International News Article

International News Article

The article which I have chosen from an international news website is 'Is India's lack of toilets a cultural problem?' written by Soutik Biswas published by BBC India on March 16, 2012.

I found this story while searching for Indian culture and its various aspects. I opted to discuss this story because I found its title quite amazing. I did not even realize before reading this story that a country like India which is amongst one of the most important developing countries is going through such basic problems of proper sanitation facilities. It is hard for me to believe and relate to the fact that in today's modern world, people in India are still suffering from issues like 'lack of toilets.' When globalization is at its peak, it is quite difficult to believe that almost half of India's population does not have the 'facility' of toilets at their homes (Soutik, 2012).

The article presents the background of the sanitation issues. Soutik has argued that the situation related to sanitation is worse in the rural areas where almost two third of the homes do not have toilets at core. India has created an objective of provide basic sanitation facilities to almost half of the people suffering maximum by 2015. The author related this lack of toilets to the cultural issues. The Indian culture promotes the existence of low caste human sweepers. Indian culture is full of discrimination on the basis castes and races.

Soutik referred to Gandhi, India's greatest leader, incident in relation with the sanitation facilities. Since Indian culture promotes discrimination on the basis of caste, there are many people who are considered to be untouchable. Gandhi was told by an untouchable man that 'toilets are for big people.' Gandhi worked for providing improved sanitation facilities but faced resistance from villagers.

Soutik identified that Indians must be shameful about their cultural behaviors related to cleanliness and sanitation. The author has argued that Indians tend to keep their homes clean and their surroundings full of waste. Soutik blamed both the nation and the state for such sanitation conditions. Author has shared his personal experience within the city of Gurgaon. Moreover, the author has revealed several campaigns that have been taken place in this regard.

According to Soutik, there is a slow improvement in the situation within the villages. The various statistics provided by author suggests that in until 2002, only 40% of villagers had access to toilets. The percentage grew up to 51% till 2009. The situation is still quite worse in the states of Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and others (Soutik, 2012).

The cultural and behavioral aspects pointed out by Soutik are quite interesting to note. He reveals that Sikh and Christian community has improved their sanitation situation the most in comparison with Hindus. The campaigns related to improving sanitation include providing subsidies to construct toilets. Various sanitation and hygiene campaigns are also referred by the author. States of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have improved their sanitation situation ...