For our nation to realise its full potential, it has to first solve its gargantuan sanitation problem that demands a cohesive effort at the grassroot level
Leading societies and nations across the world have successfully been able to recognise the strong correlation between sanitation, hygiene and national productivity, which ultimately leads to good health and better lives. Nowhere has the implication of this relationship been more relevant than in India today.
It is a known now that the open defecation challenge in India has caused massive public health and socio-economic issues. World Bank estimates suggested that the absence of sanitation facilities costs India approximately six per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the Economic Survey 2017-18, lack of sanitation leads to a death of over 1,00,000 children in India every year. Sanitation and hygiene pose a complex challenge for the multi-layered social and economic maze that the country represents.
For India to realise its potential, it must first solve its gargantuan sanitation challenge through a concerted and cohesive effort that must begin with grassroots development and engagement. Indeed, multiple stakeholders must first focus on rural India, which really presents a fantastic opportunity to establish proof points for replication across the rural-urban divide.
The Economic Survey of 2018 laid out the symbiotic relationship between healthy sanitation and economic growth after evaluating the progress of toilet construction in the last one year. It pegged the decline of open defecation in rural areas to 25 crore in January 2018, from 55 crore in October 2014 — a reduction of 45 per cent.
While this may be a great news vis-Ã -vis the investment on Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), the challenge of sustaining the mission is still daunting and requires a strong supporting infrastructure to achieve the goal. This means strengthening India’s infrastructural capacity vis-Ã -vis sanitation must also include the establishment and maintenance of drainage systems as well as the construction of wastewater and sewage treatment plants. This will in turn lead to an increased demand for trained personnel and, hence, address the issue of industry-relevant skill development of a large number of people for securing better livelihood opportunities. The Swachh Survekshan (national cleanliness survey) 2017 revealed that shortage of sanitation workers has severely affected services in States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
SBM-G guidelines require eight per cent of the allocations to be utilised for Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign. This target of eight per cent has not yet been met, according to the report published by Accountability Initiative in 2018. While this expenditure on IEC is picking pace, it only increased to Rs 229 crore in FY 2017-18, from Rs 124 crore in FY 2016-17.
This opens up a discussion on the psychological perspective of the people. The propensity to switch back to old habits is quite a challenge in any public behaviour change programme. Hence, it builds a case for the Government to develop a robust mechanism so as to ensure that a follow-up behaviour change programme is in place to guarantee that people use, clean and maintain these toilets regularly.
The Government can address the potential challenge of non-operational toilets by ensuring that there is a convenient and guaranteed mechanism to clean the latrine pits. The twin-pit latrine system is a viable option, especially in the rural context, where constructing a toilet is not the best alternative to open defecation due to the high cost involved in construction and maintenance of toilets. If used properly, the twin-pit latrine system has a life-span of over 15-20 years, which can also address the taboo associated with cleaning latrines and the evils of manual scavenging.
If India really wants to witness the true success of the SBM story, we need to show our commitment towards addressing the issues prevalent at the grassroot level. The setting up of a robust sanitation infrastructure, as a solution, will not only sustain the usage of toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission but will also tackle the triumvirate issues of open defecation, solid waste management and manual scavenging.
(The writer is Head of Public Affairs — Asia Pacific, LIXIL)