By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 28 May 2015: A US research study has disclosed that Hindus are 25 percent more likely to defecate in the open than Muslims in India. The study has been carried out by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the US’s leading non-profit economic research organization where 24 Nobel prize winning economists have worked.
“despite relative economic advantage, India’s majority Hindu population is 25 percentage points more likely to defecate in the open than the minority Muslim population,” CounterView has quoted from the study in its article adding that the study has quoted Manusmriti (Chapter 4 verse 151) “Far from his dwelling let him remove urine and excreta” to suggest why it may be more prevalent among Hindus.
According to the study, there appears to be a direct correlation between infant mortality rate (IMR) and sanitation. The study, which has quoted several other studies, says that IMR among Muslims “is 17 per cent lower than among Hindus, with an additional 1.1 infants per 100 surviving.” The authors believe that this “large difference can be entirely accounted for by latrine use.”
