An Analysis of Rural Sanitation and Sustainable Rural Development in India

The objective of this paper is to analyse the rural sanitation and its need for sustainable Rural Development, with a view to awareness, acceptance and performance of the rural people in the uses of rural sanitation. Rural sanitation figures prominently in the National Agenda for governance. At present, the extent of sanitation coverage in India is around 16 per cent of all rural households. This figure is one of the lowest in the world, at par with countries like Nigeria and Afghanistan and possibly lower than Bangladesh. India, one of the most densely populated subcontinents in the world, had the lowest sanitation coverage. In 1991, only about a tenth of the Indian rural population of about 627 million reported access to latrines (Census of India, 1991). By 2001, sanitation coverage in rural India had increased to about 36 per cent with 22 per cent in rural areas. The importance of rural sanitation cannot be ignored as it directly affect the quality of life of children and women in this country. In order to overcome these issues the strategies and approaches have been developed and implemented through various measures to make all people to avail the sanitation facilities to achieve the cent percent sanitation in the villages. It is therefore found that due to lack of awareness and regular follow-up activities, it is yet to be achieve the sanitation for all people live in rural area