 "StatsGuru: Taking stock of the state of sanitation in India")
The prime minister's "Swachh Bharat" campaign is, at the bottom, about sanitation and about latrines. The task, as revealed in Figure 1, is daunting. More than half of rural India is without a bathroom or latrine. As Figure 2, shows, it becomes even more difficult when the geographical distribution of this problem is revealed. Vast numbers of rural people, especially in the northern heartland of the prime minister's Bharatiya Janata Party, are without a latrine facility. The numbers are a little better in urban areas, as shown in Figure 3, but even here there is a wide variation across states.
Figure 4 shows that some states have not just provided latrines in rural areas effectively, but have ensured that households do not have to share them - particularly Kerala and the Northeast, but also Punjab and Haryana to an extent. Worst of all, when people were surveyed about whether their access to a latrine had improved over time, Figure 5 shows that, in the northern heartland, most people said that they had seen no improvement.
Together with the improvement of sanitation is the improvement of drinking water access. Figure 6 shows how much of the day is wasted on bringing in drinking water from outside the premises in wide stretches of rural north and west India.
Figure 4 shows that some states have not just provided latrines in rural areas effectively, but have ensured that households do not have to share them - particularly Kerala and the Northeast, but also Punjab and Haryana to an extent. Worst of all, when people were surveyed about whether their access to a latrine had improved over time, Figure 5 shows that, in the northern heartland, most people said that they had seen no improvement.
Together with the improvement of sanitation is the improvement of drinking water access. Figure 6 shows how much of the day is wasted on bringing in drinking water from outside the premises in wide stretches of rural north and west India.