UNICEF estimated that as many as 63.8 crore people, that is, 54 percent of the country's population, practice open defecation due to inadequate sanitation.
Only a mere amount of 400 crore is being allotted to sates for public sanitation, while requirement is 2000 crore per annum. It has negative impact on public health, women dignity and environment.
According to another report, the economic impact of inadequate sanitation costs India about Rs. 2.4 trillion or about 6.4 per of its gross domestic product. Diarrhoea alone claims four lakh lives annually, of which 90 percent are children.
