UPA's sanitation scheme a failure, will review it: govt

The government will review the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme, launched by the previous UPA government in 2012 to eradicate the menace of open defecation in the country, saying it was a "failure".
Ahead of the conference of state ministers in-charge of drinking water and sanitation here tomorrow, the government today said it will take stock of "Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) launched in the first year of the 12th Five Year Plan and the factors behind its failure".
The government also said tomorrow's meeting, convened by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), will evolve a strategy for speedy implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission of 'Swachh Bharat' by 2019.

In 2012, the Total Sanitation Campaign was revamped as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, modifying guidelines and objectives to accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas with renewed strategies.
Criticising the programme envisaged by the then Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh, the ministry, in a release, said, "From over 1.2 crore toilets to be built annually prior to 2011-12, the figure has come down to below 50 lakh per year now."
States have also carried out a Baseline Survey in 2012-13, from which it is clear that out of the 17.19 crore rural households in the country, about 11.11 crore households do not have latrines, the release said.

MWDS pointed out that toilets have not been built for 8.84 crore households. More than two crore families who were given subsidy under the programme do not have functional toilets today, it said.
Modi had personally expressed anguish in his Independence Day speech and vowed to achieve 'Swachh Bharat' by 2019 as a tribute on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by eliminating the unhealthy practice of open defecation.