The paper gives an interesting historical account of the notions of cleanliness and hygiene in Indian society and the role of religio-cultural norms and values in shaping the outlook of the people towards sanitary habits in general and toilet use, in particular. The author using the government data on state wise coverage in terms of households with toilets, discusses the progress in better performing as well as slow progressing states, as far as achieving Open Defecation free rural India by

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... is concerned. Looking in to the various sanitation efforts made in the post-independent India including the ongoing Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the paper examines the variations across culture, gender, ethnicity and geographic locations in the notions of dirt and how our concept of cleanliness has changed over time. The paper emphasizes the need to learn from examples of other development including public health programmes and schemes for bringing behavioural change along with providing support, technological and financial, for creating all-weather toilets. This in turn is expected to ensure a sustainable practice of toilets usage by all members in each household of rural India.