Mysuru: The annual growth in sanitation facilities in India, which was just one per cent since 1981, has seen a big leap to 3-4 per cent in the past two years since the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission by the Centre, said Director of the Mission, Dr Nipun Vinayak.
He was speaking on ‘Public-Private Partnership for Swachh Bharat Mission’ at the Indian Science Congress on Thursday. According to the 2011 Census, only 32.70 per cent of people had access to toilets. A survey conducted in 2012-13 showed that 38 per cent had access. Now after the Swachh Bharat Mission was implemented, over 49 per cent of people in India or almost half of the population have a toilet. In Karnataka 70 per cent of people have access to toilets. “Our target is to have 8 crore toilets in the country by 2019,” Dr Nipun said.
“Over 1,000 children die daily because of diarrhoea in India. And 50 percent of girls who go for open defecation face some kind of molestation. The major challenge before the Mission is to bring about a change in the mindset of people. There has to be a collective change in the mindset to use toilets,” he said.
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