Sarmita, a resident of Samasnagar village, has a cell phone, a bank account and an LPG connection. But she has no piped water or a toilet. There are many Sarmitas in this New India

A few days back, around 2,500 villagers fell victim to a mysterious fever in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district. When Gaon Connection visited some of the villages here, it was found that they live in unhygienic conditions. When asked why don't they raise these issues in gram sabha meetings, most villagers drew a blank

कई ग्राम पंचायतों के बाहर खुले में शौच मुक्त का बोर्ड लगा है पर गांव में एक भी शौचालय नहीं हैं

While answering a question pertaining to the availability of data on manual scavenging in the country, the Union government stated there is no report on the practice of manual scavenging in any district. It also mentioned that 530 districts have eradicated the practice of manual scavenging. However, Bezwada Wilson, an activist who works for the interests of manual scavengers, termed these claims as 'false'. Details here.