5 years of Swachh Bharat: More toilets but no end to manual scavenging

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ambitious Clean India programme, popularly known as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, on October 2, 2014. How successful has it been? What targets did it miss?

Exactly five years back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) to ramp up the cleanliness levels in the country and make towns and villages free from the nuisance of open defecation and waste. Since then — even its critics admit — the SBM has tasted success as a well-funded, centrally sponsored scheme. 
 

On the one hand, the Centre made an extra effort to mobilise funds. On the other hand, experts feel, the scheme focused excessively on toilet construction and while other areas took a back seat.
 

But most importantly, the scheme has had limited