As the country’s wealth continues to grow, almost half the population have a hand-held device but less than a third have access to proper sanitation.
The lack of flushing toilets has led to continuing problems of water-borne illness and millions of deaths, according to UN experts who published a nine-point prescription for achieving the world’s Millennium Development Goal for sanitation by 2015.
Their report on India, the world’s second most populous country, shows 600 million people – 54 per cent of the population – defecated in the open in 2008, causing a health disaster.
At the same time, 545 million mobile phones are now connected to networks in the developing nation.
The Indian government has vowed to end open defecation by 2012.
Zafar Adeel, director of UN think-tank the Institute for Water, Environment and Health, called for ‘popular education about the dangers of poor sanitation’.
‘This simple measure could do more to save lives, improve health and help pull India and other countries in similar circumstances out of poverty than any alternative investment,’ he added.
