Design
India's Government Will Now 'Check and Verify the Use of Toilets'
It's an unprecedented plan aimed at eliminating open defecation across the country. Could it work?
Some 503,142 toilets have been installed in households across India since October, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced Clean India Mission, a sanitation campaign that aims to eliminate open defecation by 2019.
It's an ambitious and necessary target. According to the World Health Organization, more than 620 million people—about half India's population—relieve themselves in the open, a practice with serious negative impacts on public health, safety, and the economy.