By grand proclamation, the government of India declared India open-defecation free in 2019 — because a bunch of toilets were constructed across the country. But what’s the reality on the ground?

To those who believe this fairy tale, I often direct them to this image I took a few years back, one that I could take on any given morning if I wanted to.

Full disclosure, both of these images featured here were taken before the formal declaration when open defecation magically vanished. Let’s just say that you’d have to pay me now to take such pictures because anyone can check for his or herself as to what the reality on the ground actually is. Let’s just say for the sake of argument that it isn’t pretty.