The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on 2^nd October, 2014 to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage in India and promote access to safe sanitation in India. The SBM aims at achieving an Open Defecation Free (ODF) nation by 2^nd October, 2019,a befitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150^th birth anniversary.The SBM identifies behaviour change as the primary and fundamental tool for the achievement of ODF outcomes.

As a result, rural sanitation coverage has increased significantly from 38.7%at the launch of SBM(G) in 2014 to 96.88%, as on 5^thDecember 2018.

 

Making Swachhata Everyone’s Business

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation,besides its allocated charge of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), convenes and coordinates all activities and initiatives towards the achievement of a Swachh Bharat across sectors. To this end, the Ministry constantly works with all other Union Ministries, the State governments, local institutions, NGOs, faith organizations, media and the other stakeholders. This approach is based on the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call to make Swachhata everyone’s business, and not only that of sanitation departments. A host of special initiatives and projects have been undertaken by various Ministries and are coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in this regard:

Swachhata Pakhwada

Launched in April 2016, Swachhata Pakhwada is inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to engage all Union Ministries and Departments in Swachhata-related activities. The respective fortnightsplace intense focus on the issues and practices of Swachhata. An annual calendar is pre-circulated among the Ministries to help them plan for the Pakhwada activities. Swachhata Pakhwadayearbooks for the years 2016 and 2017 have been released by MDWS in 2018.

NamamiGange

The NamamiGangeProgramme is an initiative of Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR). As an inter-ministerial initiative, making villages on the bank of river Ganga ODF and interventions dealing with solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) are being implemented by MDWS.

All 4470 villages located across 52 districts of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal have been declared ODF with active help of state governments. Now the Ministry has taken up 25 villages on the bank of River Ganga to transform them as Ganga Grams in coordination with NMCG. MDWS has sanctioned Rs. 67 Crore to five Ganga States to take up tree plantation and related preparatory activities on the revenue land in Ganga Bank villages. In 2018, 5 Ganga Gram Swachhata Sammelanswere organized by MDWS in four Ganga States to generate awareness about the Ganga Gram Swachhata concept.

Swachhata Action Plan (SAP)

A first of its kind, inter-ministerial programme for Swachhata, Swachhata Action Plan is led by all Union Ministries in order to ensure annual planning and implementation of sanitation related activities. All Union Ministries/Departments have begun work for its realization in a significant manner with appropriate budget provisions. A separate budget head 96 has been created for this by the Ministry of Finance. During the financial year 2017-18, 74 Ministries/Departments committed funds worth Rs. 18154.82 Cr. for their SAPs. For the year 2018-19, 72 Ministries/Departments have committed Rs. 17077.81 Cr.

Swachh Iconic Places (SIP)

Under the inspiration of Hon’ble Prime Minister, MDWS has undertaken a multi-stakeholder initiative focusing on cleanliness in 100 locations across the country, which are “iconic” due to their heritage, religious and/or cultural significance.

The goal of the initiative is to improve the cleanliness conditions at these locationsto a distinctly higher level. This initiative is in partnership with Ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Tourism and Culture with MDWS as the nodal ministry. So far, in the first three phases, 30 iconic places have been identified. Mostof these SIPs have also received financial and technical support from PSUs and corporates.

Satyagraha Se Swachhagraha campaign(3^rd to 10^th April, 2018)

The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, in coordination with the Government of Bihar, organized a week long campaign“Satyagraha Se Swachhagraha” from 3^rd to 10^th April, 2018, in Bihar, culminating in East Champaran on 10^th April, 2018, where over 20,000 Swachhagrahis came together and to “trigger” Bihar.  The culminating event was addressed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, Hon’ble Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation,Sushri Uma Bharti, and otherUnion and State Ministers, MPs and MLAs attended the event. The Prime Minister have also felicitated the 10 best performingSwachhagrahis in an award giving ceremony.

GOBARdhan scheme

MDWS launched the Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resource dhan or “GOBARdhan” scheme on 30^th April 2018, at Karnal, Haryana. The scheme is aimed at keeping villages clean while increasing the income of farmers and cattle owners by promoting local entrepreneurs to convert cattle dung, and other organic resources, to biogas and organic manure.

Swachh Bharat Summer Internship 2018

MDWS, in association with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Summer Internship (SBSI) 2018’ aimed at engaging college students and NYKS youth with Swachhata work in villages during the summer vacation.

The SBSI engaged lakhs of educated youth across the country, helped develop their skills and orientation for the sanitation sector and amplified the mass awareness aspect of Swachh Bharat Mission. As part of the internship, candidates were required to undertake 100 hours of sanitation related activities including shramdaan, creation of sanitation infrastructure, system building, behaviour change campaigns and other IEC initiatives in and around nearby villages.Over 3.8 lakh students registered for SBSI 2018.

Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS), (15^th September 2018 to 2^nd October 2018)

The Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the second edition of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign on 15^th September 2018 through a video conference interaction with 17 locations, in order to re-intensify the people’s movement in the run up to 2^nd October 2018.  Post the launch, shramdaan activities were undertaken by dignitaries like Shri Amitabh Bachchan, Shri Ratan Tata, Sadguru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritanandmayi, and others. The campaign mobilised people between 15th September and 2nd October 2018 reigniting the “jan-andolan” for sanitation. Union Ministers, MLAs, MPs, iconic celebrities of India, sports stars, inter-faith leaders, corporates, etc., participated and appealed to others to join in this campaign towards swachhata.

Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) (29^th September to 2^nd October 2018)

The Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) brought together Ministers of sanitation and sector specialists from around the world. Approximately 200 delegates from 67 countries attended the Convention, which was inaugurated by Hon’ble President of India on 29^th September 2018 at PravasiBhartiya Kendra, New Delhi. The participating countries shared sanitation success stories and best practices, along with learning from the experience of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The 4-day Convention included a field visit, Plenary sessions, Parallel Technical sessions and Ministerial Dialogues. A parallel exhibition of sanitation innovations was also organized. The MGISC culminated on October 2nd, 2018, with the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth year celebrations, as SBM entered its fifth and final year of implementation. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India addressed the nation on 2^nd October 2018 from the platform of the convention.

Swajal

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation launched Swajal, a community demand driven, decentralized, single village, preferably solar powered, mini PWS programme for the 117 aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog. Gram Panchayats in partnership with rural communities and State sectoral agencies would be involved in the execution of the scheme and also operate and maintain the scheme. The programme would also sustain ODF status.

In order build the capacity of district level officials who are at the cutting edge level of implementation, Training of Trainers (ToTs) programmes were organized by MDWS.  During the period of three months from September to November, ToTprogrammes were completed at five locations in Bhopal, Pune, Ranchi, Raipur and Guwahati, respectively.

An exclusive ToTs module covering major aspects of Swajal was launched in a National Workshop held at Nainital, Uttarakhand, on 30^th November 2018, along with a separate Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) to monitor the programme.

The Hon’ble Vice President laid the foundation for the scheme at Jharkhand on 27.9.2018 and the first scheme was inaugurated at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand on World Toilet Day, 19^th November, 2018.

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