Determinants of Sanitary Practices in Rural Odisha

Abstract

Proper sanitation, hygiene and cleanliness are some of the key indicators of quality of life. The present paper attempts to study the status of sanitation in rural Odisha and explore its determinants. The paper is based on both primary as well as secondary data. The relative position of districts in rural sanitation is analysed with help of census data. The analysis observes that there is a significant regional divide in ‘access to toilets’ across the districts of Odisha. The backward districts are lying way below the relatively advanced coastal districts of the state. Moreover, for an investigation at a disaggregated level, we had taken 109 households from a village cluster for a case study. The study observes that caste category, occupation and government subsidy are the important factors influencing the sanitary practices of the study areas. The paper advocates for continuance of government subsidy with better targeting, and a massive awareness drive by the government to change the sordid state of open defecation in the state.