The 19th of November is designated as the World Toilet Day by the United Nations. The significance of the day is to create awareness regarding the importance of sanitation among the people of rural and urban areas.
The theme of World Toilet Day 2018 is ‘When nature calls.’ This significance of this theme lies in emphasising on the proper use of toilets and the measures to be taken to maintain sanitation and hygiene. In order to maintain high standards of sanitation, it is essential that we have an adequate number of toilets in every area, both rural and urban.
According to UN reports, out of a world population of 7 billion, only 4.5 billion people use toilets and 62.5 % of the world population still does not have access to safe sanitation. As an attempt to improve the awareness among the people about the importance of toilets and access to safe sanitation, the World Toilet Day came into being.
The alarming rate of people defecating in open areas is hazardous, both for the people and the environment. India is one of the countries standing atop the list of countries facing sanitation crisis. In order to combat this problem, increasing the number of toilets built in the country is a major agenda of the Government of India.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 was the beginning of an attempt to transform India’s environment into a clean one. The Government of India also took steps to eradicate the issue of open defecation and ordered for the building of more common toilets in villages.
India is fighting hard to achieve the status of being Open Defecation Free (ODF,) which will be a sign of a cleaner and healthier environment. The Modi Government set a target to make India ODF by 2019.
The essence of World Toilet Day lies in ensuring every individual in the world has access to a safe toilet by 2030. This World Toilet Day, let us do our bit of contributing to the cause by creating awareness about the importance of access to safe toilets.
