Here is a number most of you know: more people practice open defecation in India than anywhere in the world – more than 600 million individuals. Moreover, 60% of households in rural India do not have access to toilets in the house. Over 99% rural households in Odisha don’t have toilet facilities at home. In states like Uttar Pradesh – which witnessed the dastardly rape and murder of two girls in when they had to step out of their homes at night since there were no toilets at home – 65% of rural households still don’t have toilets at home.

These shocking numbers are extracted from the Baseline Survey 2012 of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation: Large states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also have a huge, huge gap in providing for toilet facilities at home. India’s President Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing members of the Parliament on the first day of the new Lok Sabha session, said that by the time the country completes 75 years of Independence, every family will have a pucca house with water connection, toilet facilities, 24×7 electricity supply and access.

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