Manual scavenging — the removal of human waste from sites with no flush system

Life expectancy is low, with many developing asthma, skin infections and tuberculosis
The majority are Dalits — people belonging to the lowest strata of India’s caste system

Long way to go for India to achieve ‘open defecation free’ tag
Updated Oct 3, 2019
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday declared the country of 1.3 billion people free of open defecation. But despite huge progress, experts have expressed skepticism about the claim, saying millions still lack access to a toilet, and that because of old habits many of the new facilities are not being used.

India’s human waste removers

Updated Thursday October 2, 2014
Desperate, disgusted but proud — India’s human waste removers

Bringing toilets and dignity to India’s poor

Updated September 18, 2012
Every morning at the crack of dawn, residents of a New Delhi slum gather by the railway tracks to do what most would only do in private — go to the toilet.

Poo2Loo: Poo Party

Updated Monday Jan 8, 2014
Mr Poo, who appears in commercials accompanied by a groovy techno anthem, is the face of the latest public health campaign by United Nations Children’s Fund in the country.

Ending open defecation

Over half of the population in India defecates in the open. The exposure to human excrement leads to diarrhea – over 500 Indian children die of diarrheal disease EVERY SINGLE DAY!