Devalaya and Shauchalaya: Addressing Socio-Economic Inclusions

Recent debates over ‘Devalaya and Shauchalaya’ have foregrounded the importance and need of access to sanitation facilities, besides the places of worship, for raising the standard of life. This paper assesses their changes using data from Census of India, 2001 and 2011and National Sample Survey’s Housing Conditions Rounds unit record data 1993 and 2008/09. Households in rural India and those belonging to weaker sections of society such as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Agricultural Labourers (rural), Casual Labourers (urban) and Poor households were found noticeably lagging and most excluded in access to sanitation. Thus, there is need for more attention towards sanitations facilities especially in rural India and focus on inclusion of various weaker sections of society to raise the overall quality of life and well-being.