The government is pushing clean India and digitisation as it urges citizens to switch to Internet-powered systems for availing services. Launched as a product of the combination of both initiatives, the toilet locator on Google Maps has seen monumental growth.
Google Maps now shows over 45,000 community and public toilets as a part of government’s Loo Review campaign. Under the confluence of two flagship programmes of the government, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) partnered Google to launch the toilet locator on Google Maps last year. Since the launch, over 53 per cent of India’s urban population is covered by the toilet locator services on Google Maps.
The 45,000 toilets also cover 1700 cities in India – however, the government has not shared data of the number of rural toilets seen on Google Maps. The official data, as mentioned during the budget speech, paints a positive picture. The paucity of proper toilets has been a top concern for the government since its first term.
