Lok Sabha Question No. 1390 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-09
Subject: Sanitation Standard
Ministry: DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
Asked by: PRATHAP SIMHA

## Government of India Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1390 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09-03-2017

## Sanitation Standard

## 1390. SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

Will the Minister of DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION be pleased to state :

- (a) the standards of sanitation prescribed under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) in rural areas of the country;
- (b) whether there has been considerable change in awareness level towards sanitation in rural areas of the country after the launch of SBM-G;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the  challenges  in  implementation  of  SBM-G  in  rural  areas  of  the  country  and  the measures taken or being taken to address these challenges?

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION

## ANSWER (SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)

- (a) The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G) entails freedom from open defecation and management of solid and liquid waste. Open Defecation Free (ODF) has been defined as:

'ODF is the termination of faecal-oral transmission, defined by:

- 1) no visible faeces found in the environment/village; and
2. every household as well as public/community institutions using safe technology option
- 2) for disposal of faeces
4. (Tip: Safe technology option means no contamination of surface soil, ground water or surface water; excreta inaccessible to flies and animals; and freedom from odour and unsightly condition)'

The  SBM-G  guidelines  also  provide  setting  up  systems  for  scientific  disposal  of  waste. Technological options for Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) have been provided to the States. The  States may  identify  socially  acceptable  and  environmentally  safe technologies  as  suitable  to  them.  An  Index  of  Village  Swachhta  has  also  been  developed. This includes factors like access to safe toilets and also whether there is visible cleanliness around  households  and  public  places.  This  is  measured  by  determining  the  percentage  of households having  access  to  safe  toilets,  percentage  of  households  having  no  litter  around them, percentage of houses having no stagnant waste water around them and percentage of public places having no litter around them. The public places include schools, anganwadis, hospitals, etc. The Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of SBM (G) enables villages to determine their own Village Swachhta Index in a Gram Sabha and take steps to improve their cleanliness level.

- (b) Yes, Sir.
- (c) Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) has taken the form of people's movement. The focus of the programme has been on behaviour change and community engagement. Because of this, women, children, youth, civil society organizations and all sections of the society are joining the sanitation movement and making their villages clean and free from open defecation. The progress in rural sanitation has seen a spurt since the launch of SBM(G). 101 Districts, 1,006 Blocks, 77,529 GPs and 1,68,471 Villages have declared themselves as Open Defecation Free

(ODF) as on 03.03.2017. The sanitation coverage has increased from 42.01% in 2.10.2014 to 61.31% as on 03.03.2017.

(d) Sanitation is mainly  a behavioral issue. It involves change of mindset of people to stop open  defecation  and  to  adopt  safe  sanitation  practices.  Since  this  requires  engagement  of community and skill in facilitation, the process takes some time. The challenges pertain to capacity building of the implementing machinery, continuing focus on community involvement and bring about collective (i.e. village as a whole) behaviour change, promoting technological innovations, streamlining financial and programme management and converging other development schemes with sanitation to promote sustainability. These are some of the challenges faced.

In order to address the above challenges, a number of measures have been taken/being taken. These include:

- Focus  on  behavior  change:  Community  based  collective  behavior  change  has  been mentioned  as  the  preferred  approach,  although  the  States  are  free  to  choose  the approach best suited to them. Focus is also on creation of complete open defecation free (ODF) villages, rather than only on construction of individual toilets. This entails triggering the entire village into changing their behavior.
- The  programme  provides  flexibility  to  the  States  in  the  implementation.  This  is essential, given the vast socio-economic-cultural diversity of India, and also from the point of view of promoting innovations.
- There is a greater emphasis on capacity building, especially in community approaches and  programme  management.  Lack  of  adequate  capacities  is  a  major  challenge  in scaling up the programme. Therefore, various initiatives are being taken to reach out to  all  the  stakeholders.  From  the  Government  of  India  side,  the  States  and  select organizations  (called  Key  Resource  Centres)  are  being  trained.  These  in  turn  are, carrying  out  trainings  at  the  sub-State  level.  The  key  official  at  the  district  levelCollector-has been roped in the programme to provide leadership at the district level. They are being exposed to best practices, both through workshops and exposure visits. More  than  530  Collectors  from  across  the  country  have  been  trained.  In  order  to provide  exposure  to  officers  at  their  entry  level  itself,  a  training  module  has  been developed for  LBSNAA,  Mussoorie.  The IAS  and  other Group A  probationers  are being  given  training  for  better  implementation  of  SBM(G),  including  'triggering' behavior change in communities.
- The programme is being run as a janandolan with cooperation of all sections of the society including the NGOs, Corporates, youth etc. The Panchayats are being actively involved.
- There is an emphasis on streamlining administrative and financial procedures, both to cut down on time, as well as to increase accountability.
- Innovations in technology is being promoted at the National and State levels. There is a National Committee under Prof. R.A.Mashelkar that examines all new technologies from the point of view of safety and feasibility.
- Sanitation is being prioritized amongst the overall development agenda. The Government  has  taken  a  decision  to  prioritise  all  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  in ODF  villages.    Various  other  development  schemes  are  being  converged  with  the sanitation outcomes.
- Monitoring  and  Evaluation  has  also  been  strengthened.  The  IMIS  has  data  up  to household  level,  with  provision  to  capture  geo-tagged  photographs  of  toilets.  A Swachhta  App  has  been  developed  that  provides  online  information  on  sanitation status  up  to  household  level.  The  citizens  can  also  do  ranking  of  swachhta  on  the Swachh App.
- Zila Swachhata Preraks are being engaged for support of districts.
- Web portal of Swachh Sangrah has been developed for knowledge sharing.