India, Oct. 18 -- According to high-level government sources, the survey results contradict the government's open-defecation free status claim

A copy of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)'s latest survey on the state of toilet coverage and use at the household level in India was doing the rounds among officials.

The 'draft' report, accessed by Down To Earth, pegged toilet coverage in India at only 75 per cent. Close to 80 per cent of those were being used.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, declared India open-defecation free (ODF) in front of 20,000 Panchayat representatives at the Sabarmati riverfront on October 2, 2019 to mark Mahatma Gandhi's 150th anniversary.

This would mean all households either have a toile...