Explaining the problem of open defecation in India

Rural India and its villages have declared themselves ‘open defecation free’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary Wednesday. This was a goal set when the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan was announced five years ago, and the ensuing years saw rapid building of toilets across urban and rural India, a feat for which PM Modi was presented the Global Goalkeeper award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation last week. On this episode of 3 Things we look at what it means for India to be open defecation free (ODF). Sushmita Sengupta, Centre for Science and Environment, explains whether the project has been successful, Anindita Mukherjee, Centre for Policy Research, unpacks why the problem of open defecation in India is a complex one and how the ODF status can be made more sustainable. Last, Nazar Khalid, Research Institute of Compassionate Economics, explains the process of ODF declaration and its inherent problems.