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Swachh Bharat Mission – Progress and Problems

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January 11, 2017

What is SBM?

  • On 2 October 2014, Prime Minister announced the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), which targets eradicating open defecation in India by 2019.
  • SBM is a much-needed endeavour to improve sanitation standards in India.
  • Globally, India had a worse record than even poorer regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti, Ghana, etc. in terms of open defecation.

What has been the progress?

  • Between October 2014 and February 2016, the share of rural households defecating in the open went down by just over seven percentage points.
  • The figure was still above the halfway mark.
  • Both the extent of open defecation and their progress in eradicating it varies greatly across states.

What are the problems?

  • Toilet Coverage - The states which recorded better toilet coverage also had a lower share of households contributing to open defecation.
  • Sikkim, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, which had higher individual toilet coverage, fared best in terms of rural sanitation.
  • Odisha, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Telangana with less coverage were among the laggards.
  • Usage - 6% of households in India reported open defecation despite having toilets.
  • Access to Water -  It is important in determining toilet use. 63% of the households that defecated in the open reported having toilets without running water.
  • States with poor access to water in toilets have a higher share of households contributing to open defecation. e.g Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar
  • Budget - The government set aside Rs 9,000 crore for rural sanitation in the 2016-17 Union budget but this has been accompanied by declining funds for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.
  • This is unlikely to help eradicate open defecation. 
  • Caste-based discrimination in the provision of water also seems to be responsible for low toilet usage.
  • Out of the 102 hand-pumps constructed in village in Rajasthan in the last 10 years, only two could be located in areas inhabited by lower-caste people.
  • With a regular toilet requiring at least 20-30 litres of water in a day for smooth functioning, even obtaining a few litres every day is a struggle in these areas.
  • Maintenance of toilets - It is critical to ensure usage.

What should be done?

  • It is essential to meet all the above shortcomings to achieve Swacch Bharat.
  • But it is to be remembered that eradicating open defecation would require much more than just meeting toilet construction targets.
  • Spending on toilet construction has steadily grown but the spending on the expenditure for behaviour change campaign activities is much less. In October, it constituted just 0.8% of the spending on construction of toilets.
  • Even that is limited to big billboards and advertisements.
  • But it has more to do with person to person engagement.
  • It is to be noted that the demand for toilets that will eliminate open defecation.
  • Therefore demand for toilets has to be created at local level and then people need to be made aware of sanitation.

 

Category: Mains | GS – II | Social Justice

Source: Livemint

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