Page 5 - AW MayJune 19

EDITORIAL

India turns its focus on water and sanitation

India, the world’s largest democracy has just concluded its two-month long electoral exercise to elect
543 members of parliament. With the sweeping majority given to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the single
largest party, the stage is set for a second-term to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Expectations are high that the mammoth agenda of infrastructure development that the Modi
government had embarked upon in the previous term will move forward with momentum. For many Indians,
it is a matter of shame that the pervasive international image of India has been one of filthy streets, polluted
rivers, and open defecation. This is in stark contrast to how India was described in ancient times by foreign
travelers and seekers of knowledge who travelled to join the best universities in India.
The sanitation problem became a hydra-headed monster as the population exploded in the years after
Independence and successive governments did little to get a grip on it. It was an answer to many prayers
when Mr Modi declared it his personal mission to end open defecation before October 2, 2019, the 150th
birth anniversary of MK Gandhi. He launched the world’s largest fully-funded sanitation programme ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ in
2014, which aims to transform India through community and people-centred strategies.
Using social media, radio, and public rallies at various venues Mr Modi made an emotional appeal to people to keep their
surroundings clean and to use toilets instead of defecating in the open. Such was the powerful motivation offered by the Prime
Minister that countless people all over India heeded his call. He tagged celebrities on social media seeking their support in spreading
the message of hygiene and sanitation. He tweeted about common folks who went the extra mile to keep India clean, turning
them into instant heroes.
Swachh Bharat Mission has helped to bring entire communities together to work on building toilets and a mindboggling 92.6
million have been built from the time it started in October 2014. Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted in the world before.
About INR 700 billion (US$9.98 billion) has been jointly spent by the central and state governments. Companies are also being
encouraged to use their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds for these projects.
Early in the programme, it was realized that merely building toilets was not enough. Rural people believed that defecating
outdoors was a healthier practice than using cloistered toilets which are easily filled with odour. It has taken many workshops and
interactions to get villagers to spend their money to correctly install and use twin-pit latrines which turn feces into harmless compost.
Earlier programmes often paid lesser attention to changing behaviours.
The Mission has also become the world’s largest behavior change programme employing a variety of teaching methods from
classroom training to creative art, games and street theatre.
With 93% of Indian villages already having achieved Open Defecation Free or ODF status, everything is on track for rural India
to meet its target. There will surely be some fudging of data and slippages in the numbers of those using toilets, however there is
no doubt that India is taking basic action on the ground and that too on an unimaginable scale in order to come out of its rural
sanitation crisis.
In the coming decades, as more Indians will get piped water, there will be an enormous generation of wastewater. It will be
prohibitively expensive to go for the conventional toilet-sewer- treatment plant approach. I am keeping my palms folded in the hope
that India will take the lead in providing a well-regulated and decentralized model of sanitation as well as ecological sanitation.

Sahana Singh,
Editor

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