Indian men are less likely to use toilets than women, even if they have access to one, a five-state study by market research firm IMRB and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has found, in what could be bad news for the government’s flagship Swachh Bharat mission. The study, commissioned by the urban development ministry, looked at the toilet habits of 4,400 urban poor households in 30 districts of Rajasthan, […]

A staggering 46.9 per cent households in Maharashtra do not have toilet facility though 69 per cent homes boast of telephone/mobile phones, while 56.8 per cent have television sets in the State.   These facts were revealed in the Economic Survey for 2012-13, which was tabled in the State legislature today.   Sanitation facilities are lacking in 62 per cent of rural households and 28.7 per cent urban homes, it […]

You’ve probably heard of Puri, the sea-side resort in Odisha. But have you heard of Sagada, a tiny village in Puri’s Nimapada block? Kabita Nayak (44), strong and gritty, hadn’t heard of Sagada either, until she came to the village as a young bride in 1985. India was taking slow steps towards liberalisation but Sagada stood out for reasons no one would ever want to advertise. Imagine a village, an […]