Relying on schemes like Swachh Bharat alone won't meet India's social goals

How smaller, decentralised solutions can help India meet its social-development goals

Relying on large, centralised programmes such as Swachh Bharat Mission and National Rural Drinking Water Programme to provide universal access to basic necessities would require 30-40% more government spending than current levels over the next 15 years, an analysis by Dalberg, a global strategy and policy advisory firm focused on social impact, shows.

Instead, Dalberg suggests, decentralised solutions can supplement these efforts and plug the gaps, often at a fraction of the expense and time that conventional methods entail.

Supplementing conventional efforts with smaller, decentralised solutions is imperative when viewed in the light of the fact that India needs to spend Rs