
the framework of environment safety and fecal-oral transmission of disease that
help, especially to children to spend their childhood free from malnourishment
or premature death.