27% of tribal population has no access to safe drinking water source, no toilets in 75% tribal homes
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the government told Parliament it was making efforts to provide access to toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Close to 27% of India’s tribal population do not have access to a safe source of drinking water, while 75% tribal homes do not have toilets, the government told Parliament on Thursday.
“According to the 2011 census, 75% Scheduled Tribes households in the country were defecating in the open,” said Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. “Another 26.6% of the total tribal population did not have access to safe source of drinking water.”
The government, however, said that under the Swachh Bharat Mission, it was making efforts to provide access to toilets in all rural households.