Delhi has for decades tackled the problem by subsidising toilets for poor households, with the underlying assumption that poverty rather than attitude is the main reason that people are not building their own. This year the government is spending about £350m on the project, but poorer countries including neighbouring Bangladesh have made far greater strides in reducing open defecation without as much subsidy.
Even on the measure of toilet construction, India’s progress has been slow. Census figures show that between 2001 and 2011, the proportion of families without a latrine actually fell from 63 to 53 per cent. Research suggests that many households who acquired toilets during this time have not abandoned open defecation entirely. A recent survey of rural north India by the Delhi-based RICE Institute found more than 40 per cent of families with a working toilet have at least one member who still defecates in the open.