Govt counters Water Aid sanitation study, as Swachh Bharat Mission excluded

The report mentions that 56 % of people in India lack access to safe sanitation, in reality, the present number is down to about 28%, says The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

The government today countered a Water Aid report on India's sanitation, saying the global non-profit organisation's finding "extrapolated" data from the period between 2000 and 2015 and missed out the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation said the report, titled 'Out of Order-The State of the World's Toilets 2017', was "factually incorrect" and would mislead "readers in believing that this is the present status of sanitation in India".

"This report quotes data from the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) which extrapolates sanitation data based on available data from past studies between 2000 and 2015.

"This means it