the toilet rights movement in India

Unsurprisingly, narratives of India shining do not include the fact that a majority of the people in India have no access to toilets. This fact should naturally create a stink, but it mostly does not because the people who are excluded from this basic right are not from the urban middle-class. However, open defecation can be witnessed, and smelled, not just in remote rural areas, but along the railway tracks as well as other wooded areas in all major and minor Indian cities. The problem is particularly acute for women in the rural areas who, due to obvious safety concerns - from other predatory humans as well as snake-bites - have to hold it until it's dark or get to it before dawn breaks. As a result of this inhuman exercise of patience, thousands are afflicted with serious urinary tract infections. The situation is simply beyond belief, but not really on the radar screen of the official policy makers since it obviously does not affect them directly.

Farah Naqvi A Loo of One's Own

Toilet Museum in India

Malise Ruthven on the stink in India

The fact that an Indian sociologist -  Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak - is doing something about it through his Sulabh International, is a good start. And the fact that Mr. Jairam Ramesh, an Indian minister, who unlike most other politicians is actually focusing on this issue helps too.

Sociologist Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

It is however, the proverbial long battle. But the lack of action on this critical issue generates more than stench and stink. It is a serious health issue that affects millions. It is also an issue of basic human dignity.