A few months back when drinking water and sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer was seen cleaning a sewage line, it showed his commitment to the cause of Swachh Bharat. But more than that it is Narendra Modi’s leadership in last three years that motivated top bureaucrats like Iyer to step out of their office rooms.
Probably that is the biggest advantage of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) turning into a social movement. The target to make India open defecation free – with the implementation focusing at the district level – is one of the biggest achievements Modi can boast of given the usual dismissive approach at state level.
The Swachh Bharat Mission has the makings of a national project, primarily because the Prime Minister himself identified with it, seen broom in hand at a police station in Delhi to stress on the importance of his clean India campaign. However, down the line, despite the push and a national-level rating system, the implementation exposed the huge bottlenecks in the way of giving the mission a clear ride. But first, a reality check. In 2012, as many as 59.4 per cent of the rural population did not have access to sanitation facilities. Though in urban areas only 8.8 per cent were deprived of these basic services.
At a recent meeting, the drinking water and sanitation ministry asked officials involved in data entry and management of the information system to follow a few guidelines so that the open defecation free target is achieved.
Financial Chronicle reproduces minutes of a meeting below to show how things are being micro-managed from the top:
“1. Common village master directory will be used by NRDWP (National Rural Drinking Water Programme) and SBM (Swachh Bharat Mission) state programme officials with proper coordination. Addition/ updation will be done in SBM.MIS (Management Information System). However habitation list will be managed by NRDWP programme official. SBM programme will be monitored upto village level only.
2. Aadhaar number to be made mandatory from April 17 onwards while reporting progress or new household as per notification issued except J&K, Assam and Meghalaya.
3. Uploading of photographs in MIS will be essential where toilet is reported from 2017-18. Present GAP where toilet has already been reported but photographs uploading is pending will be completed within one month.
4. For declaration village as ODF (open defecation free) it was explained, 100 per cent coverage is must. If few households are not having own toilets but accessing shared/community toilet then also, it is a must to make entry in MIS using appropriate module.
5. It was also explained to report type of toilet is being built and mode of payment in MIS while reporting progress in MIS.”
According to a survey on Swachhta Status conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) during May-June, 2015 alongside its regular 72nd Round (July 2014-June 2015) survey covering 3,788 villages and 2,907 urban blocks, 13.1 per cent villages in India had community toilets.
Out of the sample villages, at all India level, 1.7 per cent villages were found to be having the community toilets but not using them. 82.1 per cent of all the community toilets available in the villages were being used for defecation or washing purpose. The number of households surveyed was 73,176 in rural India and 41,538 in urban pockets as the survey aimed to give a snapshot of the situation on the availability and accessibility of toilets, solid waste and liquid waste management at sample village, ward and household levels.
In urban areas, cleaning of community/public toilets was being done by the persons employed by the local municipal body in 73.1 per cent of the wards having these toilets. Nearly 37 per cent wards in urban areas reported having proper liquid waste disposal systems or community/public toilets while same level of villages had proper drains for waste water coming out of the rural households. About 44 per cent of villages had no drainage arrangement.
Other findings of the survey include: 56.4 per cent wards reported having a sewer network for disposal of liquid waste; 78.1 per cent wards reported having a system of street cleaning; 64.2 per cent wards were found to have a dumping place for solid waste.
In rural areas, 50.5 per cent of the households kept the garbage at a specified place outside their own house, 24.4 per cent households disposed of the garbage in the nearby agriculture field, 5.5 per cent households kept it at the common place outside the house, 4.4 per cent households disposed of the garbage in the biogas plant or manure pit whereas 15.1 per cent households threw it around the house.
On the issue of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that it has now become a people’s revolution and the government has also enhanced budgetary allocation to achieve the goal of cleanliness in a time-bound manner. He said that sanitation coverage in the country has increased from 42 per cent to over 60 per cent since the NDA came to power. So far, 91 districts and 909 blocks and more than 1,57,000 gram panchayats have been declared Open Defecation Free.
