Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) - Hit or miss?

The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014 is the world's largest sanitation initiative, to achieve the ambitious goal of eliminating open defecation in India. Over the course of time, the program has significantly expanded toilet coverage in urban India, with more than seven million toilets constructed. SBM aims to address WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Health), creating a milestone in India's sanitation efforts.

Importance

• Setting Global standards: The government has unveiled Urban SBM 2.0 in the Budget 2021-22, with a significant financial allocation of over Rs 1.4 lakh crore, aiming to set a global benchmark for safe sanitation facilities, particularly for South Asian nations.

• Hygiene, Behavioural change. Information, education, and communication (IEC)  approach: Swachhagrahis, trained volunteers pivotal in the SBM, undergo intensive training to effectively communicate with rural communities, providing comprehensive information on toilet technology and government incentives. Armed with communication tools, they foster dialogue, address concerns, and encourage participation, driving positive behavioural change towards sanitation practices.

• Example: Dalberg report estimates the government, private sector, and development community spent between Rs 3,500-4,000 crore for IEC activities over five years since the launch of SBM

• Gender Dimensions: The Swachh Bharat Gramin Phase I guidelines in 2017, emphasised women's participation and leadership in sanitation programs from planning to implementation. In line with these guidelines, several states strictly adhered to ensuring 50% representation of women in Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) for optimal gender outcomes.

• Addressing caste issues: Sanitation and waste management in India are associated with the wide prevalence of caste. Historically, the subjugated castes have been forced to carry out sanitation work. The SBM tried to create a narrative that sanitation is everyone’s job.

• Transformation: Before SBM, cities often disposed of faecal sludge in open grounds or water bodies, causing pollution. Through government efforts and advocacy for safe sanitation, the situation has significantly improved.

• Setting goals: The government aims to make all urban local bodies across the country ODF+ and ODF++ certified by 2024-25. Approximately 950 cities have successfully managed faecal waste and earned ODF++ certification till now.

• Politically Successful:No Opposition party or community has raised objections to SBM. While the entire project is governed and monitored by state agencies, the design makes it clear that large capital-intensive technologies are promoted.

Estimation of SBM

Positive

• Improved toilets: A World Bank paper noted a significant rise in access to own or shared improved toilets in rural India during the program, increasing from 38% in 2012 to 90% in 2019-20, with the most substantial increase occurring in the last two years.

• Enhanced Behaviour Change Through Communication: The SBM’s communication strategy, involving Swachagrahis, media engagement with Bollywood stars and large scale events with the Prime Minister successfully promoted sanitation as glamorous and instigated behaviour change. 

• Example: Dalberg's recent study estimated that each rural Indian received SBM messaging approximately 3,000 times in the past five years

• Swachh Survekshan Awards: It ranks cities and urban local bodies based on parameters like waste segregation and garbage disposal, with awards presented by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, utilising citizen feedback and field assessment for evaluation.

• Innovation: Government's comprehensive policies and significant investments have spurred the development of innovative technologies in the sanitation sector in recent years.

• Example: i) Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) developed Xena 6.0, a solar-powered sewage-hole cleaning robot, as part of its Swachh Bharat Mission CSR initiative. With 12 gas detection sensors, seven-day battery life, 15-metre diving capacity, and GPS/GSM tracking, it replaces manual sewerage cleaning.

Negative

• Disputed ODF status:Despite the declaration of all villages in India as open defecation-free (ODF) in 2019  by SBM Gramin portal, data from other government surveys have challenged the ODF status of most states, revealing persistent levels of poor sanitation in many areas.

• Example: Discrepancies arose when comparing NSO survey data from October 2018 with SBM data, revealing that while SBM declared villages in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu 100% open defecation-free, NSO data showed lower access to latrines in these areas.

• NFHS-5 data indicates that none of the surveyed states are open defecation-free, with over 25% of rural households resorting to open defecation.

• Waste Management: The government's reliance on capital-intensive technologies to reduce community involvement in waste management has backfired, with installations failing to meet expectations. This has led to resource constraints and health crises in many towns, despite outsourcing to private players who continue to employ marginalised communities for waste handling.

• On-site sanitation systems (OSS): The rapid expansion of toilet coverage under SBM 1.0 has outpaced sewer projects, leading to 60% of urban toilets being connected to non-sewered systems, also called OSS. Unlike sewer systems OSS requires periodic mechanical emptying and waste transportation from on-site septic tanks.

• Privatisation: City governments are investing in expensive machines and vehicles for waste management, with funds allocated for such initiatives. However, this work is often outsourced to large contractors, leading to the privatisation of public health services. Many workers employed by these contractors, predominantly Dalits, face continued caste discrimination.

• Report on Declining toilet use: The World Bank withdrew three papers amid alleged government questioning of their findings. One paper, "Progress on Sanitation in Rural India: Reconciling Diverse Evidence," suggested a 12 percentage point decline in toilet usage in rural India between 2018-19 and 2020-21 under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Reasons for SBM losing steam

• Shortage of inspectors: In Himachal Pradesh, the Shimla Municipal Corporation, comprising 34 wards, has only five sanitation inspectors, with plans to discontinue the cadre after retirement rather than recruit more. Similarly, across over 50 municipal bodies in the state, there are only 20 sanitation inspectors, leaving some municipalities without any inspectors.

• Lack of focus on behaviour and gender: SBM's emphasis on water and sanitation infrastructure implementation risks diverting attention from the ongoing need for sustained focus on behaviour change and gender inclusion.

• Proxy Representation:The presence of women serving as proxies for their spouses in Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) poses a significant obstacle to achieving authentic gender representation, undermining the effectiveness of these committees in promoting gender equity.

Good examples

• Indore has retained its position as India's cleanest city for the seventh consecutive year in the 2023 Swachh Survekshan awards.

• India’s first standalone Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) was constructed in 2015 at Devanahalli, Karnataka.

• The government of Uttar Pradesh in partnership with National Mission for Clean Ganga has established an FSTP at Chunar town to protect the river Ganga from faecal contamination. 

• The states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have worked on the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for implementing cluster-based FSSM projects covering more than 100 Urban Local Bodies.

• SHGs in Odisha played a vital role in the success of FSSM projects, contributing to inclusive sanitation and empowering women in the field.

• In Jharkhand, trained women masons constructed over 1.5 million toilets in a year, contributing to the state's achievement of its rural ODF target.

• Uttar Pradesh initiates a seven-day cleanliness drive to refurbish 75,000 toilets, aiming to enhance citizen access to clean facilities and bolster rankings in Swachh Survekshan 2023.

Way forward

• Entertainment-education: Effectively promoting safe sanitation practices by incorporating hygiene messages into popular media formats like movies, TV series etc. Collaborating with content creators and social media influencers can amplify the impact of these initiatives.

• Example: The Doordarshan TV series "Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon," promoted by Population Foundation of India (PFI), enhanced awareness by reaching 200 million viewers, with approximately 45% taking action or committing to change.

• Focus on FSSM: While establishing appropriate sewer networks in cities remains the long-term goal of the government, dedicated strategies for  scientific treatment of toilet waste or Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) are crucial at this juncture.

• Leveraging funds: States have leveraged funding from multiple sources, including SBM, AMRUT and the 14th Finance Commission, and have also introduced various policies, legislative frameworks, and guidelines. Non-budgetary sources, including CSR funds and funds from philanthropic organisations, have also provided a significant push in this area.

• Gender-sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation: Establishing a national system to track and measure gender outcomes in SBM is imperative. Drawing from existing gender analysis frameworks, there is an opportunity to enhance the implementation and measurement of sanitation initiatives to effectively bridge the gender equality gap in sanitation.

• Empowering women: This includes prioritising good health through sanitation and nutrition, providing access to water to liberate women from water collection duties, and enabling women to lead the sanitation movement.

• Example:i) Uttara Thakur, a differently-abled panchayat head from Chhattisgarh, led a successful campaign to improve sanitation in her village by motivating residents door-to-door, resulting in the entire village becoming ODF.

• ii)The India Sanitation Coalition has facilitated linking micro-finance with women-run self-help groups for sanitation needs, enabling livelihood-driven interventions to generate income and well-being.