A new UN study has found that more people in India, the world’s second most populous country, have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet.India has some 545 million cellphones, enough to serve about 45% of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31% of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008.If current global trends continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) predict there will be a shortfall of at least 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal by the target date of 2015.
According to a 2001 study, 15% houses in urban areas had a ‘flush latrine’, while 85% did not have any facility. In rural areas, 17.4 % homes had toilets. According to statistics given by the rural development ministry in 2008, 60.07% houses in urban areas have toilets, while 57% houses in rural areas have toilets.
“While I do not completely agree with the UN report, it is a fact that India, with its population of over one billion, does need more toilets,” said Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder, Sulabh International, a social service organization which aims to make affordable toilets available to all. “Our cultural background,” he said, “is the reason behind this problem.” Traditionally, Indians were told that they should have a toilet away from the house, which is why we didn’t have toilets inside the house,” he explained.
Source: DNA-
India has more cellphones than toilets, says UN report
