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3 years of Swachh Bharat: 2.5 lakh villages declared open defecation free, but 1.5 lakh claims not verified

IndiaSpend | ByDevanik Saha
Oct 02, 2017 10:32 AM IST

While the government’s data reveal substantial progress over three years, experts pointed out much of these claims were not verified.

As many as 49.62 million more households in India have toilets–rising from 38.7% in 2014 to 69.04% in 2017–and 250,000 of India’s 649,481 villages have been declared free of open defecation, but the claims of 150,000 (63%) of these villages have not been verified and there is no way of knowing if the rest are using the new toilets.

Hastinapur village, 35 km from Gwalior under Morar block, declared as open defecation free.(HT File Photo)
Hastinapur village, 35 km from Gwalior under Morar block, declared as open defecation free.(HT File Photo)

These are the conclusions of an IndiaSpend analysis–of government data–of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014, with the aim to make India free of open defecation by October 2, 2019.

The World Bank has termed the scheme’s implementation as ‘moderately unsatisfactory’. However, a August 2017 survey conducted by an autonomous government body–Swacch Sarvekshan 2017–found that nine in 10 (91.29%) rural households having access to a toilet are using it.

‘Toilets for the dignity of our mothers and sisters’

It was on August 15, 2014, during his Independence Day speech, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), with these words: “Brother and Sisters, we are living in 21st century. Has it ever pained us that our mothers and sisters have to defecate in open? Whether dignity of women is not our collective responsibility? The poor womenfolk of the village wait for the night; until darkness descends, they can’t go out to defecate. What bodily torture they must be feeling, how many diseases that act might engender. Can’t we just make arrangements for toilets for the dignity of our mothers and sisters?”

The mission is divided into two components: Gramin (rural) and urban

Swacch Bharat Mission (Gramin)

— 38.7% of rural households had individual household latrines (IHHL) on October 2, 2014, the day SBM was launched;

— 249,811 villages were open-defecation free (ODF) in 2017, of which 63% (157,935) were verified officially;

— 207 districts are ODF, of which 62% (127) were verified officially.

Villages are considered ‘ by December 2018. He said “A state, which has limited resources and capacity, will then use questionable tactics to achieve their targets,”Kumar said.

Coercion has been reported in Rajasthan, where the poorest people in a village were threatened with withdrawal of public services, and in Jharkhand, where officials confiscated lungis from violators.

From the government, empirical evidence that toilets are being used

The Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017 survey–covering 140,000 households and 700 districts–conducted by the Quality Control of India (QCI), an autonomous government body, is more optimistic than those who have watched the SBM unfold.

“In the criticism of the Swachh Bharat Mission, many have cited anecdotal evidence about toilets being used to store grains, but there is empirical evidence of a dramatic improvement in both coverage and usage of toilets,” wrote Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI, in an op-ed for Indian Express on September 28, 2017. “Three years after the launch of the mission, a behavioural change is discernible, especially in rural India.”

More than nine in 10 (91.29%) rural households with access to a toilet use it, said the QCI survey. The results are similar for urban areas. Of 73 cities that participated in Swachh Survekshan 2016, 54 cities have improved their score in overall municipal solid waste management in 2017.

These findings have shortcomings, according to this August 10, 2017, analysis of the QCI survey by Down To Earth, an environment magazine.

“Though 34.6% villages in India have declared themselves ODF, but factors like availability of water, sensitisation, long-term affordability (based on soil type and groundwater level), cleanliness and maintenance may deter toilet usage,” said the analysis. “The Swachh Survekshan Gramin ignores employed toilet technology, solid and liquid waste management, adaptability and acceptance by villagers in its method of study. QCI surveyed 1.4 lakh rural households from 4,626 villages, a miniscule 0.72% of the total villages in India.”

(Saha is an MA Gender and Development student at Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.)

Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit/FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.

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