In 1999 Gita Devi constructed a toilet with funds from the central government’s Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in her marital home in Maner block of Patna district. Yet her entire family, including Gita, continued to defecate in the open. The toilet would be opened like a showpiece during special occasions such as marriages, festivals or for guests.
Family members frequently fell ill, especially in summer and during the monsoon. But it didn’t strike anybody that recurring illness was due to defecating in the open.
Years later, in 2011, a programme called Gram Varta (village dialogue. . .
