Swachch Bharat: The Then and The Now
An initiative by K.A.G.A.S and written by Kartik Vashist.
(K.A.G.A.S is a student group from VIT Bhopal, M.P, India committed to promoting cleanliness among the masses in a small but efficient way)
To think that Swachh Bharat Mission was the only one of its kind would be a mistake. As a matter of fact, the massive campaign against lack of cleanliness and open defecation launched on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary was the revampment of its many predecessors striving to eradicate the sanitary problems endemic to our country. As of 2014, India was the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation (around 530 million), and it would be a blasphemous irony that a nation whose father’s motto went as “When there is both outer and inner cleanliness, it approaches godliness”, was seen in such a bad light through various surveys.
The first-ever initiative to uptake cleanliness as a major goal was way back in 1954. It was followed by the Central Rural Sanitation program in 1986, the Total Sanitation Campaign in 1999, and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan in 2012.
Central Rural Sanitation Programme
The main highlight of this program was that it was the first one that encouraged “community-driven and people-centered” working in the rural and urban areas of the country. Some of its objectives were to “bring improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas”, accelerate sanitation coverage to rural areas to avail toilets to all by 2012, invigorate the Panchayati Raj to promote proper sanitation facilities by creating awareness and rural education. This program saw the implementation of revolving funds (funds that remain affiliated to an organization even after the fiscal year has ended), Rural Sanitary Marts to avail hardware, materials, and designs required for the construction of sanitary facilities, minimized costs of installing individual household latrines, and more.
Total Sanitation Campaign
The Total Sanitation Campaign (or TSC) was only but a restructuring of the Central Rural Sanitation Programme upscaled to larger areas and wider coverage. This campaign was reported to deliver more success, given the fact that nearly 3.5 million rural households out of the 132.8 million (figure as of 2001) got toilets installed by 2007. Nearly 1700 women complexes and 41,000 school toilets were built on a budget of INR 2.92 billion.
Though, an audit released by the Auditor General of India covering the campaign showed evidence that the funds were not used to their fullest and there were some irregularities in the allocation and expenditure. Some state governments submitted reports showing that nearly half of the funds were unaccounted for. Moreover, the social aspect of the campaign was not given much attention, when it was the prime importance of the TSC. Hence, due to many such issues, the campaign lost its traction.
Swachh Bharat: A New Beginning
All the aforementioned initiatives undoubtedly stressed the cleanliness aspect, but they failed to touch upon the health aspects, particularly the health of children. Nearly 81% of rural households had no access to proper sanitation OR healthcare, and failure to cover the latter didn't drive them to success.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (or Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan) was a nationwide campaign that commenced on 2nd October 2014, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, with the aim of improving solid and liquid waste management systems and reduce open defecation. It was expected to cost over US$8.7 million, with grants given from the World Bank and various other international organizations.
How it’s going: So far, the Mission has achieved the target of 100 million households installing toilets in rural areas and 6 million in urban areas. About 4,324 cities and 6,00,000 villages in the country have declared themselves open defecation-free.
How can we help as a society: The community mindset towards this movement seems to be dwindling in recent times, but we should keep in mind the goals can only be achieved collectively, through the efforts of the people, big and small. Nearby small towns can pool their resources to treat gray water waste (waste out of kitchens) and install biogas plants. India should follow in the footsteps of Japan, whose very culture holds cleanliness in high regard. In Japan, cleanliness is regarded as a societal concern, rather than a personal one. Children and teachers mop their schools after work hours, and it would be beneficial for us to learn from them to better instigate the value of cleanliness among the common masses.
South Korea is also a great example of setting benchmarks in maintaining cleanliness. Though the policy is handled by a single ministry, multiple organizations take part in this. As a result, it has a better ranking in various global surveys than India.
On the other hand, stringent rules set by the government as by the Middle East countries can go a long way in making people cautious about littering. Even the pets’ fecal matter is to be disposed of separately. Such policies adopted in the West have drastically curbed the waste generation standards. India should also go for these steps, along with educating people about the hazardous effects of waste generation.
What’s my part in this: As a person, we might feel less about our part in a nationwide campaign, but no helping hand goes in vain. We can act as messengers to the government, using the various apps released by the government to notify the concerned authorities of poor waste management in our nearby areas. We can use social media to raise the eyebrows of both the people and the government. Creating blogs, vlogs, newspaper articles, journals, magazines can maximize our reach and invite community help to promote and implement cleanliness.
Why do we need it at all?: People are limited to the belief that cleanliness has only physical impacts, but that is far from true. Bad waste management can be a dirty sight, and it brings about mood changes, anxiety, depression, a bad societal atmosphere, etc. Environmentally, open waste can emit toxic gases like methane that pollute the atmosphere, as what happens in the various slums in our country, where the poor are exposed to open drains and fall sick or even die due to the same.
Cleanliness has an energizing effect, and it helps us be a better person in every aspect of our lives, be it physical, mental or social.
“To keep the air fresh among words is the secret of verbal cleanliness.” -Dejan Stojanovic
How can I keep myself clean: It is not difficult to keep yourself clean. Washing your hands for as long as 30 seconds, proper use of alcohol sanitizers, disposing of waste in covered dustbins, segregating household waste, teaching the younger family members to clean their own waste, taking into account the total waste generation within a specific time and improving on it, practicing minimalism instead of consumerism are some of the ways you can keep yourself and your close ones clean.
In conclusion, it is of paramount importance that we incorporate cleanliness within our lives, so that we can progress as a person, a family, a society, a community and as a nation.
“The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.” -Marie Kondo
(Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube, mapsofindia.com,centreforpublicimpact.org)
