As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Sanitation is more important than Political Independence”, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the ambitious target of building India as an ‘open defecation free nation by 2 October 2019, on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary. Consequently as named the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the campaign was launched with much fanfare. This was much required as India faces almost massive challenges on the sanitation ground. The country still has more than 50% of the nation’s population continues to defecate in the open.
In spite of critics tagging the campaign ‘old wine in a new bottle’ and comparing it with the previous government’s Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), one thing cannot be denied: that it has being turned into a mass phenomenon for all. It is really a praiseworthy task that our PM is doing, to aware people about cleanliness. But what has been the outcome of this programme, has there been any actual transformation ? Railway stations are still at their dirtiest, people still piss on roadsides and the inherent splitters still do not feel ashamed of their activities.
The challenge of sanitation is now being handled d by three ministries- Rural sanitation is entrusted to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), while urban areas comes under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), and school sanitation is vested to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. This division of labour is done with an expectation that this will help in accomplishing the enormous ambition of making India open defecation free by 2019. But in reality, there is insufficient coordination among the ministries and it is uncertain yet on how they will synchronise together to rise above their overlapping sanitation crisis.
For making India Swachh, we need both the infrastructural facility and a changed attitude towards cleanliness. We essentially require a right waste management system in order to have a clean country. Sewage treatment plants for example are just stepping stones to a greener and environment friendly development. Sorting out biodegradable and non-biodegradable trashes and setting up recycling plants are just the textbook methods which encourage on appropriate waste disposal and cleaner environs. Setting up a dustbin at a public place won’t benefit unless you know what to do with the waste inside that dustbin. What we are doing at present is just dumping the waste of that smaller dustbin into a larger dustbin.
Another important issue in India is open defecation. We live in a country where number of people who have a cell phone is higher than the number who has access to a toilet. As per Census 2011, 113 million households do not have toilets, which means they still defecate in the open being exposed to healthcare challenges, harassment and shame. Lack of separate toilet facility is another reason of girls dropping out from schools in rural. According The Economic Times, a total of 31.83 lakh toilets have been built between April 2014 and January 2015. While that may seem like an impressive number, but this is just 25.4% of the target for 2014-15. The programme entails an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years to construct 12 crore toilets in India.
Constructing toilets without people using it is not going to benefit. Equal emphasis should be given on behavioural change, for which expansive awareness generation programmes must be carry out. But area of concern is the very limited funds directed for behaviour change. It is still very vague whether the movement has managed to change people’s attitudes and approach towards sanitation. In India, the main challenge is make people use toilets once build, but only a scanty 8% of resources have been allocated towards this.
We really need to work together to change the deep-rooted individual and social attitudes that encourage to open defecation and other unhygienic practices. Sanitation must be seen as a basic fundamental right of life and therefore constructing sanitation amenities at work, education and other public places is utmost necessary. This involves spending in the right place at the right time and in the most appropriate manner. Than only it is possible to truly celebrate the success stories such as Nadia district from West Bengal becoming the first district in India to achieve open defecation free eminence.
