Cabinet Secretary, Government of India
THE DREAM OF a Swachh Bharat was articulated by the Prime Minister, but for it to become reality, it had to be shared by everyone in the country. For swachhata to replace the lack of sanitation and modify habits ingrained for centuries, a new norm would have to be established. All 130 crore people across 6 lakh villages, 700 districts, 35 states and Union Territories, speaking 22 official languages and 720 dialects from an array of diverse cultures, would have to become stakeholders, and make a change towards swachhata in their own lives.
But a transformation on such a massive scale could not have been the responsibility of one or two Government departments alone. Getting every citizen involved in the Mission would require concerted efforts from all quarters. The ordinary citizen would have to see that swachhata was being prioritized in all spheres, from schools to hospitals to markets to highways and everything in between. Prominent citizens would have to turn influencers and be the torchbearers of the swachhata message. Businesses would have to bring in their creativity and management acumen to propel the Mission forward. Faith leaders would have to preach about swachhata. National and international developmental organizations would have to prioritize swachhata as the cornerstone of holistic development. To put it simply, for swachhata to become a revolution, it would have to become everyone’s business .
The journey of swachhata as we know it has been a phenomenal and collaborative effort. With the Prime Minister setting the goal of a Swachh Bharat on the not-so-distant horizon, creating ownership of the Mission through a collaborative approach became among the most important tasks on the agenda for the Government of India. While the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) was the nodal Ministry of the programme, every other Ministry had to ensure that swachhata became an integral part of its ethos and manifested itself on the ground in the sectors they governed.
The Government of India ensured that different Ministries and Departments worked together with unified initiatives to instil swachhata across sectors and areas of implementation. As of June 2019, a number of initiatives have been floated and implemented at the Centre under the vision of ‘Everyone’s Business’. Initiatives like Swachhata Pakhwada, Swachhata Action Plan (SAP) and the Inter-Ministerial Committee were launched with instructions and directions from the Prime Minister himself. These programmes received massive support and response from all Union Ministries and Departments of the Government.
Swachhata Pakhwada
‘As the Swachh Bharat Mission commenced its journey, it was felt that action should not remain confined to the Sanitation Ministries and Departments. All parts of the Government have to proactively contribute to realize this aspiration along with the public at large.’
– Narendra Modi, Swachhata Pakhwada Yearbook 2016
Swachhata Pakhwada, yet another brainchild of the Prime Minister, is an eminent example of collective action in the Government. It commenced in April 2016 with the objective of mainstreaming swachhata within the non-sanitation Ministries and Departments, with each of them dedicating a fortnight, once a year, towards innovative, substantial and sustainable swachhata initiatives in their respective sectors. Over the years, the initiative has grown from strength to strength under the leadership and guidance of senior ministers and officials.
A Swachhata Pakhwada calendar is prepared and circulated among all Union Ministries and Departments at the beginning of each year. At any point in time, a couple of Departments celebrate their Pakhwadas where they take up countrywide initiatives to enhance swachhata through their field offices, autonomous bodies, CSR/PSU partners, organizations and most importantly in the sectors under their jurisdiction. To incentivize good performance, many Ministries and Departments give out Swachhata Pakhwada Awards for the best offices, organizations and sections within their jurisdiction. Additionally, the best performing Ministries and Departments are awarded by MDWS.
The Pakhwada activities, rather than being confined to office premises, have reached all the corners of the country, and not just by the efforts of the Departments directly involved with the sector. In September 2017, under the Department of School Education and Literacy Pakhwada, 3 crore schoolchildren wrote letters to their parents demanding to have a toilet at home.
Swachhata Action Plan (SAP)
The Government of India and the state governments together have made direct investments of over Rs 1 lakh crore in the sanitation sector these last five years. Additionally, each Ministry has pledged specific resources towards their Swachhata Action Plan (SAP) – an effort to mainstream sanitation and swachhata in all sectors on a continuous basis.
‘It is indeed great to know that 76 Ministries and Departments have come forward to take up swachhata effort under the new initiative, Swachhata Action Plan (SAP).’
– Narendra Modi, SAP Book 2017–18
The SAP was formally launched on 1 April 2017 with the active participation of 72 Union Ministries and Departments of Government of India, who have cumulatively pledged over Rs 35,000 crore towards their respective swachhata plans during 2017-19 to make swachhata an integral element in their existing and new schemes and programmes. The SAP has seen a multi-dimensional range of activities including the adoption of villages, support for sanitation infrastructure, solid and liquid waste management (SLWM), cleaner monuments, school sanitation, better sanitation in hospitals, highways, railways, markets and iconic places, among others. The Ministries have exceeded themselves and implemented innovative and outcome-based swachhata activities.
Some of the broad range of activities conducted under the SAP are as follows:
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC)
To further reinforce the mainstreaming of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) across all Ministries and Departments, and create a strong monitoring mechanism, an Inter-Ministerial Committee was formed in 2016. The role of the Committee is to assess and guide the Swachh Bharat initiatives undertaken by the Union Ministries and Departments apart from Swachhata Pakhwada and the Swachhata Action Plan. The members of the Committee represent the key Ministries of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Housing and Urban Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, School Education & Literacy, and Women & Child Development. The members meet every month and present their initiatives and collaborative efforts towards Swachh Bharat, resulting in innovative initiatives like the Swachh Petrol Pump App, Swachhata National Parks, Swachh Swasth Sarvatra [an inter-Union Ministerial joint initiative between MDWS and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) training to the health workers of Public Health Centres (PHCs)/Community Health Centres (CHCs)] and the Kayakalp programme (wherein the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is providing monetary support for WASH and hospital infrastructure at the PHC/CHC level).
Today, almost all petrol pumps and toll plazas on national highways have been fitted with gender segregated toilets with regular maintenance and review systems. Across the country, government school toilets are being maintained with a designated and proper maintenance fund. All major ports, agricultural mandis, and tourist and cultural heritage centres have become swachh and green.
Such initiatives are well accepted and have become regular features for the Government. These efforts have allowed Ministries and Departments to discharge their regular functions better, and have had a significant positive spin on their regular programmes. Almost all major flagship programmes of the Government of India have benefited from the improvements in swachhata. Schooling and health outcomes have improved; measures for women’s safety have been enhanced; our villages, towns, streets, markets, schools, hospitals, public places are cleaner, and India’s image on the global stage has become significantly better. Swachhata has become the embodiment of collective action for development. It is a movement of all, by all and for all – truly, everyone’s business.