Modi government infuses fresh urgency into implementation of Swachh Bharat Rural scheme

NEW DELHI: The government is infusing fresh urgency into implementation of the Swachh Bharat Rural scheme after a detailed review by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month triggered concerns that at its current pace the flagship cleanliness programme could miss its deadline of 2019.

Barely 11 per cent of India's 6.38 lakh villages have turned open defecation free so far, with only 17 of the 683 districts declared ODF 22 months after the programme was initiated. The programme envisages to make India totally ODF by building 12 crore toilets, of which just two crore have been built.

Big states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ruled by non-NDA parties have managed to turn just 1 per cent of their villages ODF while others including Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Karnataka have reported less than 10 per cent coverage. On the other hand, BJP-ruled Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana have shown vast improvement.

Senior government officials told ET that the PM's detailed review in June for "a course correction" has led to the scheme being divided into phases, with 173 districts in 23 states being identified as "low hanging fruits" that can be turned ODF quickly due to their pace of progress and because "committed collectors" are in charge there.

Simultaneously, the Centre will closely monitor 70 districts which are the poorest performers in the country, such as Sultanpur, Agra and Etah in UP and Supaul, Araria and Madhubani in Bihar. Sikkim is the only state to turn totally ODF so far. Kerala is expected to go ODF on November 1 and Gujarat is next in line. The PM's review also left its mark in the recent cabinet reshuffle, with rural development minister Birender Singh making way for Narendra Singh Tomar and the drinking water and sanitation department, which directly oversees the project, getting a new minister of state in Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi.
Former IAS officer and World Bank expert Parameshwaran Iyer, who was brought in as the secretary in March on a two-year contract, has met UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, among others, to push for the toilets project. "I am very confident that we will achieve the target on October 2, 2019. We have got 38 months. About 80 more districts could go ODF by next March," Iyer told ET.

The political support from the CM's, especially of Bihar, UP and Tamil Nadu, is crucial and hence their re-endorsement of the scheme is being sought, another official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. As an incentive for villages to compete with each other in the project, the Centre plans to rank villages from August 15 on an 'Index of Village Swachhta' in terms of their ODF status, an effective solid liquid waste management system and visual cleanliness.