The Government of India launched Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U), on 2nd October 2014 with an objective to make India free from open defecation and achieve 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country. Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Clean and safe toilets are prerequisites for health, dignity, privacy, and education. Through the Swachh Bharat Mission, India has achieved its target of providing access to safe sanitation years ahead of the target set under SDG. But sustaining this achievement is even more critical to embed key behaviours i.e. continued use of a toilet. Public toilets are often associated with tags of “unclean” and “unhygienic”.

This can be contributed to issues of operations and maintenance which discourages users to use public facilities at ease. However, other factors such as user behaviours, social-economic -cultural backgrounds, climate, topography, etc also play a significant role. Design of a toilet also has a large role to play in influencing user behaviour, and their physical interaction. The ways of use of men and women are dissimilar and hence the same space has different utilities for different genders. Hence it is important to ensure the public facilities are designed to be user-friendly, durable, comfortable and functional. Currently, it is estimated that about 20% of urban households in cities are likely to use Community Toilets (CTs) due to land and space constraints in constructing individual household latrines.

In addition, States and cities also ensure that a sufficient number of Public Toilets (PTs) and urinals are constructed in each city. As part of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, which was extended for another period of five years, from 1st October 2021 to 1st October 2026, cities will have to provide additional public and community toilets including in all tourist destinations/places with high footfall/iconic cities/ religious destinations, etc.

Toilet blocks consist of a given number of toilet seats, as per requirements, toilet superstructure including the pan and water closet, and a substructure (either an on-site treatment system, or a connection to underground sewerage/septage system) shared by all the toilet seats and facilities for hand wash. The public toilets also are to have adequate provision for men, women, and facilities for the differently abled (e.g. ramp provision, braille signage, etc.) wherever necessary