Swacch Bharat must switch to a broader view of what will make India truly swacch

By Naina Lal Kidwai

Nearly 17 months have passed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014. Riding on this momentum, the nation has seen an unprecedented discourse and policy on sanitation from vast media campaigns to the Swachh Bharat cess on services.
The recent announcement of Rs 11,300 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in the 2016-17 budget reiterates this. While the high political attention to this neglected yet critical public health endeavour is welcome, SBM has so far still seemingly focussed on the number of toilets to be constructed.

There is an urgent need to build greater momentum around a broader understanding of what will make India truly Swachh. Simple infrastructure creation will not single-handedly propel us towards the government's target to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019. Construction of toilets will and must continue. However, we have to move forward, away from merely the provision of toilets to toilets that are used, maintained and where all human waste is safely treated and disposed.

In this phase, which we can call “sanitation plus“ accruing the real benefits of ensuring universal access to safe sanitation we need to keep sight of the entire sanitation value chain to ensure sustainability of this massive national effort. As the India Sanitation Coalition's philosophy embodies, there is a dire need to shift the focus from just build to Build, Use, Maintain and Treat (BUMT).

Indeed, the government has clearly emphasised the need to focus on behaviour change and the usage of toilets. Recently issued guidelines by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation define the criteria for declaring a village as `Open Defecation Free' to include not just access to a toilet, but also usage of toilet and safe technology . What is needed from all supporters of this national programme therefore, is a shared understanding and commitment to provision for the required concomitant infrastructure (water, safe disposal, operations and maintenance funds) to ensure that increased demand is met with the necessary attention to all aspects around the sanitation continuum.

In order to do this effectively, all conversation and efforts around sanitation need to be viewed through a BUMT lens. Failing to do so will risk the current spends and structures built lapsing into disuse by communities that haven't been won over to consistent and universal use; leading to continued rise in diseases and deaths caused by exposure to untreated human waste in the environment. Without adequate and urgent attention to fecal sludge treatment, public health benefits that can accrue with universal access to safe sanitation will continue to elude us.

The latest Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has estimated that over 73% of all fecal sludge generated in the country is left untreated in the environment in India. While the announcement of a vast Rs 11,300 crore for SBM is commendable, the lower budgetary allocation of just Rs 2,300 crore to the urban leg of the programme vis-à-vis the Rs 9,000 crore to the rural leg continues to underplay the need for urgent attention to the issue of fecal sludge management. We now have a historic opportunity to address the problem of sanitation in its entirety and use the momentum generated by SBM to realise the ambition of sustainable sanitation.

Moving ahead, we need to shift away from sporadic media coverage of toilet numbers. CPCB statistics are alarming but conversations around sanitation continue to happen in silos. We need to bring to the forefront issues such as the undervaluing of operations and maintenance and sludge treatment projects whilst simultaneously building toilets.

We need to think long term, learning from the experiences of our neighbours like Bangladesh, to address crosscutting issues such as how to keep our water table protected as the uptake of on-site sanitation intensifies across India. It is critical that we integrate the fragmented elements of the Indian sanitation space, both in terms of discussions and players.

There has been significant discussion around engaging corporate India through SBM. Many companies have come forward and contributed, particularly through infrastructure creation. However, in order to ensure sustained corporate engagement, we must provide an enabling framework to create a business model for sanitation that is economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound.

This includes harnessing the expertise of corporates across the value chain of BUMT from skilling to innovative technologies, instead of confining them to onetime contributions of building toilets. A noteworthy example is the recent move made by the government to include sanitation in the Priority Sector Lending fold. By creating an enabling framework specific to their expertise, the government has successfully onboarded financial institutions in a sustainable manner.

At the India Sanitation Coalition, we have come across multiple players with varied strengths. Each of these players, from marketing agencies to development practitioners, are repositories of knowledge, expertise and practical insights, willing and able to engage in the Indian sanitation space. To work towards total and sustainable sanitation, we must keep the focus on BUMT. And to maximise collective contributions, we must tap into the tremendous potential in creating entry points for these multiple stakeholders across the entire value chain.

(The writer is a banker and former President, FICCI)