Reported By:
| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Dec 01, 2015, 07:46 AM IST
A survey by the National Sample Survey Office reportedly revealing that nearly 50 per cent of the toilets built under the Swachh Bharat Mission are lying unused, reveals the need to recalibrate strategies. A year after the scheme was launched, the Centre claims to have constructed one crore toilets, which, no doubt, is a commendable achievement. But it is evident from the NSSO survey conducted between April and July that the government’s efforts must extend beyond the timely fund disbursal. Many of the toilets are being used to stock foodgrains, something that was noticed in earlier sanitation campaigns too. Field reports also indicate that many villages were classified as open defecation free on the basis of approvals, even before funds for toilet construction actually reached the beneficiaries. This hurry to achieve targets does not reflect a long-term strategy essential for removing open defecation.
Despite open defecation having been identified as the cause of many infectious diseases and childhood stunting, many people in rural India live under the perception that open defecation is a preferable and healthier alternative to defecating in dirty and claustrophobic toilet spaces. Maintenance is also an issue, with governments rarely exhibiting the same enthusiasm to disburse funds for repairing broken toilets compared to toilet construction. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised from the Red Fort ramparts in 2014 on the occasion of Independence Day that all schools would have separate toilets for boys and girls within a year, the target could not be achieved despite a last-minute push that saw senior bureaucrats in Delhi being pushed to the states to oversee the progress of the scheme. Now a study in various districts of Bihar has revealed that only 19 per cent of schools have toilets and 28 per cent hand pumps.
Water supply is another critical ingredient that appears to have been ignored in the toilet construction drive. Without adequate water availability there is a disincentive to use toilets within the homestead. Toilets are bound to become dirty without a steady supply of water to keep them clean. However, with per capita water availability falling, the feasibility of large-scale pipe water supply schemes to rural areas looks unlikely. Application of flawed toilet construction technology has been yet another consequence of rushing the project through. Rather than two-pit latrines, people have opted for constructing single pits, which are deeper and wider, believing that a larger pit will take longer to fill up. However, this approach has not facilitated the decomposition of faecal wastes.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’s success will depend on the government’s sustained engagement with the beneficiaries. Those working at the grass roots like panchayat members, panchayat secretaries and block development officers, and activists, require political and administrative encouragement and recognition. With several government schemes vying for attention at the grass-roots level, these lower level functionaries are aware that government tends to lose interest in many welfare schemes it initially starts with enthusiasm.
For example, until a few years ago the MGNREGA was highly touted as an exemplary scheme, but as wage payments began to get delayed, mandatory minimum man-hours of work were also reduced. With the metric of toilets constructed proving inadequate to gauge the effect on open defecation, the focus must shift to actual toilet usage as the NSSO survey tells us. For the Centre, which set out on this ambitious and daunting task, there is no need to be defensive or embarrassed by the poor outcomes. It is more important to make the course corrections that ensure a long-term strategy to eliminate open defecation.
