Govt approves WB-funded proj of Swachh Bharat for rural areas

The government today approved the USD 1,500 million World Bank-funded project of Swachh Bharat Mission to provide performance-based incentive to various states for carrying out cleaniness drive in rural areas.
"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the USD 1,500 million project, supported by the World Bank, to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)," an official statement said.
"The project basically provides for incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM(G)... The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through the World Bank credit," it said.
Performance will be measured against the states' ability to reduce open defecation, sustaining their open defecation-free status and improving solid and liquid waste management in rural areas.

"The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of states towards the SBM(G) outcomes," the statement said.
The project will also put in place a "robust and credible independent verification system" for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation, it said.
Out of the total World Bank credit of USD 1,500 million, USD 1,475 million is for providing incentive grant to the states and 25 million dollars for providing programme management and capacity support to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.