Lok Sabha Question No. 17 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-02
Subject: Drinking Water and Sanitation Facilities
Ministry: DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
Asked by: NALIN KUMAR KATEEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 17 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2017

## Drinking Water and Sanitation Facilities

## 17.   SHRI  NALIN  KUMAR KATEEL:

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

- (a) whether there is a large number of people  who  do  not  have  access  to basic amenities  such  as  sanitation  and  safe drinking water in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  it  is  also  true  that  the country's  approach  to  sanitation  and safe drinking water needs is not yielding desired results;
- (d) if  so,  whether   the   Union Government  taking  any  comprehensive view and   pay    more    attention    to    broader  determinants    of    health    such    as sanitation and safe drinking water; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the steps proposed to be taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

## (SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)

- (a) &  (b)  Under  National  Rural  Drinking  Water  Programme  (NRDWP),  as reported  by States/UTs on the online monitoring portal of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, as on 29.01.2017, out of total rural population of 90.20 Crores, a population of 4.11 Crore is not getting potable drinking water  where  source  is  contaminated  due  to  presence  of  one  or  more chemical contaminants.   The State wise details are at Annexure.

Further, as on 27.1.2017, 40.10% rural households do not have toilets as per the information uploaded by the States/Districts on the Integrated Management Information System of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

- (c) to (e) No Madam. Although, rural drinking water supply is a state subject, this  Ministry  provides  financial  and  technical  assistance  to  the  States  to improve  the  coverage  of  safe  drinking  water  to  rural  population  through Centrally Sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). With this, the situation has improved with passage of time which is evident from the details reported by the State in the Ministry's web portal which is as under:

| Date       | Coverage in terms of fully covered habitations [getting at least 40 liter per capita per day safe drinking water] (in %)   |
|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 01.04.2011 | 70.11%                                                                                                                     |
| 30.01.2017 | 77.22%                                                                                                                     |

Moreover, the improvement is a continuous and dynamic process. To avoid the slippage, the Ministry has advised to focus more on piped water supply through safe perennial surface water source.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM(G) has been launched on 2nd October, 2014, which aims at attaining Swachh Bharat by 2 nd October 2019. Under  this  programme,  the  States  are  provided  technical  and  financial guidance to accelerate rural sanitation coverage, including reduction in Open Defecation  and  promotion  of  solid  and  liquid  waste  management.  At  the launch of SBM (G) on 02-10-2014, the sanitation coverage nationwide was 42.01% which has now increased to 59.90%.

The  focus  of  the  scheme  is  on  behavior  change  and  usage  of  toilets. Sanitation  is  mainly  a  behavioral  issue.  It  involves  change  of  mindset amongst  people  to  stop  open  defecation  and  to  adopt  safe  sanitation practices.  The  challenges pertain  to  capacity  building  of  the  implementing machinery, continuing focus on community involvement and collective (i.e. village  as  a  whole)  behaviour  change,  promoting  flexibility,  so  that  States take a lead and choose approach best suited to them. 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.  This  entails  triggering  the entire  village  into  changing  their  behavior  rather  than  dealing  individually with beneficiaries.
- 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  level-Collector-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 450 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.M.  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

## Annexure Annexure referred to in part (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q.No. 17 for answer

## on 02.02.2017

## Status of quality affected rural population with respect to  drinking water

## Supply as on 30.01.2017

| S. No.   | State              |   Population (in lakhs) |
|----------|--------------------|-------------------------|
| 1        | ANDMAN and NICOBAR |                    0    |
| 2        | ANDHRA PRADESH     |                    4.07 |
| 3        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH  |                    0.14 |
| 4        | ASSAM              |                   33.35 |
| 5        | BIHAR              |                   49.31 |
| 6        | CHHATTISGARH       |                    3.46 |
| 7        | GOA                |                    0    |
| 8        | GUJARAT            |                    0    |
| 9        | HARYANA            |                    5.15 |
| 10       | HIMACHAL PRADESH   |                    0    |
| 11       | JAMMU AND KASHMIR  |                    0.02 |
| 12       | JHARKHAND          |                   21.9  |
| 13       | KARNATAKA          |                   12.83 |
| 14       | KERALA             |                   14.98 |
| 15       | MADHYA PRADESH     |                    0.5  |
| 16       | MAHARASHTRA        |                    7.98 |
| 17       | MANIPUR            |                    0    |
| 18       | MEGHALAYA          |                    0.08 |
| 19       | MIZORAM            |                    0    |
| 20       | NAGALAND           |                    0.22 |
| 21       | ODISHA             |                    7.54 |
| 22       | PUDUCHERRY         |                    0    |
| 23       | PUNJAB             |                   42.95 |
| 24       | RAJASTHAN          |                   82.71 |
| 25       | SIKKIM             |                    0    |
| 26       | TAMIL NADU         |                    1.68 |
| 27       | TELANGANA          |                   21.33 |
| 28       | TRIPURA            |                   16.94 |
| 29       | UTTAR PRADESH      |                    5.24 |
| 30       | UTTARAKHAND        |                    0.87 |
| 31       | WEST BENGAL        |                   78.46 |
| Total    | Total              |                  411.71 |

( Source: IMIS Format C17)