scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Friday, March 13, 2026
TopicOpen defecation

Topic: open defecation

On World Toilet Day, a look at India’s sanitation data and the ground realities

Kairvy Grewal -
Every year on 19 November, the UN celebrates World Toilet Day to create awareness about the 4.2 billion people who are living without ‘safely managed sanitation’.

Study finds Indian households with female children reduce practice of open defecation

Kairvy Grewal -
The study found a reduction in open defecation owing to a firstborn child being a girl far greater in poor urban households than richer ones.

More people in rural India defecate in open than what govt’s household survey shows: Study

Sangita Vyas -
India’s Demographic and Health Survey that asks household-level questions greatly underestimates open defecation among households with latrines.

Roshni, the Shivpuri Dalit girl killed for ‘open defecation’, wanted to become a doctor

Samyak Pandey -
Roshni, 12, and her minor nephew Avinash were beaten to death in MP for allegedly defecating in the open, triggering a wave of shame and anger in the country.

This Delhi village was declared open defecation-free by its BJP MP in 2018. Except it isn’t

Fatima Khan -
North-West Delhi MP Udit Raj had declared Jheemarpura ODF in May 2018, but residents still complain of a lack of toilets and other infrastructure.

Use of public toilets costs slum dwellers 104 times what those with own toilets spend

Fatima Khan -
Study suggests the high user charges are undermining the benefits of the Modi government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Indian state where development is more on a par with Pakistan than India

Ratnadeep Choudhary -
Like Pakistan, Uttar Pradesh is home to about 200 million people, which it can’t seem to take care of very well.

Modi wants open defecation-free India but his own adopted village paints a dirty picture

Ruhi Tewari -
Rural Development Ministry data shows Modi's village Nagepur in Varanasi is not open defecation-free, scores zero out of three.

Gujarat ‘open defecation-free’, but CAG flushes Modi govt’s claim down the toilet

Nandita Singh -
The CAG report, tabled in Gujarat assembly, shows nearly 30% of the households in 120 gram panchayats do not have toilets. 

Bangladesh and Tanzania have a lesson or two for India on open defecation

Bloomberg View -
Like Bangladesh and Tanzania, India can adopt strategies that generate shame and disgust to trigger collective action.
Load more

On Camera

YourTurn

Opinion

Period pain is real. Blanket menstrual leave policy isn’t a fix

Stela Dey -
The Supreme Court is right to point out the 'mindset of employers', who, because of this policy, may deduce that 'women are inferior.'

9.2% jump in arms transfer shows this is era of war—SIPRI reveals the temper we live in

Trump either ends Iran conflict quickly, or sky-high energy costs will force him to do so

Economy

A war in the Gulf, a crisis in Gujarat’s Morbi: India’s ceramics capital counts the cost

+TFP Esha Mishra -
Morbi makes 80-90% of India’s ceramic exports. The West Asia conflict has cut its propane supply, shutting 200 factories and threatening 400 more—along with 9 lakh livelihoods.

Defence

Supreme Leader Mojtaba, the man Iran must keep alive & the secret force ‘tasked with it’—all about NOPO

Vaibhav Pant -
The Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, or NOPO, was the only force Ali Khamenei trusted.It was founded in 1991 and is more feared than the Revolutionary Guards.

National Interest

Trump brings the Age of Humiliation for friends. Modi needs stoicism abroad, humility at home

Shekhar Gupta -
Trump has ushered in the age of humiliation. His method is to push around America’s friends rudely and publicly. He knows none of them can afford to fight back.

Follow us

Copyright © 2025 Printline Media Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.