The current administration had launched the "Swachcha Bharat Mission" with huge fanfare in 2014. 7 years on, here's its impact & policy analysis.
After sweeping the polls, Narendra Modi decided to sweep the streets in 2014! In the limelight of the nation's media, he went on to launch an audacious plan to sanitize India with the aim to create sanitation facilities for all and provide every rural family with a toilet by 2019.
BYE BYE OPEN DEFECATION
Open Defecation was a major issue in India. Millions of slum dwellers had no access to toilets & hence were forced to defecate in the open. However, the "toilet revolution" in India has changed things drastically. The number of open defecators has been reduced from 500 million to 25 million in 6 years! The charts below (sourced from the Times of India) illustrate the sharp fall in this unhygienic practice.
THE TOILET REVOLUTION
While the current regime in New Delhi has made a habit of skewing public data, reputed sources like Statista & the World Bank have verified the government's claims. As of 2019, 96% of rural households have access to a toilet. Since 2014, more than 100 million toilets have been built in the country with the help of heavy government subsidies & proper implimentation.
WASTE MISMANAGED: TRASH WORK SO FAR
Another important aspect of the mission was urban waste management. As per my on the ground analysis, while the collection of waste has increased substantially, much work remains in proper disposal and processing. When Swachh Bharat Mission started, the waste processing had reached a level of 16%. Three years on, it is at 22%. Already, India generates the most municipal waste in the world. The local bodies are ill-equipped to process such huge amounts of waste.
FINAL THOUGHTS & SUGGESTED ROADMAP AHEAD
The Government of India has done a really praiseworthy job in eradicating open defecation & building toilets at such a rapid pace. It shows how a laser-focused approach in policymaking can produce actual results even in a vast country the size of India. However, there is much work left in the area of waste management & stopping manual scavenging, a haunting profession of the downtrodden in India. The government can instantly improve sanitation levels in metro cities if proper waste collection AND processing is done at door to door (which is already done) but more importantly in public places. A good step in this regard would be a heavy investment in waste processing like incineration & landfills in outskirts away from residential areas.
On that note, I sign off.
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