The Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research conducted a survey in December 2015, across 10 districts in five states.

According to the survey, 7500 rural households has found that 29% of Swachh Bharat toilets exist only on paper and of those that have been built, 36% are unusable. The states included Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

The survey also analyzed the Swachh Bharat website government's achievement list. They also went on trying the beneficiaries. The first shock was that many names of the states on the achievement list were mentioned twice.

"The government needs to institute random auditing of the achievement list and also employ third party surveys to ensure the accuracy of numbers," said Yamini Aiyar of Accountability Initiative.

A total of 10 districts were surveyed, out of which the best performing district was Satara in Maharashtra. Satara  has been known for its sanitation achievements from a long time. The worst was Nalanda in Bihar, the home town of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

According to the Swachh Bharat Mission, all the rural households who have toilets built can request Rs 10-12,000 as a reimbursement.

However, in another survey, it got revealed that in Jhalawar, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia's constituency 40% households did not receive reimbursement.

Lack of awareness was the main cause why people who needed assistance didn't even ask for it. So to create awareness, the government promised to appoint Swachhta ambassadors Doots in every gram panchayat.

All those who had toilets in the house used them. In Udaipur, those who had toilets didn't use them due to which the non-usage was 26% the highest. In Solan, Himachal Pradesh, only 1% households did not use toilets despite having them at home. When the survey was done, the main reasons why people were not using the toilet was the lack of water. Some also said, "they had a habit of open defecation that the toilet at home hadn't yet changed."

"The Swachh Bharat Mission is working poorly in districts that need it the most," says Yamini Aiyar of Accountability Initiative. "What is needed the most is an awareness drive about sanitation, the Swachh Bharat Mission and how it works," she said.

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BY M. DIVYA SRI