India tackles its Sanitation Problem at 63,000 Bowls a Day

The country with the largest population on earth is solving one of its biggest yet least talked about problems at an increasing pace: by providing millions of toilets for its people.

For years, India has had more mobile phones than private toilets and latrines. In the countryside, millions of people have to use fields to relieve themselves. The lack of proper sanitation results in diseases that claim the lives of thousands of people every year.

Now, a government project appears to be making a major impact in a very short period of time: About 90 million new indoor toilets have been produced across India in only five years. Every day, the country produces more than 62,000 new toilets. A remarkable production increase of 43 percent since 2015.

The government’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is a national campaign created by the prime minister of India. It aims to free the country of its open defecation practices. For example in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, 19 times as many toilets with properly connected sewage pipes were installed in both 2017 and 2018 than before 2014, when the SBM campaign was first launched.

Not only is this publicly funded campaign helping to alleviate some of India’s public health issues. It also encourages entrepreneurship and creates jobs. The aim is that by the end of 2019 all Indians will have access to private toilets.