A: Open defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out in the open rather than using the toilet to defecate. The practice is rampant in India and the country is home to the world’s largest population of people who defecate in open. Over 620 million people, over half the population in India, defecate in open. India accounts for 90 per cent people in South Asia and 59 per cent of the 1.1 billion people in the world who practice open defecation

A: Open defecation is a well-established traditional practice deeply ingrained from early childhood. Sanitation is a socially unacceptable topic and as a result, is not discussed. Consequently, open defecation has persisted as a norm for many Indians. Other reasons that can be cited for its persistence include poverty (the inability to afford toilets), landlessness, tenants in housing without toilets (usually urban), and of course cultural and social norms that have established open defecation as acceptable practice. There is also a strong belief that children’s faeces are harmless which is untrue as often child faeces carry higher pathogen loading than adults. As a result, children’s faeces are often disposed of in the environment, either close to dwellings or in open drains. No wonder creating a norm around Open Defecation Elimination (ODE) is a big challenge in country.