Churu, the hotspot for Swachh Bharat

We came to Churu talking about the weather. In summer this year, temperatures in this district in western Rajasthan, about 200 km northwest of state capital Jaipur, touched 50° C. But, it has also been in the news promising to eliminate open defecation. So, use of latrines was also a part of our conversations. And, we heard a depressingly familiar story: Even if people have access to latrines, they often choose not to use it.

The first person we met, a shepherd, confirmed that he did. So did the second person, a shopkeeper. "Do you want to know what the government says, or the truth?" he asked. He was aware of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Driving north, out of the town but within the eponymous district, we stopped at another village.

The dealer of a public distribution system, or ration, shop said: "Almost everyone in the village has been provided with latrines, but they prefer to do it in the open. Latrines are for emergencies." The government's latrine pit in the village is unused. A small tree was growing out of it.

We arrived at a house with perhaps the finest latrine and bathroom in the village. Two women who live in the house told us their family members still preferred to go out in the open, fearing their pit would fill up sooner with frequent use.

Granted the "sample" of our study wasn't exactly scientific. We came upon the household by chance. But, what we found matches carefully sampled survey work throughout north India. Yet, it does not match with the recent Swachh Survekshan Report, released by the Centre.

The report claims 88 per cent of the people in Churu use latrines. What does one believe? No one knows; there is no data one can verify. The questions asked by those who wrote the Swachh Survekshan Report belie its credibility. Enough independent reports have made it clear that specific questions need to be asked about the practice of open defecation. It is not enough to know about a household, but essential to ask about each person. The government surveyors, however, asked one general question about open defecation. Also, the surveyors went to only 53 districts, known to be top performers. No one surveyed Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh or Jharkahnd, where one-third of the total population defecates in the open.

Many news reports seem to have missed these details. Some have called the data in the report representative of all of the country. Some took old data for new. There seems to be gap in critical thinking on the matter. Data on open defecation is important. Measuring and understanding the progress and failure of the mission is essential to ensure its success. According to a World Bank report, one in 10 deaths in India can be linked to low sanitation. If we are to address this, we need a closer and harder look at how we collect and interpret data.

The writers work at the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics