Swachh Bharat tackled stigma attached with toilets head on: Expert

Today, the banks of the iconic Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad will witness a congregation of over 20,000 grassroots swachhata champions — sarpanches and swachhagrahis, coming together on this historic day when India celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma, and we dedicate to him a Swachh Bharat, arguably the most befitting tribute we could pay to his memory on this special day. Millions of these grassroots champions will be watching the live stream of the dedication in their villages. The architect of India’s sanitation revolution, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, will address the gathering and the nation on the occasion, and trigger  memories of that iconic speech from the Red Fort five years earlier, when he kick started  the largest behaviour-change campaign in the world.

India’s journey from being the largest contributor to global open defecation to becoming the world leader in accelerating safe sanitation is inspiring many countries to tackle this challenge that has massive social, health, economic, and environmental impact. When the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) began, India was at just 39 per cent sanitation coverage, and in only five years, over 100 million rural toilets have been built, nearly 600 million people have stopped defecating in the open and all states have declared themselves open defecation free (ODF). This has been possible because it has enjoyed tremendous political leadership, with the PM making it his personal goal. It has also received adequate public financing to ensure a financial incentive for toilet construction to over 90 million socially and economically weak households. It has seen partnerships blossom across government, private and development sectors, but most importantly it has transcended from being a government program to a people’s movement, a janandolan. 

The SBM has been a unique blend of a programme delivering at scale, with speed. The sunset clause given by the PM created a sense of urgency and healthy competition among the states, districts and even villages, the political leadership cascading down all the way to the grassroots level. The programme tackled the stigma associated with toilets head on, starting with the PM making it a prominent part of his first Independence Day speech, to the 600,000 swachhagrahis trained in community approaches to sanitation, triggering behaviour change at panchayat meetings, public gatherings, and even going door to door in their villages. The revolutionary twin-pit toilet, a “self-contained treatment plant”, was promoted throughout the country and prominent people from all walks of life took turns to empty dried toilet pits to end the stigma associated with handing fecal waste. And the program’s intense focus on behaviour change, a demand-first approach has ensured sustainability. People in villages mobilised themselves, constructed toilets and self-monitored its usage in their communities. Six hundred thousand villages declared themselves ODF at gram sabhas. Recent large-scale third-party surveys have shown that over 95 per cent of the people with access to toilets use them regularly. 

However, now that the first milestone has been achieved, the journey continues and the show must go on. We are cognisant of the fact that for behaviour change to stick and to create a new norm takes time and requires continuous reinforcement of the core message. And this is why ODF sustainability is the primary tenant of India’s forward looking Ten Year Sanitation Strategy that was released last week. The strategy highlights how India will transition from ODF to ODF Plus, through continuous behaviour change communication for sustaining the gains of ODF, and ensuring that no one is left behind. The states have been asked to ensure that in case any household may have been left behind, they are supported to construct a toilet on priority. The strategy also focuses on capacity strengthening at all levels, innovative financing models and promotion of solid and liquid waste management, with a key focus on plastic waste management, in all villages in India. The SBM has now set an important precedent for participatory development, where the government initiates and the people complete programs. On this day, in response to the Prime Minister’s call to action on Independence Day this year, millions of people across the country are offering shramdaan for plastic waste collection as a part of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign, in an effort to end plastic pollution and curb the use of single use plastic. All of this collected plastic waste will be safely disposed through use in cement kilns and for road construction. This will set the ball rolling for India’s goal of significantly curbing the use of single use plastic 

over the next few years. The government is also gearing up to achieve piped water supply for all households by 2024 through integrated management of water at the lowest appropriate level, from source sustainability to water supply to water reuse. 

Just as the country managed to do in sanitation, India will aim to make plastic waste management and water supply a janandolan. With the collective power of 1.3 billion people behind such movements, there is no doubt that they will succeed.

The writer is secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti