Reverification of ODF Status with a Focus on Use and Maintenance: An Empirical Investigation in Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

India declared itself as an Open Defecation Free (ODF) nation in October 2019. A country with hardly 38 per cent of rural households with access to toilets could touch the 100 per cent mark in about sixty months (i.e., 2014 – 2019). This is still an intellectual puzzle to many countries that such a vast country like India could declare ODF in about 60 months. But, within India, the fact remains that the ‘ODF sustainability strategy’ stands tall in the rural sanitation advisory of every state government post-2019. The recent round of NFHS (2019-21) reports that rural sanitation coverage is 64.9 per cent. Two districts in Madhya Pradesh - Indore and Satna - were selected for re-verification of their claim of ODF status. Five Gram Panchayats (GPs) were studied in each district as a sample. This study aims to validate the ODF status claims made by the districts, and thus by the states. The questions unravelled are the percentage of households that are truly ODF; the causes of households not using toilets even in households that own one; the household-level behaviour change that has occurred in terms of toilet use, handwashing practice, and proper maintenance of toilets.