MAHIMA VASHISHT, VINEET JAIN AND KARISHMA KADYAN
Secretary’s Office, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India
‘The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity.’
– Benjamin Disraeli
DISRAELI WAS RIGHT. Major transformation calls for strong agents of change, and the youth of a nation have the potential to become those agents. The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has been no different. The youth in the system have played a significant part in making SBM-Grameen (SBM-G) the jan andolan it is today. Young girls and boys not only demanded safe sanitation facilities for themselves in the villages and districts of rural India, but led the sanitation movement at all levels – convincing their peers and elders to build and use toilets, manage their solid and liquid resources properly, and create a clean and green environment for a better future.
We have all heard incredible stories from the ground these past five years – of young women refusing to marry into houses which do not have a toilet, of youth organizations like the National Cadet Corps and the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan leading the charge in making villages on the banks of the Ganga Open Defecation Free (ODF), of over 4 lakh youth who registered for the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship in 2018, and of over 500 of India’s brightest young professionals who left cushy private-sector opportunities to take on the challenge of making districts ODF as Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks. Meanwhile, at the engine room of the Mission, the office of the Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), the three of us got the opportunity of a lifetime – to play a part in driving what is undoubtedly the world’s biggest behaviour change movement.
Our first interaction with Mr Parameswaran Iyer (who we know now as ‘Boss’), Secretary, MDWS, is etched in our minds with indelible ink. We were all bowled over by his ‘un-government-like’ style of functioning. There was no time wasted on formalities, and the conversation was honest. He was clear about the role he saw us playing in the system: bring in energy, creativity, agility and disruption to the Mission. He made no bones about the challenges he saw us facing, and was forthright about where we could expect support from the system and where we would be on our own.
The job was unique – it came with no fixed job description, though over the next few months, we each found our niche based on our interests and strengths.
It was challenging; we were outsiders in a system, functioning like insiders. It was uncharted territory – none of us came with any background in sanitation – and it was all the more exciting for being so. Most of all though, it was an incredible opportunity – if we succeeded, we would be playing a significant role in the team working on one of the largest behaviour change efforts ever attempted, and the biggest social revolution rural India has ever seen.
When two of us joined the Ministry from our parent organization, Tata Trusts, the brief given to us was that we were to offer executive support to the Secretary ‘for a few weeks’. As we write this, we have now spent over three years in this job, and cut three anniversary cakes a few days after Boss each year. The third of us, who began her association with the Mission as a Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak (ZSBP), has also cut her first anniversary cake.
Infusing ‘Youthful Energy and Innovation’ into the System
Boss is (in)famous in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) circles for his unbelievable energy levels, and for good reason. He leads by example and his personal enthusiasm laid the foundation for our first task at the Ministry – bringing energy into the system.
This boost of energy was not to be limited to the Secretary’s office. A few months into the stint, when we all realized that the model of bringing ‘youth into the system’ was working well, it seemed natural to extend the model beyond the Ministry. Thus was born the Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak programme. The Prime Minister issued a clarion call during one of his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ addresses to corporates to support the Mission by sending young professionals to aid the district collectors in replicating the success of the model countrywide. Soon after, the Tata Trusts came forward with the offer to build a cadre of close to 600 young professionals who were placed in the 600 district collector offices, much like we were placed in Delhi.
These Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks – personally named by the Prime Minister – were hired, trained and deputed in district and state Mission offices over the course of 2017–18, and did their bit by bringing in the same youthful energy across the system.
Breeding Ground for Innovation
One of the things expected from the youth in the system is innovative and out-of-the-box ideas – new solutions to old problems.
At the state and district level, the ZSBPs brought innovation to the table in an array of work environments. This innovation often took the form of new toilet technologies and innovative solutions to practical challenges faced on the ground. Similarly, at the Ministry, Boss expects us to bring a fresh perspective to every subject under consideration. This has often resulted in brainstorming sessions involving us and other members of the Ministry team that last hours, and which have led to a spark of innovation more often than we can count.
As an example, the idea of recognizing and celebrating the leadership role played by women in the success of SBM was born at one such discussion, and eventually became the Swachh Shakti initiative – an annual event on 8 March, International Women’s Day, when the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and district collectors honour the women champions of the Mission. This has transformed the narrative around women’s role as victims of lack of sanitation to a force of positive change in the field.
When Bihar was not matching the pace of progress required for India to become ODF by 2019, the idea for ‘triggering Bihar’ by infusing swachhagrahis from across the country into the state for a high-intensity behaviour change effort came up in another discussion. This led to the Chalo Champaran initiative, the landmark centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha, and gave the state the necessary impetus to reach its goal.
Communicating Effectively for the System
The second big contribution youth in the system have made to the system has been around communicating for the Mission.
At the grassroots, the ZSBPs played an instrumental role in putting together workshops and conferences where district collectors, state mission directors and other grassroots officials were trained on the key priorities of the Mission from time to time. This led to a lot of cross-sharing of best practices and learning from one another amidst states and districts facing similar challenges. Successful districts shared stories of how they got there, and their colleagues gleaned ideas and inspiration from these stories.
At the Ministry, we contributed to several presentations which became a significant tool when it came to communicating the Mission goals, challenges, proposed solutions and the way forward at many critical junctures in SBM’s journey. One of us even got an opportunity to join Boss at a Council of Ministers presentation where we presented the roadmap for the Swachhata Hi Seva fortnight for all Union Ministries. The presentation was stark and brutally honest about the gaps in sanitation in various sectors but, more importantly, proposed workable solutions going forward. The highest profile audience in the country listened with rapt attention as Boss made the presentation. At the end, the Prime Minister himself got up and addressed the Council with a powerful message about the imperative to deliver on the outcomes highlighted. He also appreciated the quality of the presentation.
Use of Technology
With youth also comes relatively easier access to and understanding of new technologies, such as the knowledge of social media, apps, online portals and solutions.
When we joined the Mission, its presence on social media was negligible, with a small following on Twitter and Facebook. With support from a development partner, we were able to get a social media agency on board and have been managing its activities on a day-to-day basis since. As a direct result, the followership on social media for SBM-G has grown 100 times in the last three years. The ZSBPs managed the state and district pages which led to a multiplication of communication from the grassroots across the internet.
It wasn’t just communicating in cyberspace though. There were also mega events along the way that we supported, which touched several grassroots workers, sarpanchs, swachhagrahis, self-help groups, women champions and cutting-edge functionaries. The ZSBPs, similarly, could be found organizing travel and accommodation for our grassroots champions, as well as compiling feedback from the participants to relay to the highest offices so that we could do better with each event.
Managing Relationships in the System
One of the biggest challenges in a role like this is managing relationships. A youngster from the outside is just that – an outsider and admittedly inexperienced compared to senior officers – which makes it a precarious position to be in, especially when given direct access to the top office.
The ZSBPs faced several inter-personal challenges in the field. Their very presence in the system was sometimes seen as an incursion by those who felt protective of their turf. There are always elements in any system who benefit from the status quo and see anyone trying to change things as a threat. Navigating local politics was probably the biggest challenge for a ZSBP and it is no coincidence that those who were exceptionally successful in their roles were also exceptionally good at integrating themselves into the system and building friendly relationships with Government colleagues.
At the Ministry, our attitude from Day 1 was to treat everyone at the Ministry with utmost genuine respect for their experience and the accumulated wisdom that comes with it. While the nature of our job sometimes put us in a position of differing with conventional wisdom, it has, thankfully, never led to personal differences. This hasn’t been an easy feat to accomplish. We owe much of it to the kindness and forgiveness of our senior colleagues and to Boss’s consistent support, but it has also demanded conscious and sustained effort on our side.
This ‘relationship management’ is something without which the entire concept of infusing youth in the system may have fallen apart. This makes it probably the most important factor for any new initiative trying to replicate this model. The onus for this is on both – the support from the boss (Secretary sir at the Ministry and the Collectors at the district level), as well as the emotional maturity of the youngsters in question.
Joy at Work
Another important role the youth can play is in forging bonds that go beyond the professional by bringing exuberance and joy to the workplace. The long hours we spend at the Ministry are usually double or triple the time we spend at home with our families. Many of the ZSBPs worked almost 24×7. Imagine what a nightmare it would be if we didn’t have fun at it!
So we do our bit and we enjoy it. This might mean discussing an interesting book Boss suggests we should read (on our own time – ‘Between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.’ as he likes to say!), or weighing out how the World Cup semis may be affected by the outcome of that day’s match. Keeping us on course with a bit of encouragement, post some heavy work months, the Boss hosts the team for annual get-togethers at his residence, where the three of us help to organize the games and entertainment as well as the creative mock awards and certificates to give to each member of the MDWS family. While work at the Mission is extremely serious business, these small bouts of fun and games certainly help make the ride more joyful for everyone.
The ‘Impossible is Nothing’ Gang
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the biggest contribution the youth can make to a ‘Mission (seemingly) Impossible’ is their sheer belief that it is possible. With great ignorance comes great faith. Unburdened by an in-depth knowledge of failures of the past sanitation missions and programmes in the country, we – as well as the ZSBPs – brought to the table our blind faith in the achievability of the Mission goals and Team Swachh Bharat’s capacity to achieve them.
This blind faith that the ‘youth in the SBM system’ came with was important in the face of the initial scepticism of 2014, both inside and outside the system. To this day, it helps us see the larger positive picture in the face of criticism and nitpicking aimed at the Mission from certain quarters, and forge ahead in our relentless efforts to do better than we did last week, last month, last year. In hindsight, we have learned that Disraeli was on to something – no large-scale change is possible without a bunch of foolhardy people who come together and say, ‘Impossible is nothing.’