It's early morning and local commuters are queuing up for tickets at the Kirti Nagar railway station in the Indian capital, Delhi.

At least 54 million people in Asia can thank Bindeshwar Pathak when they defecate in private.

UNICEF estimates that almost 594 million —nearly 50 percent of India’s population — defecates in the open, with the situation particularly acute in impoverished rural areas such as the Badaun distr

Around 1,000 houses of Marek Katahare have not been allowed access to the services provided by the VDC for failing to acquire the sanitation identity card.

BAJURA: Elderly citizens of Kotila VDC in Bajura are an elated lot because there are toilets in every house in the village now.

The recent diarrhoea outbreak in Makawanpur’s Dhiyal VDC has to do with water sources contaminated with human waste, it has been learnt.

Doti is yet to be declared open defecation free zone due to lack of cooperation among various organisations working in the field of drinking water and sanitation in the district.

Despite Total Sanitation Campaign leading to increase in the number of households with toilet in the State, adoption of proper sanitation practices by the population still remains a far cry.

The city continues to bear the stigma of poor sanitation practices.

Meghalaya, which is still facing the problem of open defecation, has set a target for nirmal (clean) state for the year 2014-15.