Question : SANITATION SYSTEM

(a) whether as per World Bank Report, out of the total population of India, 12.8 crore people do not have access to the sanitation system;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the reaction of the Government thereto;

(d) whether the Government proposes to formulate any new scheme in view of the said Report;

(e) if so, the details thereof ; and

(f) if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION (SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH)

(a) to (c):    The Ministry has not received any reference regarding any such World Bank Report. However, according to the information presented in the WHO/UNICEF report on ‘Progress on sanitation and drinking water 2010 update’ the use of sanitation facilities as a percentage of population was 31% in rural areas of the country. The information presented in the report included data from household surveys and censuses completed up to the year 2007-08 only. Further, as mentioned in the report itself, the data in the report do not reflect the efforts of the international year of sanitation 2008 and beyond which mobilised renewed support to stop the practice of open defecation and to promote the use of toilets.

(d) to (f):    The Government of India administers Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), a comprehensive programme started in the year 1999 to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with the main objective of eradicating the practice of open defecation and ensuring clean environment. It is project based programme taking district as a unit. TSC, at present, is being implemented in 607 rural districts of the country. The sanitation coverage in rural areas of the country was 21.9% as per census 2001. With the effective implementation of TSC, the rural sanitation coverage has since increased to approximately 73% as of July 2011, as per the progress reported by all the States through online monitoring system maintained by the Ministry.