More access to cellphones than toilets in India: report -Governance Now

More access to cellphones than toilets in India: report

UN University report terms it a “tragic irony”, MDG target likely to be missed

GN Bureau | May 3, 2010

More people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet and improved sanitation, according to a United Nations University study.
“366 million people (31 percent of the population) in India had access to improved sanitation in 2008 while 545 million people have working cell phones thanks to its booming emerging economy,” points out the study.

“The number of cell phones per 100 people has exploded from 0.35 in year 2000-01 to about 45 today.”

India is likely to miss the sanitation target under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 if there is no speedy progress in that direction, says the Canada-based United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH).

Under the MDG, a target has been set for a 50 percent improvement in access to adequate sanitation by 2015.

The study also recommended nine points to address sanitation conditions globally.

Read the report.

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