--- title: Indian City of Ahmedabad to Pay Residents For Using Public Toilets description: The move is a bid to combat public urination and defecation. According to UNICEF, over half of India’s population defecates in the open. canonical: https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/ author: Rohit Inani article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-10T09:09:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:20:56.503Z og:title: This Indian City Will Pay You to Use Its Public Toilets og:description: Why spend a penny when you can earn one instead? og:url: https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ceb71156dd27da3/698853d80b72e328966e4657/gettyimages-182990574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4256 og:image:height: 2394 og:image:alt: INDIA-HEALTH-TOILETS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Indian City Will Pay You to Use Its Public Toilets twitter:description: Why spend a penny when you can earn one instead? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ceb71156dd27da3/698853d80b72e328966e4657/gettyimages-182990574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Indian City Will Pay You to Use Its Public Toilets by [Rohit Inani / New Delhi](https://time.com/author/rohit-inani/) ## Rohit Inani / New Delhi Jun 10, 2015 9:09 AM UTC  Two pit latrines, designed for villages as per the guidelines of the World Bank, are shown by Jayantibhai Gohil (90) in charge of Safai Vidyalaya in the campus of Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad on October 3, 2013. Two pit latrines, designed for villages as per the guidelines of the World Bank, are shown by Jayantibhai Gohil (90) in charge of Safai Vidyalaya in the campus of Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad on October 3, 2013.SAM PANTHAKY—AFP/Getty Images by [Rohit Inani / New Delhi](https://time.com/author/rohit-inani/) ## Rohit Inani / New Delhi Jun 10, 2015 9:09 AM UTC Authorities in the Indian city of Ahmedabad have decided to pay people to use public toilets in a bid to combat public urination and defecation, AFP [reports](http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ahmedabad-to-pay-residents-to-use-public-toilets/article1-1356692.aspx). Authorities say residents will be given a rupee (less than a fifth of a U.S. cent) every time they use public facilities in a bid to cut back. “The idea behind this project is to prevent open defecation in parts of the city where people, despite having public toilets, defecate in the open,” an official told the news agency. Authorities also plan to identify residents who publicly urinate and defecate on a regular basis and encourage them to use the public toilets by offering the incentive. According to UNICEF, more than half of India’s population defecates in the open, creating a serious public health issue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/"},"headline":"This Indian City Will Pay You to Use Its Public Toilets","datePublished":"2015-06-10T09:09:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:20:56.503Z","description":"Why spend a penny when you can earn one instead?","url":"https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/","keywords":["Newsfeed","India"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ceb71156dd27da3/698853d80b72e328966e4657/gettyimages-182990574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rohit Inani / New Delhi"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ceb71156dd27da3/698853d80b72e328966e4657/gettyimages-182990574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INDIA-HEALTH-TOILETS","caption":"INDIA-HEALTH-TOILETS","creditText":"SAM PANTHAKY—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3915641/public-toilets-india-ahmedabad-pay/","name":"This Indian City Will Pay You to Use Its Public Toilets"}}]}] ```