NEW DELHI: The government on Friday firmly rejected the claims of United Nations Special Rapporteur Leo Heller, who alleged that India's Swachh Bharat Mission and the rural and urban drinking water programmes have failed to conform to the UN's Human Rights Criteria and Principles.
Reproaching Heller for his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi, wherein he said "Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi's glasses) with the human rights lens", the government said the father of the nation was not only the foremost proponent of human rights but also paid unique and special focus to sanitation in his lifetime.
"Gandhiji's glasses, the unique logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission, epitomise core human rights principles," the Center said in a press release.
Further, it said that the UNSR's report made "sweeping judgements which are either factually incorrect, based on incomplete information, or grossly misrepresent the drinking water and sanitation situation on the ground."
The UNSR on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation undertook a visit to India from October 27 to November 10 this year. Admitting that "two weeks is not sufficient to fully understand all aspects of the situation of human rights to water and sanitation in a country as big, diverse and complex in India", Heller then proceeded to make "unsubstantiated allegation" that human rights principles have not been properly addressed in India's water and sanitation programmes.
Referring to the incomplete understanding of water and sanitation in India, the statement says that the UNSR has failed to acknowledge the paradigm shift in national sanitation policy which has moved from construction of toilets to open defecation free communities. According to official data, over 25 crore people have got sanitation facilities in three years. Over 2.7 lakh villages, 227 districts and 6 states are open defecation free (ODF).
77 per cent of the habitations in rural areas have access to at least 40 Litres Per Capita per Day (LPCD) of water supply and more than 90 per cent people in urban areas have access to safe drinking water, the statement cited.
It added that the Swachh Bharat Mission emphasises behaviour change through community mobilization to ensure toilets are acceptable to all sections of society and privacy for women. The initiative also ensures access to sanitation for specially abled, transgenders, poor and backward classes.
The government also challenged the veracity of certain statements in the UNSR report, which are based on information from third parties and a private organisation, and provided official data which reflects the ground reality.
"The Government has the highest commitment to human rights in general and particularly in the water supply and sanitation sectors and strongly rejects the claims in the UNSR's report and press statements," it said.
Reproaching Heller for his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi, wherein he said "Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi's glasses) with the human rights lens", the government said the father of the nation was not only the foremost proponent of human rights but also paid unique and special focus to sanitation in his lifetime.
"Gandhiji's glasses, the unique logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission, epitomise core human rights principles," the Center said in a press release.
Further, it said that the UNSR's report made "sweeping judgements which are either factually incorrect, based on incomplete information, or grossly misrepresent the drinking water and sanitation situation on the ground."
The UNSR on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation undertook a visit to India from October 27 to November 10 this year. Admitting that "two weeks is not sufficient to fully understand all aspects of the situation of human rights to water and sanitation in a country as big, diverse and complex in India", Heller then proceeded to make "unsubstantiated allegation" that human rights principles have not been properly addressed in India's water and sanitation programmes.
Referring to the incomplete understanding of water and sanitation in India, the statement says that the UNSR has failed to acknowledge the paradigm shift in national sanitation policy which has moved from construction of toilets to open defecation free communities. According to official data, over 25 crore people have got sanitation facilities in three years. Over 2.7 lakh villages, 227 districts and 6 states are open defecation free (ODF).
77 per cent of the habitations in rural areas have access to at least 40 Litres Per Capita per Day (LPCD) of water supply and more than 90 per cent people in urban areas have access to safe drinking water, the statement cited.
It added that the Swachh Bharat Mission emphasises behaviour change through community mobilization to ensure toilets are acceptable to all sections of society and privacy for women. The initiative also ensures access to sanitation for specially abled, transgenders, poor and backward classes.
The government also challenged the veracity of certain statements in the UNSR report, which are based on information from third parties and a private organisation, and provided official data which reflects the ground reality.
"The Government has the highest commitment to human rights in general and particularly in the water supply and sanitation sectors and strongly rejects the claims in the UNSR's report and press statements," it said.
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