The success story of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission is often told in terms of toilets built and open defecation reduced. But India Today cautions that this leaves out a crucial dimension: bathrooms safe, enclosed spaces where one can bathe, wash, and maintain hygiene with privacy. According to recent data, nearly 14.28 crore households lack bathing facilities, affecting nearly 49% of all homes in rural and urban India.

This gap disproportionately harms women and girls. Without bathrooms, they endure skin infections, fungal diseases, urinary tract issues, and menstrual hygiene challenges. Public exposure or makeshift wash areas undermine dignity and heighten anxiety, especially during menstruation or at night. 

Some girls skip school, and women miss work, triggering educational and economic loss. The deeper obstacle isn’t only resources it’s policy blindspots, social norms, and supply priorities. While toilet construction received focused national support, bathrooms were scarcely addressed. With the Jal Jeevan Mission promising piped water, now is the moment to launch a “bathroom mission” (or Mahila Maryada Mission) to construct private bathing facilities in every home. Such a move would restore dignity, strengthen health outcomes, and turn sanitation into equity not just infrastructure.