Swachhta Status Report 2016

More than half of people in rural areas still go for open defecation finds this survey on 'Swachhta' Status conducted by the NSSO during May-June 2015 covering 3,788 villages and 2,907 urban blocks.

A sample survey by the government on availability and usage of toilets indicates that access to lavatories is triggering a change in attitudes of people who otherwise used to defecate in the open. Data by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) shows that nearly 96% persons in villages and nearly 99% in urban areas, having access to sanitary toilets, use them. The "Swachhta Status Report" based on survey conducted between July 2014 and June 2015 also mentions how 46% of urban people who don't have household sanitary toilets are using community toilet complexes. The report also reflects a gradual shift in people's attitude towards household toilets in rural areas - an achievement in the face of considerable resistance to having toilets in residential premises. Just 22% of rural families had access to toilets in 2001. But sustained campaigns pushed this figure up to 32.7% in 2011. It further improved to 40.6% in 2012 and nearly touched 50% by February 2016. However, there is a long way to go to meet the goal of complete sanitation by October 2019 as 52% of people in rural areas and 7.5% in urban areas still defecate in the open, according to the survey.