Moving beyond infrastructure coverage to understand whether water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions deliver safe, reliable, and equitable services. The infrastructure paradox: Access does not always mean water security Imagine a village where every household has a tap connection. On paper, the village has made substantial progress towards universal access to drinking water. But what happens…
India’s Jal Jeevan Mission has significantly expanded rural tap-water connections, but access does not always mean reliable water security. Drawing on the 2024 functionality survey, state audits and budget data, this article examines gaps in water quality, quantity, regularity, infrastructure maintenance and village-level institutions. It highlights why verified functional water supply must become the measure…
Twelve years after the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, India has made significant progress in expanding toilet access and reducing open defecation. However, the next challenge lies in sustaining sanitation outcomes through behavioural change, safe waste management, local governance, lifecycle financing and reliable public services. From Toilet Access to the Challenge of Sustaining Sanitation…
AKSHAY KUMAR From a film about household toilets to beach bio-toilets and ministry campaigns, the actor’s decade on water, sanitation and hygiene shows both the reach and the limits of celebrity advocacy As of 17 September 2026, a government factsheet shows, rural India has built over 12.22 crore household toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen,…
Ekam Eco Solutions, founded in 2013, is transforming India’s sanitation landscape through innovative waterless urinal technology. Its flagship product, Zerodor, helps save up to 1.5 lakh litres of water annually per unit while promoting sustainable sanitation solutions across India. Ekam Eco Solutions Is Rewiring What a Urinal Does. India flushes 70,000 litres of clean water…
Bindeshwar Pathak transformed sanitation in India through the Sulabh Sanitation Movement, promoting affordable toilet technology and challenging the practice of manual scavenging. His legacy highlights the need for effective rehabilitation, safer sanitation systems and dignity for sanitation workers. He once picked up human waste with his own hands. Do not confuse it for a metaphor…
Cities are building toilets from scrap buses and recycled plastic. The harder test is whether dignity reaches the women, transgender persons and informal workers who depend on public sanitation most. A scrap bus at Bengaluru’s Majestic terminal now serves as a women-only toilet with Indian and Western commodes, a sanitary-napkin vending machine, a burner and…
Balamala Malli’s journey from a waste picker in Guntur to a sanitation entrepreneur shows how mechanisation, skill development and financial support can transform hazardous informal work into a safer, dignified and self-reliant livelihood.
NAMASTE scheme data show rising PPE, insurance and vehicle-subsidy numbers even as rights groups say official sewer-death figures undercount fatalities NEW DELHI — The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) said on September 13 that 90,942 sewer and septic tank workers have been profiled nationwide under its flagship sanitation-worker safety programme, with 89,248…
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $ 230 million loan on August 21 to rebuild Chennai’s water and sewer network. Deputy Secretary Saurabh Singh signed on behalf of India’s Department of Economic Affairs, and ADB India Country Director Mio Oka signed for the bank, under the guidance of Joint…
