Owing to past prejudices prevailing against Harijans & Bhangis who were traditionally condemned to managing sanitation or, to put it bluntly, cleaning and collecting human excreta, hardly any attention was given to deploy technology and science in disposing human refuse. Defecation is a fact, albeit unmentionable. We do it everyday, yet we do not talk about it. It is “taboo” on one hand and impolite to talk about it. Yet, when we go to ‘toilets away from home’ we sometimes put up with the many discomforts like hygiene problems, inadequate sanitation, design and functional flaws, and many other problems associated with toilets.

Mahatma Gandhi, on his return to Ahmedabad in the year 1915, did certain experiments in improving the design of a toilet. The result of his experiments had an deep impact on social workers of the time. Realistic efforts were made in this direction so that the multitude of Harijans and Bhangis (or toilet workers) could be spared the filthy, unhygienic work. People using improved toilets could prevent diseases and epidemics.

But the lower strata of society, almost a hundred years later, still cannot afford such individual toilet facilities. They continue to squat in the open, a commonplace occurrence in a number of villages and cities of India. So, well designed toilets nearer homes were required for good healthy life. The question was

• who cares? and
  
• who will pay for it?

When the World Bank initiated monetary assistance for construction of individual toilets, the offer was taken up by rural social workers. It created a genuine consciousness for good sanitation, and created strong public opinion for such a need in the last 20-25 years. However, in India only 30% of villages have been covered under the WB scheme. The problem as well as the task is mammoth, and social workers are now genuinely concerned about righting a social wrong with concerted effort.