Khammam: Lack of individual toilet in the houses in rural areas is a curse for the womenfolk in the family. The male members do not understand the sensitivity of the issue and this causes mental agony for the women in the family.
Efforts made at meeting the sanitation challenges have been found to have very limited results, with as high as 40 per cent of the families not having toilet facilities coupled with very low use of existing toilets in urban and rural areas.
K. Anita, a woman activist said, “Lacking individual sanitation is a small one in the eyes of men but it is matter of self-respect for women. The sensitivity involved in the issue should be understood by people.”
It is perhaps the right time to critically evaluate and move beyond the excessive focus we have on provision and pay attention to the underlying complexities of the mechanisms involved that influence sanitation behaviour among people.
In Khammam district, there are still 46,000 families without ISLs and it is very sad on part of the government for not attending to this important problem of women.
The unsanitary conditions contaminate food and water, and transmit diarrhoea-related diseases killing children every year worldwide.
Girls in rural areas feel a sense of shame due to lack of toilet in their houses. Many women control natural urges and venture out to the fields at night and face problems of falling into trenches and snake bites.
There is an increasing body of evidence that says poor sanitation when a child is young, can lead to mental and cognitive stunting. There is no meaning to Swachh Bharat, if the ISL issue in rural areas is not solved.
