Access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are basic necessities as well as people’s basic rights. A large section of Indian population, however, is struggling to get easy access to these two services.
According to the government data only about 74% of total rural habitations are fully covered under provisions of safe drinking water (GoI, 2013). Rest of the villages are either partially covered or are having contaminated water.
According to Unicef, only 88% of the total population have access to safe drinking water, and only one quarter of the total population in India has water in their premises. As for the sanitation facilities, only 40% of total households have toilets, and only 80% of those households have functional toilets (Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan).