Why official Swachh Bharat data appear inflated

Data from various govt arms present a conflicting picture of households defecating in the open

On December 3, the Union ministry of drinking water and sanitation informed Parliament that around 51.78 per cent rural households and 12.63 per cent urban households were defecating in the open.
 
The ministry’s data was till November 30, 2015. But five days later the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) brought out a report on the implementation of the total sanitation programme for the period 2009-10 to 2013-14, suggesting the ministry might have “inflated” the number of new toilets in the country. 
 
The CAG report went on to blame the state governments for poor implementation, diversion of funds, defunct toilets and violation of norms behind the poor record of the total sanitation programme.

 

Experts say the claim made by the ministry in Parliament appears unrealistic on many accounts.  The first doubt arises when the ministry’s figures are compared with the findings of the 2001 and 2011 census reports and those by the WHO and UNICEF.
 
For instance, the ministry said 51.78 per cent rural households practised open defecation in the country by the end of November 30, 2015. Whereas the open defecation figures in Census 2011 and 2001 were 69.3 per cent and 78.1, respectively.
 
It means the Union and state governments reduced the scourge by 17.52 percentage points in nearly five years when the similar reduction was a mere 8.8 percentage points in the last census decade. Moreover, a joint report by the UNICEF and WHO says India reduced open defecation by 18 percentage points in two decades from 1990 to 2012.                 

 
Thus either the government actually managed to reduce open defecation at a breakneck speed or its latest figures are grossly exaggerated.
 
The first scenario appears unlikely. The CAG in its report on the total sanitation programme noted that the state governments spent less than half of the total funds available to them in those five years, where the government has claimed to having lowered open defecation by 17.52 percentage points. Except for the current financial year, the spending on construction of toilets remained less than 50 per cent. 
 
A close look at the achievements of the state governments and the funds spent by them reveal more disturbing trends. States like Odisha, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have the highest number of households defecating in open. 

 
Out of these eight four states, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have reduced open defecation by more than 26 percentage points in nearly five years. These states are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which also rules at the Centre. 
 
A benefit of doubt can still be given to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for their large spending, but figures for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh create reasonable doubts. 
 
By the end of 2001 and 2011, Jharkhand had 93.4 and 92.4 per cent rural households with no toilets, respectively. The figure came down to 66.01 per cent by the end of November 2015. This happened when the expenditure of total funds available in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 was 14.65, 10.68, 25.41, 49.3 and 101.29 per cent, respectively.

 
The CAG found that 66.34 per cent toilets in the state were defunct.
 
Chhattisgarh’s experience is similar. By the end of 2001 and 2011, Jharkhand had 94.8 and 85.5 per cent rural households without latrines. The figure declined to 55.63 per cent by the end of November, 2015. The expenditure of total funds available in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 was 63.54, 15.8, 34.61, 20, and 69.81 per cent, respectively.
 
The CAG found 58.87 toilets defunct in this Maoist-infested state.
 
There is another aberration in the data. Open defecation in Jammu and Kashmir is on the rise in all the available data despite the state having spent over 60 per cent of funds.

 
The discrepancies in data mean either the ministry of drinking water and sanitation ostensibly inflated the figures presented to Parliament, akin to what the CAG has pointed in its latest report, or the fault lies with the census department, which has failed to notice the large number of toilets having been built in the states.
 
The CAG in its report accused the ministry of drinking water and sanitation of reporting 326.75 per cent extra toilets in Jharkhand over the census figures. Similarly, the excess figures for Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh stand at 198.78 per cent, 182.29 per cent and 172.40 per cent, respectively.

LESS THAN ENCOURAGING



% of total available funds spent by states



Defunct toilets in vgarious states (% of total)