Pehle Shauchalaya, Phir Devalaya - Why And How?

A "Temple" is a symbol of Hindu faith where the Hindu Gods/Goddesses reside. It is related to spiritual development of the human beings. If any message is given out by associating it with temples, it symbolizes the importance of the subject matter. When our first Prime Minister Nehru Ji described dams as the "temples of modern India", it symbolized how important dams were for the economic development of India.

Our current Prime Minister Modi ji gave the statement of "Pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya (toilet first, temple later)". It was a very strong statement given the significance of temples in Hinduism and had the potential of hurting the sentiments of his followers. He himself had said, "I am known to be a Hindutva leader. My image does not permit to say so, but I dare to say". What he meant was that before spiritual development, we need socio-cultural and economic development (especially for our girls/women) and for that toilets are necessary.

An important structure of the Hindu temple is "Garbhagriha" where the main deity resides. The image of our country is imagined/expressed in the form of "Bharat Mata". At the same time, our goddesses of knowledge (Maa Saraswati) and wealth (Maa Laxmi) are also females. With so much of feminine aspects in India's spiritual psyche, toilet in the house could be accorded a place equivalent to garbhagriha in the temple, given the association of women's dignity and honour with the toilets. Then why was the construction of toilets not given a priority in India?

Here, I want to share my own experience and related thoughts. Open defecation was a regular practice in my village. But, it never occurred to me that women were unhappy or complaining about it. Rather it always seemed to me like a get together or a morning/night walk around the village in open air. At that time, I was not aware of the terms like sexism, patriarchy etc, so I could not have contemplated their role in open defecation. It truly seemed to me as responding to the nature's call in the lap of nature. I also knew that women were not allowed to go outside their home, then why the men didn't make toilets to restrict their outside movement. And, if it was a matter of shame/dignity with a lot of other issues like safety and health, why women didn't force their families for the latrine construction, after all it was a matter of family honour? Aren't these two contrasting observations?

Answer lies in the socio-religious construct of Indian society. Defecating in the open provided them with a rare daily opportunity to step out of the house, away from the scrutiny of the mother-in-law.  They socialize and make bonds with their friends/other women of a similar age in their village. Free from the household chores, they talk about the ups and downs of their daily lives which play an important role in socialization. Hence, women never regretted the absence of toilets in their house.

There is mention of sewage and drainage system in Harappan civilisation; however epics, Vedas etc do not touch upon these issues. Because of the cultural and religious neglect of this issue, people still can't accept the presence of Puja Ghar/ Rashoi Ghar and toilet in the same house in spite of being aware of numerous hardships faced by the women.

It's a regular sight on the roads, streets etc where we see men relieving themselves. Sometimes it becomes so disgusting that local bodies/authorities have to put God/Goddess’s figure to stop them from urinating publicly. However rarely do we see women doing so in the public places. Do we ever wonder why females never urinate in public places? The answers are obvious. Women, from beginning, are trained to control their bodily functions while young boys receive no such training. Perhaps this is also the reason that men never felt the importance for toilets through the women’s eyes. Thus, not constructing a toilet also had a socio-religious angle to it.

Open defecation poses a threat to women’s safety and dignity, which also has the consequences on their health and education. Let us talk about them one by one:-

·        Safety: - Women go for open defecation either before sunrise or after sunset as darkness allow a degree of privacy. It is highly unsafe as there are often unwanted male attention on the streets and fear of assault. It adds up to the psychological stress, already faced by the women in a patriarchal set up. We still remember the incident of gang rape and murder of two minor girls in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun which had happened when the girls had stepped out of their home at night to ease themselves. There also lies the danger of snake and poisonous insects' bites or getting attacked by wild animals.

·        Health: - Women adjust their biological need to relieve themselves in accordance with the feasibility of visiting the open fields at a certain time (early morning and late night) and safety concerns. They also reduce their biological need of food and water to minimize the need to go outside the home. This problem is much more aggravated for pregnant and menstruating women who have to carefully calculate and map their journey. These all adversely impact their health.

·        Education: - Girls often do not attend school if there are no private toilets, and this gets adverse with the onset of menstruation. This also becomes the reason for increase in the drop rate from school in rural areas. This accentuates the gender inequality.

·        Dignity: - Apart from health and safety issues, women also feel humiliated because of answering nature’s call in the open, especially when someone see them in that position. It often generates village gossip and family shame, which lowers their self esteem. Often sexual assault/harassment cases are not reported because it is interlinked with honour and shame of women and her family. Thus, women prioritize sexual safety over health etc. This preferential aspect also restricts their access to public spaces.

There is also a caste angle to the open defecation. In India, dalits are mostly landless people and their women are often sexually assaulted while relieving themselves in the open. Being landless, they have no place to construct toilets even when they are listed as beneficiaries under government welfare scheme. They have to ease themselves on other people's land and face harassment.

With the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, considerable progress has been made in the field of toilet construction. Now, women don't need to go out in the dark and look for a place to go where no one could see us in that position. Latrines are more peaceful than open fields as women did not have to stand up each time someone passed by they would be able to defecate peacefully.

Although, the crimes against women have not ceased, the improved sanitation facility has lowered the probability of sexual assault on village women, apart from enhancing their self-esteem and mitigating the health consequences. For many women, it's a sea change now.

However, merely building toilets are not the solution. In many cases a family may use it as a storehouse, washing purpose and others but not for defecation. Hence, it is also necessary to address behaviour, cultural attitudes and social norms. Apart from providing proper hygiene and sanitation facilities, Government/Authorities also have an important role in changing people’s mindset. For example, in a village “Bekkinakeri” in Karnataka, people were greeted ‘good morning’ at the defecation sites. It was done to publicly shame them or make them feel guilt about it. Now the village is ODF.

Recently, a Rajasthan judge granted a woman a divorce because there was no toilet in the house. The Judgement concluded that failure to provide her with toilet was equivalent to cruelty. This also signifies the change in thought process that social norms can’t be an excuse for not constructing toilets.