Lok Sabha Question No. 2991 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-03
Subject: Unhygienic Condition in Villages
Ministry: DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
Asked by: ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY

## Government of India

## Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2991 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03-08-2017

Unhygienic Condition in Villages

## 2991. SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY:

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

the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  UnionGovernment  to  address  the  health relatedissues arising due to the unhygieniccondition of villages all over the countryparticularly in Bihar due to whichspecifically children and women are badlyaffected by cancer of the cervix, underweightnessof children, malaria, dengue etc.?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION (SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) launched on 2 nd October, 2014, with aim to attain  Open  Defecation  Free  India  by  2 nd October,  2019,  by  providing  access  to  toilet facilities  to  all  rural  households.  Provision  of  incentives  for  the  construction  of  Individual household  latrine  (IHHL)  has  been  raised  to  Rs.12000  for  all  Below  Poverty  Line  (BPL) households  and  identifiedAbove  Poverty  Line  (APL)  households.Solid  and  Liquid  Waste Management  (SLWM)  is  one  of  the  integral  component  of  SBM(G).Under  SBM  (G),  the following steps have been taken/being taken:-

- Focus  on  collective  behavior  change  of  Community  entails  triggering  the  entire village, 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.
- The  programme provides  flexibility  to  the  States  in  the  implementation  in  view  of vast socio-economic-cultural diversity of India with promotion to innovations.
- Media campaigns rolled out centrally by the Ministry make people aware about issues arising  out  of  open  defecation.  Apart  from  these,  states  also  run  media  campaigns about health issues arising out of open defecation.
- A  greater  emphasis  on  capacity  building,  especially  in  community  approaches  and programme management. The 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. The key official at the district levelCollector-has been roped in the programme to provide leadership at the district level.
- 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.
- 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.
- Monitoring  and  Evaluation  has  also  been  strengthened.  The  IMIS  has  data  up  to household level, with provision to capture geo-tagged photographs of toilets.

The above mentioned measures aim to address the problem of open defecation resulting  in an ODF society, this would greatly help in solving the health related complications existing across different age groups and sections arising out of unhygienic conditions due to open defecation.