Sanitation and Religion in South Asia: What Accounts for Differences across Countries?

Sangita Vyas,Dean Spears

doi:10.1080/00220388.2018.1469742

Sangita Vyas, Dean Spears

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2018.1469742

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Abstract

Exposure to open defecation has serious consequences for child mortality, health, and human capital development. South Asia has the highest rates of open defecation worldwide, and although the incidence declines as household income rises, differences across South Asian countries are not explained by differences in per capita income. The rate of open defecation in sub-national regions of Bangladesh, India and Nepal is highly correlated with the fraction of the population that identifies as Hindu, in part because certain rituals of purity and pollution discourage having latrines in close proximity to one’s home. Almost all open defecation occurs in rural areas, and this paper estimates how much the rate could be reduced if rural households in regions that have a higher fraction of Hindus, where open defecation is still common, altered their behaviour to reflect that of non-Hindu households in regions that are predominantly non-Hindu, where the rate of open defecation is much lower. Using nonparametric reweighting methods, this paper projects that rural open defecation in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal could be reduced to rates of between 6 and 8 per cent, compared to the prevailing level of 65 per cent.

Highlights

Open defecation has important consequences for child health and human capital development
Almost all open defecation occurs in rural areas, and this paper estimates how much the rate could be reduced if rural households in regions that have a higher fraction of Hindus, where open defecation is still common, altered their behaviour to reflect that of non-Hindu households in regions that are predominantly non-Hindu, where the rate of open defecation is much lower
After controlling for important covariates, both Hindus and non-Hindus are less likely to defecate in the open if they live in primary sampling units (PSUs), or villages, with a higher fraction of non-Hindus, and are more likely to defecate in the open if they live in PSUs with a higher fraction of Hindus

Summary

Introduction

Open defecation has important consequences for child health and human capital development. A cultural reason for this is that certain practices in Hinduism influence sanitation through strict observance of rituals of purity and pollution that mean many Hindus in rural areas are resistant to having latrines in close proximity to their homes. Anthropologists have long discussed the importance of Hindu beliefs in purity and pollution in relation to the caste system and sanitation behaviour (Srinivas, 1952). Scholars in India attribute the persistence of open defecation and poor sewage management to the persistence of the caste system (Gatade, 2015; Ramaswamy, 2005; Teltumbde, 2014)

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