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Current affairs is an important component of several competitive exams such as the UPSC Civil Services Examination, SSC CGL, Bank PO & PSU entrance tests, etc. Therefore, understanding the terms/concepts that are in the news is critical for aspirants. New initiatives and socio- economic policies or what are known as flagship programmes announced by the Union Government are often asked in competitive examinations.

Thus, to help you deepen your knowledge of the same, we at PaGaLGuY bring you information on such initiatives.

In today’s article, we will look at the highlights of the, ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.

Background:

The Prime Minister launched Swacch Bharat Mission on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, on 2nd October, 2014. The programme that will be implemented by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is aimed to give every Indian citizen access to sanitation facilities including toilets, solid and liquid waste disposal systems, village cleanliness regime and safe and adequate supply of An action plan has been developed to make Swacch Bharat a reality by 2019, on the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The mission aims to triple the growth percentage of toilets from the present 3% to 10% by 2019. The action plan calls for ‘Open Defecation Free’ (ODF) India in five years’ time. This is to be achieved through the three-fold plan that is as follows:

(i) Construction of individual, cluster and community toilets

(ii) Cleanliness through Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM)

(iii) Laying of water pipelines in all villages to enable tap connection in households on demand.

Provisions of the mission:

To begin with, as part of the Swacch Bharat mission, priority would be given to build toilets for girls and boys in all the schools in the country. This is to be completed in matter of one year. With a view to improve the delivery mechanism in rural areas, the following measures have been proposed:

(a) Signing MoU with States, on water and sanitation and also to create a unified structure of state level implementation of both water and sanitation, with interchangeability of funds between water and sanitation, so that idle funds do not lie in the states and targets are not starved of funds.

 (b) Release to states with ‘Just in Time’ concept, to be adopted by the Centre to avoid extra cost of funds of Government of India.

(c) Launch of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) at the Union level to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds and also enable PPP projects to build community toilets, water purification systems etc.

(d) To enable a system of small loans through agencies like NABARD, SIDBI to households interested in the construction of toilets which are eligible or need funds to construct better toilets.

 (e) Creating a block level cadre of sanitation co-ordinators who will act as the main support to Gram Panchayats (GP) in dissemination information and strengthening the delivery capacity.

(f) Annual sanitation survey will be conducted, auto-collect data on the constructed toilets will be done to know actual use of the same and other such observations.

The Swatch Bharat Mission also looks at convergence of and co-operation from other ministries, Central and state schemes, along with corporate and multilateral assistance, in better funding and delivery of the mission with information and education of the public at large.

Proposed main convergence of other Ministries and Schemes: 

Convergence would be explored with MNREGA, Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) for construction of

individual household latrines (IHHLs), Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) for building

community sanitary complexes (CSCs) and with Ministry of Human Resource Development and

Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Convergence of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in order to ensure

simultaneous water supply for IHHLs, schools and anganwadi toilets and CSCs.

. To have the Rajeev Gandhi Panchayat Shashaktikaran Yojna playing a major role in prioritising

sanitation activities at the Gram Panchayat level.

To tap MPLADS/MLALADS funds for GAP funding construction of toilets in schools,

anganwadis, for CSCs and SLWM projects and water supply schemes.

 CSR funds from Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) will also be used. The state water and

sanitation mission along with the district water and sanitation mission will be encouraged to tap

.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will be responsible for providing sanitation

facilities to women and drinking water facilities to all children in the anganwadis.

The most important issue that will need to be addressed to make Swacch Bharat a reality, is to bring

about behavioural change among people. The government has planned out a comprehensive

National Reach-Out Campaign, and initiate door-to-door contact with every rural household in the

country along with other strategies at national, state and district level.

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