Hygiene And Sanitation In India

Hygiene is basically a set of practices that are performed to preserve health. They are mainly referred to as conditions and practices that help to maintain good health. This includes actions such as hand- washing and bathing. whereas sanitation is the effective use of tools and actions that keep our environment healthy. These include latrines or toilets to manage waste, food preparation and other mechanisms. The difference between the two terms is very minute such that both are related. The two terms hygiene and sanitation are critical to health, survival and development.

India is home for almost 17%of the worlds population. Sanitation has been a serious challenge that India has been facing since 70 yrs. a recent study conducted by water and sanitation programme of world bank estimates that inadequate sanitation costs India 6.4 % of its GDP. After consultations with certain groups, it has been found out that the majority of the participants were resorted to open defecation mainly because of poor sanitation facilities in their areas.Elderly people, men and children said that they used the toilets only when it was urgent as they lacked proper sanitation facilities and mainly it was not designed for their need. Women and girls were the most vulnerable section as they are exacerbated during mensturation.Even today, only around 28,000-gram panchayaths out of 2.5 lakh are declared as "Nirmal gram"(open defecation free village).

Apart from this, the sanitation workers are also suffering from many diseases due to lack of handwashing facilities in the workplace and also they are not provided with protective gear. This leads them to the risk of infection and many other hazardous diseases. The prevalence of stigma, prejudice and discrimination serves to enhance the vulnerability and marginalisation of the sanitation workforce. It is estimated that 88% of the households in India have a mobile phone but 732 million people in India do not have access to toilets and clean sanitation. Sanitation is a basic right of every citizen of the country. Unfortunately, this is one issue the country has not been able to successfully handle with. Even in the cities, there is a dearth of proper drainage and disposal of waste. People still do not segregate dry and wet waste, which causes huge issues in decomposing and recycling. Continued usage of plastic can also lead to serious environmental and health hazards in the near future.

Thus it is necessary to address the issue of poor sanitation as it seeps into every aspect of life such as health, nutrition, development, economy, dignity and empowerment. It perpetuates an intergenerational cycle of poverty and deprivation. It also requires working with the children and communities as the issue has a direct bearing on the right to life and dignity. To meet the country’s sanitation and hygiene challenge there is an urgent need to focus on triggering the demand for improved sanitation facilities, ensuring their quality, use and maintenance. This is achieved by creating a culture of “social sanctions” that challenges the acceptance of open defecation once and for all. Making this happen requires substantial resource and time investment to inculcate a lasting change in behaviour and adoption of key hygiene practices at the community and household level.