Direction for the following 8 (eight) items: Read the following eight passages and answer the items (1-8) that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Why do people prefer open defecation and not want toilets or, if they have them, only use them sometimes? Recent research has shown two critical elements: ideas of purity and pollution, and not wanting pits or septic tanks to fill because they have to be emptied. These are the issues that nobody wants to talk about, but if we want to eradicate the practice of open defecation, they have to be confronted and dealt with properly.

Which among the following is the most crucial message conveyed by the above passage?

Correct Answer: People have to perceive toilet use and pit-emptying as clean and not polluting.

Explanation:

The passage identifies two primary reasons why people refrain from using toilets or hesitate to adoption of toilet use:
1. Societal and cultural ideas regarding purity and pollution.
2. Reluctance to empty pits or septic tanks once they are full.

The text explicitly mentions that to successfully eradicate open defecation, these key issues "have to be confronted and dealt with properly." This implies that the taboos surrounding toilet use and pit-emptying must be dismantled so that people begin to view using toilets and cleaning pits as acceptable, clean, and non-polluting practices.

Option Breakdown:
• The ideas of purity and pollution are so deep-rooted that they cannot be removed from the minds of the people: Incorrect. The passage states these issues must be confronted and dealt with, implying change is possible.
• People have to perceive toilet use and pit-emptying as clean and not polluting: Correct. Changing this perception is the central key to solving the problem.
• People cannot change their old habits: Incorrect. The passage does not state habits are unchangeable; it highlights specific underlying taboos that need addressing.
• People have neither civic sense nor a sense of privacy: Incorrect. The passage focuses on perceptions of purity, pollution, and pit-emptying, rather than a lack of civic sense or privacy.