On December 3, as the world observes International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), with the theme this year being ‘amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future,’ experts suggest that the inclusivity of the disabled extend to the area of sanitation, especially in rural India where many persons with disabilities struggle to access toilets, which to a large extent, are made keeping the abled bodied people in mind.
In this regard, the discourse related to making India's toilets more accessible for persons with reduced mobility in both rural and urban settlements assumed significant proportions.
Activists are now arguing in favour of western toilets as an important intervention and 'a gamechanger' in the area of sanitation in rural India, especially for the disabled section of society, the elderly and pregnant women.
A few years back, SVAYAM, a not-for-profit initiative conducted a survey titled, ‘Accessible Toilets: A Paradigm Shift in Sanitation in India’ (AFT), involving 900 participants and it found that as rural India catering to 69% of people with disabilities (PwDs) and 71% of senior citizens, access to essential facilities like accessible toilets remained a challenge.
Across 14 states and 138 districts of rural India, the AFT initiative tried making toilets more accessible via the participation of self-help groups, joint liability groups and community-based organisations. Masons and plumbers were trained nationwide to build accessible toilets that were western commodes which could be accessed easily by various sections of people.
Various research papers and academic journals suggest ways in which one could ensure inclusivity in the area of sanitation by building toilets that can be accessed by building ramps with gentle slopes to allow easy access for wheelchairs and mobility aids, wide doorways that allow wheelchairs to pass through comfortably, toilet seats with grab bars, raised seats for safety and more.
As per a research paper titled, 'Western toilets, Indian society and public health,' and published in the National Medical Journal of India by researcher Anup Agarwal of Jan Swasthya Sahyog, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, "Government of India's Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) allocates the same amount of money to every household for building toilets, ignoring the needs and requirements of the elderly and the disabled. If human frailties and diseases require different approaches, those approaches must be included in the program."
The paper further mentions that the United Nations recognises the right to basic sanitation as a human right and includes access to safe water and sanitation as one of its sustainable development goals.
"Hence, a comfortable and safe toilet is a vital part of safe sanitation. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, mandates that appropriate governments shall ensure appropriate and accessible sanitation facilities, especially in urban slums and rural areas on the basis of principles for the empowerment of persons with disabilities. In fact, building squat toilets inside a house where people with disabilities reside, goes against the very spirit of the SDGs to begin with," write the researchers.
Guidelines of the Central Public Works Department and space standards for barrier-free built environments for disabled and elderly persons recommend that “one special seated toilet in a set of toilets shall be provided for the use of the handicapped in all public spaces. The seat of the toilet shall be 500 mm from the floor. Forcing the disabled, to squat, when they clearly cannot, and then to exclude them from accessing basic sanitation, is a violation of their human right on a daily basis,” says Agarwal.
Further adding that if the government is sincere in its effort to build toilets in every household to make India an ODF society, then it must ensure that those toilets are inclusive, too.
Sminu Jindal, Founder, Chairperson of Svayam and Managing Director of Jindal SAW Ltd., agrees that accessibility is "an inherent human need and an undeniable right for every individual."
“Through our extensive four-year project we've witnessed the willingness of rural Indian communities to invest their savings and even take loans to fulfil this fundamental need— accessible western toilets at home. What's truly remarkable is the staggering 99.0% repayment rate, a testament to the unwavering commitment of borrowers towards enhancing their quality of life.”