No toilets in 50% homes in city: census

Despite large investments and several sanitation programs to make the state 100% open-defecation free, the census 2011 figures for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) show that more than half the residents from socially backward classes in the city and suburbs do not have toilets in their homes.

Despite large investments and several sanitation programs to make the state 100% open-defecation free, the census 2011 figures for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) show that more than half the residents from socially backward classes in the city and suburbs do not have toilets in their homes.

HT Image

The state has separate departments for tribal and social justice and a large sum of money is diverted to their kitty to upgrade basic infrastructure in households of socially backward classes.

Despite this, the census figures show that many of them are forced to relieve themselves in the open, since most public toilets in the state are defunct.

The statewide figures tell a grimmer tale. More than 67% families do not have access to private toilets in their homes. In districts such as Dhule, Jalgaon, Osmanabad, Beed and Latur, more than 80% households lack toilets. With regard to drinking water, only 43% homes of the socially backward have facilities such as taps, wells, hand pumps and tube wells in their household.