India has more cell phones than toilets: study
We knew it when “text messanger's thumb” happened, and we damn sure knew it when there was “cell phone elbow,” an infliction so evidently serious CNN featured an entire story on the syndrome.
Yes, the world has gone nuts with mobile phones. We know this.
But our over-use of cell phones has always come with a sort of self-deprecating sentiment. A kind of “Oh, yeah, you can’t get enough of your CrackBerry, either” vibe, suggesting there’s at least a little humour behind our reliance on handheld devices.
Doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of chuckling with a story like this, though.
A new report from the United Nations University in Tokyo has revealed more people in India have access to a cell phone than they do a working toilet.
According to the numbers, there are 545 million cell phones in the nation, enough to serve about 45 per cent of India’s population. By contrast, only 366 million people (31 per cent of the country) can use regular plumbing, what the UN calls “improved sanitation.”
“It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet,” noted Zafar Adeel, director of the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
These are pretty staggering numbers, and should also come as little surprise to anyone who caught that scene in Slumdog Millionaire where the kid gets locked in a pay toilet and has to jump to freedom though the, um, basement.
But there's an economic plan in place to fix this problem.
The UN estimates it costs about $300 to build a toilet – labour, materials, everything – in India, but Adeel notes that’s cash the world can see realized as a long-term investment.
According to the director, each dollar spent on sanitation in India can return between $3 and $34, realized through reduced poverty, lower health costs and higher productivity in the country.
“Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimizes it as undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others take over the for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation,” he said.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: all praise business | Apr 23, 2021 3:06:25 AM
meanwhile, telemarketers threaten to turn our cell-phones into toilets.
Posted by: Jennifer | Apr 23, 2021 9:30:39 PM
Hi,
Reference to the article titled: "India has more cell phones than Toilets" by Jason Buckland -
with mention of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" in which the scene mentioned in the aforesaid article is in itself exaggerated to a great length, for fast buck !
Secondly,you may also want to add to your next article that in India, for a family of FOUR members, there will be FOUR CELL PHONES and ONE TOILET ,while in Canada we have 4 members = 4 Cell Phones but One Toilet in Appartments,& in Town Houses/Bungalows,there may be a powder room - which we also have in India, its called "an OUTHOUSE" ! If thisa journalst did NOT KNOW this, he may want to do his homework before he brings shame on himself!!!! SHAME ON YOU JASON B U C K L A N D ! You may want to refer to Algebra Formula : a+b =c+d ie what is in India is also here!!!!
Posted by: raj | Apr 23, 2021 11:12:03 PM
jenifer u r damn right..they just try to bring themself up to showing some one down..by heart..i really like ur comment..and u r very true..coz i passed through that things wht did u just say.over there is landline is expencive then cell phone..so people get cellphone ..and over there in one house more people live than in western country coz over there whole family live together instead husband wife and kid..over there they live in joint family..so one washroom for more people its okay there
Posted by: bonnie | Apr 24, 2021 4:45:33 PM
Well stated Jennifer & Raj.
I am awaiting Jason to comment on your facts, which apparently he has none, but is only hipe on bragging about which once was deemed an "unnderdeveloped country" i.e India. I want Jason to put into statistical prospective given the population of Indai and compare it to the population of Canada or North America generally, and establish from his study which country is really in a "slumdog' situation
Posted by: Jon | Apr 25, 2021 11:29:57 AM
It seems to me most people commenting here are suggesting that the article is giving number of cellphones in comparison to number of toilets in the country... it very clearly states ACCESS to sanitation services, not number of toilets. I'm sure India has more toilets than Canada, seeing as how they have a little more than 30 times our population. But in terms of access to the facilities currently in place, Canada far outpaces India. Think about it; as a Canadian, you could easily step foot outside your door, in any town, eliminating all toilets you own, and have access to dozens of clean, maintained facilities with running water (outhouses are no replacement for a flushing toilet, that comparison is laughable) either for free, or at least less than the cost of a coffee. Suggesting that Canada is actually worse off than India as commenters have implied because India have more toilets is just plain misunderstanding statistical comparisons. And insulting the writer for reporting a story, as opposed to attacking the UN that actually conducted the study? Perhaps Mr. Buckland's next article can be about the apparent lack of understanding of causation and correlation in Canada!
Posted by: alfred watson | Apr 25, 2021 11:49:38 AM
India rules!!!
Canada sucks.
Posted by: holland canada | Apr 25, 2021 12:09:20 PM
Hello there all sorry to hear this but it is so truth i work whit farm workers and most off the lady wake out side and sit in the grass in stead off the toilets so come on see the light
alferd watson im glad you say something like this hope you drive around whit india plate s on you car a lots off india ppl come here to suck out canada money and run sad and the say canada sucks go back home and start building toilets whit running water en sewer not a hole in the ground
Posted by: Martin Hanzal | Apr 25, 2021 3:08:02 PM
No no no, you guys have it all wrong - the proper name is 'Indiana'!
Posted by: Rekha Khanna | Apr 25, 2021 3:12:28 PM
It is quite true. When you are travelling in India, it is very very very difficult to find toilets, if you do they are quite filthy. India is very much adanced in other things, but when it comes to toilets it is a different story.
Posted by: deb | Apr 25, 2021 3:29:04 PM
I have never seen, nor heard about any Canadian in my lifetime who had to squat beside the railroad tracks to relieve themselves. I should hope India has more toilets than Canada - they have a billion more people. That doesn't mean they have enough for their own population. Why commenters would compare Canada's toilet situation to India's is ludicrous. I personally don't understand why a country wouldn't make the basics of human dignity a priority.
Posted by: greg loftus | Apr 25, 2021 3:29:40 PM
India could certainly improve sanitation by the introduction of composting toilets. Thee are many various comeical models available and these are at time very expensive. I have seem so very easily build models on Alternative living web pages that would work very well there.
Posted by: greg loftus | Apr 25, 2021 3:36:48 PM
Composting toilets would work in many areas of india both rual and in the city. These can be easily made from many materials and can be very inexpensive to build.
Posted by: Jay | Apr 25, 2021 4:51:43 PM
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Posted by: deb | Apr 25, 2021 5:56:42 PM
"India rules" "Canada sucks"
Wow! It's not a competition between the two countries, simply an article about India not having
enough toilets - and THAT is a fact.
Posted by: indian | Apr 25, 2021 6:27:57 PM
In india instead of wasting water to flush away your crap, they take a crap out in the field and then cover it with ground soil... I think in terms of sustainability and environmental conscionsness this is far ahead of the gallon a flush toilets of the so called advanced nations. think about that for a second. what you call a toilet is a water wasting machine and what most indians in rural areas call a toilet is fertilizer for the coming days, weeks and years... so I would say Americans or Canadians don't have a previlage to shit they have a previlage to turn this earth to shit.
Posted by: Isabel | Apr 25, 2021 6:43:40 PM
India sucks. Using public places, streets railway,tracks etc as toilets are environmentally good? What a poor understanding of sanitation, cleanliness & green environment...
Posted by: prema | Apr 25, 2021 8:37:01 PM
India has less Toilets coz it has less shitty people than the rest of the world.
Posted by: Suren | Apr 25, 2021 9:12:16 PM
This article is so true. No western country should not support India to become permanaent member of UN security council. Before they comming to public, they should take care of their own folks. So shame of India.
Posted by: Mr Logical | Apr 25, 2021 9:18:20 PM
In response to indian; Most " save the planet" theories are false or misconstrued to a point where logic no longer takes prescedience. Most Canadian and US cities get their water from rivers, lakes, or streams. Saving a gallon will not prevent it from finding it's way to the ocean. Secondly, all human waste eventually becomes fertilizer no matter where it is left. Thirdly, lack of waste management is the primary cause of illnesses such as Typhoid fever for one. If you have to make a choice, which would you rather have, a gallon of water or your health?
Posted by: Shithead | Apr 25, 2021 9:27:46 PM
No working toilet even at Airports. Forget it when it comes in public places.
Shops/restaurents profits are too small to spnd any for the public restrooms. Govt corruption is too high to even think about solving this problem.
If India wants good tourism then they better do something about it.
Do't just compare it with Canda. #33 million to 1.3 billion and wages per hour is only $1.05 not $10.0. So get real.