The Dirtiest country !

India remains the “dirtiest and filthiest” country in the world, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said, lamenting that people in many areas had access to mobile phones, but not toilets. Ramesh, who is also the minister for drinking water and sanitation, highlighted lack of awareness about sanitation and expressed concern on the issue of rampant open defecation in the country, particularly in the rural areas. “One area in which India can claim success in the social sector is education. We can’t say the same thing in health, we can’t say the same thing in nutrition, we certainly can’t say the same thing in sanitation because we do remain the dirtiest and filthiest country,” he said. During an interaction with the audience, Ramesh said, “I am concerned. The biggest challenge I face as a rural development minister is to educate people about sanitation. About 60% of all open defecation in the world is in India.” “Today, if you go to many parts of India, you have women with a mobile phone, going out to answer the call of nature. I mean, it is paradoxical...you have a mobile phone and you don’t have a toilet. When you have a toilet, you don’t use the toilet but use it as a godown,” he said. “You have to educate the values of cleanliness,” Ramesh said. He, however, said today women accounted for almost 50% of enrolment in higher education. “About 20 years ago, this enrolment was less than 25%. In some states, women enrolment in higher education is higher than men. Girls enrolment in schools also have increased very very significantly,” he said.