Knowledge Nugget | Swachh Bharat Mission and its UPSC relevance

Why in the news?

It has been eleven years since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October, 2014. It was one of the first programmes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after taking office in 2014. While announcing the programme, the PM had said: “A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.” It is also aligned with achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6: Access to sanitation and water.

On Gandhi Jayanti, let’s look at one of the prominent schemes of the Government of India, a way to fulfill Gandhi’s dream of a clean and hygienic India and make it a jan andolan.

Key takeaways:

1. The mission was divided into SBM-Gramin for villages, and SBM-Urban for cities, executed by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, respectively. Swachh Bharat Kosh (fund) was also launched “to facilitate channelisation of philanthropic contributions and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds” towards this cause.

2. The main goal of SBM was to make India “Open defecation-free” (ODF) by October 2, 2019, for which crores of household and community toilets had to be constructed. According to the ministry, “A city/ ward can be notified/ declared as an ODF city/ ODF ward if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating in the open.”

3. The aim was to equip all households with individual toilets, ensure communities have cluster toilets, and that school and anganwadi toilets have waste management systems. Solid waste includes organic and inorganic materials (kitchen waste, plastics, metals, etc.), while liquid waste management deals with wastewater that is no longer fit for human consumption.

4. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) (SBM-U) had three major objectives to be achieved by 2nd October 2019, in all statutory towns.

(a) achieving 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) status,

(b) ensuring 100% scientific Solid Waste Management (SWM),

(c) behavior change through ‘Jan Andolan’

5. In 2021, after the mission had completed five years, the government, to sustain the achievements of SBM-U, launched SBM-Urban 2.0, with a focus on garbage-free cities, faecal sludge, plastic waste, capacity building, and greywater management. The mission is being extended for a period of 5 (five) years, from 1st October 2021 to 1st October 2026.

6. It is committed to making all cities ‘Garbage Free’ under SBM-Urban 2.0 in order to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030. It is being implemented by MoHUA through States/ UTs in all statutory towns.

7. Having achieved the outcome of SBM-Grameen, the Ministry of Jal Shakti launched phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. It is being implemented in mission mode from 2020-21 to 2025-26.

8. According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the SBM-G phase II is launched “to achieve Sampoorn Swachhata, i.e., sustaining the ODF status and managing solid and liquid waste by 2024-25 and transforming all the villages from ODF to ODF Plus Mode.”

9. The main objectives of SBM(G) Phase II are:

(a) ODF-Sustainability: Ensuring that villages maintain their ODF status.

(b) Solid Waste Management: Establishing waste segregation and composting systems.

(c) Liquid Waste Management: Setting up soak pits and treatment for greywater and stormwater.

(d) Visual Cleanliness: Enhancing the overall cleanliness and hygiene of rural areas.

Impact of Swachh Bharat Mission

1. According to a study published in Nature journal on the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), access to toilets and better sanitation services under the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission may have averted around 60,000 to 70,000 infant deaths annually between 2014 and 2020.

2. The study said that in 2003, the average toilet coverage in a district was below 40 per cent and by 2020, this went up to over 60 per cent. Establishing an inverse relation between access to toilets and infant mortality, the study stated that even districts with 30 per cent toilet coverage had managed to reduce the infant mortality rate by a substantial number.

3. In 2012, the infant deaths reported was 40 per 1,000 live births per district which fell to about 33 in 2016 and further dropped below 30 by 2019. Likewise, the deaths of children under the age of five in 2012 was about 44 per 1,000 live births per district. It dropped to below 40 in 2014, 35 in 2016 and in 2019, it was below 30.

4. One of the economic benefits — a study conducted by UNICEF estimated that achievement of ODF status in a village resulted in each of its households saving approximately Rs 50,000 annually on account of avoided medical fees, time savings, etc.

5. The key lessons from SBM as enshrined in four Ps — political leadership, public financing, partnerships and people’s participation — are now globally recognised as vital for the success of most large, transformational developmental programmes. They are being mimicked by other national campaigns and has influenced equivalent policies in countries such as Nigeria, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Gandhi – a torchbearer for cleanliness

Gandhi’s concern over public and private sanitation was part of his satyagraha campaign since the days he spent in South Africa. (File photo)

1. Gandhi’s concern for public and private sanitation was part of his satyagraha campaign since the days he spent in South Africa. For Gandhi, the drive for cleanliness in society was an integral part of the process in bringing about a casteless and free society.

2. “Everyone is his own scavenger,” said Gandhi, reiterating the fact that the need for making cleanliness a personal responsibility was key to removing untouchability. Sanitation was also considered a necessity by Gandhi in order to remove the label attached to Indians being in need for the West’s civilising mission.

Sanitation is more important than independence.

Mahatma Gandhi

3. The drive for cleanliness in the Gandhian movement grew stronger in the period after the non-cooperation struggle of the early 1920s. By this time, Gandhi’s call for sanitation was firmly embedded in two separate movements- the struggle for independence and the need to remove untouchability.

4. Pointing out at the close connection between cleanliness and swaraj, Gandhi asked Indians to learn from the West the art of municipal sanitation and modify it to suit our own specific needs. He said, “Swaraj can only be had by clean, brave people.”

5. He had also written that: “A sense of national or social sanitation is not a virtue among us. We may take a kind of a bath, but we do not mind dirtying the well or the tank or river by whose side or in which we perform ablutions. I regard this defect as a great vice which is responsible for the disgraceful state of our villages and the sacred banks of the sacred rivers and for diseases that spring from insanitation.”

 Post Read Question

Consider the following statements about Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM):

1. It is a centrally sponsored scheme launched on 2nd October 2014.

2. The main goal of SBM-Urban is to make India Open defecation-free by October 2, 2026.

3. SBM-U is being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through States/ UTs in all statutory towns.

Which of the statements mentioned above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, and 3

(Sources: 10 years of Swachh Bharat Mission: Its aims and status on key targets, How Swachh Bharat Mission advanced progress on safety and dignity, health and economy, Swachh Bharat Mission averted 60,000-70,000 infant deaths annually: Study, swachhbharatmission, sbmurban.org )

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