Background

India faces a significant challenge when it comes to access to basic hygiene and sanitation, especially for people from underserved communities due to lack of infrastructure and awareness. As per the World Health Organization, preventable diseases like diarrhea, which are a leading cause of illness among children, are an outcome of poor hygiene and unsafe sanitation practices. Such challenges become bigger in densely populated settings or in places with low resources where basic access to day-to-day hygiene products like soaps is also unaffordable or inconsistent. 

As highlighted by UNICEF, the problem is not just restricted to barriers to access but also involves lack of awareness and social obstacles. For example, while handwashing is one of the most effective disease prevention practices, due to lack of awareness and gaps in behavioral practices, inconsistency in adopting such practices persists across communities. Social stigmas related to issues like menstrual hygiene further contribute to limiting access to sanitary products and awareness-related discussions around the same, especially for women and young girls. 

Another obstacle in this regard is resource inefficiency, wherein huge quantities of ready-to-use hygiene products like partially used soaps or other such products are discarded on a daily basis. Therefore, in order to address hygiene challenges in India, solutions need to incorporate not just improvement of access to basic products but also spreading awareness, waste reduction, and building of community-led systems that can contribute to long-term change in behaviors and social attitudes.