3.5. Toilet usage, beliefs and practices
Fifty-seven (31.8%) households interviewed in the general
questionnaire had functional toilets, all built by the owners
themselves. However, only 38 (67.9%) of those households
with toilets actually used them. In the focus groups, the
reasons given for not using toilets that were already built
were that it was contrary to their custom especially among
the elders of the village; there was also concern about the
smell and possible water stagnation during the rainy season.
The ownership and usage of toilets among those interviewed
in the individual questionnaire is presented inTable 2. Eigh-teen (60%) owning toilets belonged to the high SES category,
and 12 (40%) belonged to the middle and low SES categories.
Of the individuals using toilets, 17 (68%) belonged to the high
SES category and 8 (32%) to the middle and low SES cate-gories. There was no significant difference in ownership or
usage of toilets between the Main village and the Harijan
colony (Table 2).
The government had attempted to construct toilets
for every household; however, none had covered pits or
were connected to septic tanks and hence they were non-functional. One set of public latrines for women had been
built by the government but was seldom used because a
monthly fee had to be paid for its use and because it some-times lacked water. Even when used, it was for the purpose
of bathing and washing clothes, rarely for defecation.