Lok Sabha Question No. 1719 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-05
Subject: Swachh Bharat Mission
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1719 ANSWERED ON 05.12.2024

## SWACHH BHARAT MISSION

## 1719. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the main objectives and goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) including the specific targets set under SBM Phase-II and SBM-Urban;

(b)  the  financial  allocation  and  expenditure  incurred  under  the  said  Mission  within  Tamil  Nadu during the last three years and the current year;

(c)  the  impact  of  the  Mission  on  improving  sanitation,  public  health  and  environment  including reduction in open defecation and improved solid waste management;

(d)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  to  ensure  community  participation  and  behavioural  change  in sanitation practices particularly in rural areas;

(e) whether the Government has faced any challenges or bottlenecks in the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission and if so, the details thereof along with the measures taken/being taken to address them; and

(f) the long-term sustainability plans under the Swachh Bharat Mission to maintain cleanliness and sanitation, post implementation including funding and Local Government involvement?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a)  The  goal  of  Swachh  Bharat  Mission  (Grameen)  [SBM(G)]  Phase-II  is  to  sustain  the  Open Defecation  Free  (ODF)  status  of  villages,  to  cover  all  villages  with  Solid  Waste  Management (SWM) and  Liquid  Waste  Management  (LWM)  arrangements  and  make  them  visually  clean  by 2024-25 to make them ODF Plus Model villages.

Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) on 2 nd  October 2014,  with  the  objective  of  making  the  towns  and  cities  Open  Defecation  Free  (ODF)  and  for scientific processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the urban areas of the country. To carry forward the progress made, SBM - Urban 2.0 was launched on 1st October, 2021 with the vision to achieve 'Garbage Free' status through 100% source segregation, door-to-door collection and scientific processing of all fraction of waste, safe disposal in scientific landfill, remediation of all  legacy  dumpsites  by  converting  them  into  green  zones  and  treatment  of  used  water  including faecal sludge for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) under 1 lakh population to ensure that no untreated water pollutes the ground water or water bodies.

- (b) The year wise Centre share allocated, released and expenditure in Tamil Nadu during last three years and the current year under SBM(G) are given below:

Rs. In crores

| Year    |   Centre share allocation |   Centre share release |   Centre share expenditure* |
|---------|---------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 2021-22 |                     26.29 |                   0    |                      119.84 |
| 2022-23 |                    421.1  |                  78.47 |                      144.43 |
| 2023-24 |                    239.74 |                 239.74 |                      224.93 |
| 2024-25 |                    300    |                  75    |                      122.66 |

Funds under SBM-U are allocated for the Mission period and not on a yearly basis. Details of funds allocated and released to the State of Tamil Nadu is as below:

Rs. In crore

| SBM Phase       |   SBM-U (2014-2021) |   SBM-U 2.0 (2021-2026) |
|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Fund allocation |              1200.5 |                  3296.7 |

Rs. In crore

| Year                     | Fund Release                                               |
|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2021-22                  | 224.91 (22.48 under SBM-U 1.0 and 202.43 under (SBM-U 2.0) |
| 2022-23                  | 384.66                                                     |
| 2023-24                  | 69.05                                                      |
| 2024-25 (as on 02.12.24) | 173.50                                                     |

(c) Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] was launched by the Government on 2nd October, 2014 with the main aim to make the rural area of the country Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2nd October, 2019. All the villages in the country declared themselves ODF by 2nd October, 2019. A study  published  in  2024  in  Nature,  world's  leading  multi-disciplinary  science  journal,  by  leading experts revealed that the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), has contributed significantly to reducing infant  and  under-five  mortality  rates  across  the  country  -  averting  60,000  -  70,000  infant  lives annually.  According  to  a  study  done  by  UNICEF  during  2018-19  in  some  selected  villages, groundwater  sources  were  likely  to  be  12.7  times  less  contaminated  in  the  ODF  villages  as compared to non-ODF villages.

Since  the  launch  of  Swachh  Bharat  Mission  -  Urban  (SBM-U),  4889  ULBs  have  been certified  Open  defecation  Free  (ODF)  and  the  scientific  processing  of  Municipal  Solid  Waste (MSW) in the country has increased from 16 % in 2014 to 80.26%.

- (d)  The  following  steps  have  been  taken/being  taken  to  ensure  community  participation  and behavior change in sanitation practices particularly in rural areas
- A special event to honor Women changemakers of SBM-G at ground level was organized in New Delhi on 25 January 2024. This landmark event commemorated the achievements of Women changemakers  in  the  sanitation  sector  and  provided  an  opportunity  for  insightful exchanges that could influence future policy directions. This event united over 475 women nationwide in a vibrant dialogue with the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen.
- A Fortnight  Cleanliness  campaign  'Swachhata  Hi  Sewa  (SHS-2024)  Campaign  under  the theme Swabhav Swachhata, Sanskaar Swachhata, was organized from 17th September 2024 to  2nd  October  2024,  followed  by  Swachh  Bharat  Diwas  to  mark  the  conclusion  of  the

Swachhata  Hi  Seva  (SHS)  2024  campaign.  During  the  15  days  of  the  "Seva  Pakhwada" (Service Fortnight), more than 27 lakh programs were organized nationwide, with over 28 crore people participating. A total of 30.91 Cr People Participation has been reported during SHS. Celebrity engagements have been over 175 during the period, including late Shri Ratan Tata, Bill Gates and many other celebrities from sports and Bollywood.

- A  series  of  campaigns  has  been  started  on  MyGov  to  popularize  the  message  of  SBMG Phase II at the grassroots level viz, 7 Day Swachhata Challenge, Reel Contest for 10 Years of Swachh Bharat Mission, Article Writing Contest for Swachh Bharat: 10 Year Journey of Change, Hamara Shauchalay Hamara Samman - Photography Contest during World Toilet Day 2024, etc. This will help generate mass awareness of various components of ODF Plus among the community members for facilitating behavior change.
- For strengthening the capacities of ground level functionaries, SBM Academy- an Interactive Voice Response System for training of various stakeholders of SBM (G)-II is rolled out and around 90,000 field functionaries have enrolled till date.

(e)  Capacity building of the implementing agencies and functionaries at various levels with respect to planning and implementation of Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) activities is major issue. Recognizing the need to create a pool of competent human resources at the State and district levels  to  cater  to  Capacity  Building,  technical  and  managerial  support  needs  of  GPs,  DDWS  has started an initiative for creation of Master Trainers (MTs). The MTs further train Sarpanch/Swachhagrahi/Panchayat  Secretaries  on  ODF  plus  and  handhold  GPs  and  villages  to prepare their ODF plus village sanitation plans and implementing them.  Till date a pool of 3,328 Master Trainers (MTs) has been created in 28 States.

Sanitation  is  a  State  subject  under  7th  schedule  of  the  constitution.  The  74th  constitutional amendment mandates the setting up and devolution of powers to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) as the lowest unit of governance in cities and towns. However, in view of the various challenges faced by cities  in  efficient  implementation  of  SBM-U,  various  forms  of  support  is  being  provided  by Government of India, inter-alia:

- Additional Central Assistance (ACA) at varying rates of 25%, 33% and 50% for different population categories of cities for setting up of waste processing facilities such as compost, bio-methanation,  waste-to-energy,  Material  Recovery  Facility  (MRF),  Construction  & Demolition Waste processing, etc to increase the waste processing rates.
- Technical support is being provided by manuals, advisories, designs, protocols covering all aspects of SWM including planning, designing and operation and maintenance.
- The  Mission  also  encourages  adoption  of  locally  innovated,  cost-effective  solutions  and business  models  in  sanitation  and  solid  waste  management  by  small  scale  and  private entrepreneurs  and  start-ups,  through  investments  in  R&D,  technology  challenges,  and facilitation for inclusion in GeM, etc.
- The  'Swachh  Survekshan'  launched  by  Government  has  encouraged  a  spirit  of  healthy competition between cities to compete for achieving improved cleanliness in cities.
- Funds  for  Capacity  Building  (CB)  is  provided  to  State  and  cities  to  create  institutional capacity to effectively implement programmatic interventions to achieve mission objectives.
- (Funds for IEC is also provided to State and cities to ensure awareness creation alongwith large scale citizen outreach to intensify 'Jan Andolan' and institutionalize swachh behavior and related set of actions, towards achieving the vision of Garbage Free cities.
- Further,  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs  (MoHUA)  supplements  the  efforts  of States/UTS  through  the  Swachh  Bharat  Mission-Urban  by  providing  policy  directions, financial and technical support.
- (f)    Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II is currently approved upto 2024-25.