Source: The Hindu
Manifest pedagogy:Clean environment is fundamental to healthy living. India ranks poor in terms of standard of living. Creating awareness about cleanliness and good sanitation practises is very important for open defecation free (ODF) villages. Swachhata Hi Seva movement is an awareness drive. Its potential topic for mains.
In news:Recently PM Narendra Modi launched Swachhata Hi Seva movement, 2019.
Placing it in syllabus:Environmental conservation
Static dimensions:Need and significance of sanitation and clean environment
Current dimensions:
- Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA)
- Swachhata Hi Seva movement (SHS)
- India and SDG 6
- Major policy decisions taken by the Government
Content:Need and significance of sanitation and clean environment:
Clean drinking water, hygiene, and sanitation play an important role in maintaining health. The decline in water quality endangers the health of humans as well as the ecosystem.
Contaminated water causes many water-borne infections like diarrhoea, and also serves as a carrier for vectors such as mosquitoes spreading epidemics. Open defecation means no sanitation. It fouls the environment, and spreads diseases.
Access to safe drinking water and good sanitation are vital for family well-being. It results in control of enteric diseases, and boosts child health. A healthy child has better learning and retaining ability.
Girls avoid going to school where there are no proper sanitation measures. Sanitation makes a positive contribution in family literacy. According to a UNICEF study, for every 10 per cent increase in female literacy, a country’s economy can grow by 0.3 per cent. Thus, sanitation contributes to social and economic development of the society. Improved sanitation also helps the environment.
According to data from the World Bank, in 2015, 44% of Indians defecated in the open. And while this has decreased significantly (from 75% in 1990), since the launch of SBA, countries that are poorer than India, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and several sub-Saharan countries, have significantly lower open defecation rates.
Open defecation also partly explains why India lags behind developing countries on child health indicators such as nutrition and stunting.
While building more toilets has undeniably helped India’s sanitation challenge, there needs to be a part of an integrated sanitation approach that includes water supply, water connections, and waste management .
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan(SBA)
Also called Clean India Mission was launched on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2014 in New Delhi.
- Covers 4041 statutory towns across India and aims to make the streets, roads and infrastructure clean by October 2, 2019 (Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary)
- The urban component of the mission is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Urban Development.
- The rural component of the mission will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Swachhata Hi Seva movement:
- Honourable PM Narendra Modi launched Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019, a massive countrywide awareness and mobilization campaign on Swachhata at Mathura on September 11,2019.
- Theme is ‘plastic waste awareness and management’ is being organized from 11th September to October 2nd 2019, as the SBA is poised to dedicate an ODF India to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary.
- The launch of SHS was organized jointly by the central Departments of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
- This year’s Swachhata Hi Seva will see mass awareness generation activities on plastic waste management between 11th September to 1st October, nationwide Shramdaan for plastic waste collection and segregation on 2nd October.
- Recycling and effective disposal of the collected plastic waste from 3rd October to Diwali, 27th October 2019.
- The Prime Minister has written personal letters to all Sarpanches and Swachhagrahis, motivating them make the Swachhata Hi Seva 2019 a grand success.
India and SDG 6:
SDG 6: Ensure Availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for all
- The latest data from the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) portal suggests that 27 out of India’s 36 states and Union territories are now open defecation free (ODF) with 98.6% of Indian households having access to toilets.
- Number of villages which are open defecation free is over 72000.
- These are states with relatively high coverage, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and Gujarat.
- Nadia, a district in West Bengal was the first district in the country to be declared ODF.
- All northeast states except Assam also come in this category.
- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have achieved 100% sanitation coverage of rural households (proportion of households with toilets).
Recently, the World Bank provided a loan for $1.5 billion called ‘Programme for Results’. It is a result based loan and goes to states which have delivered on some agreed upon indicators. It is an index of village Swachta and comprises of following indicators:
- Open Defecation Free (ODF)
- Have effective solid and liquid waste management (SLWM)
- Visually Clean
Major policy decisions taken by the Government:
- Mandatory purchase of power by the discoms produced out of the waste.
- Ministry of fertiliser has taken a decision to give about 1500 rupees per tonne of the city compost as market development assistance to encourage the compost and reduce the usage of chemical fertiliser.
- Bureau of Indian Standards has come out with the standards on Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste for which the gazette notification has taken place.
- Counselling of the adolescent girls, menstrual hygiene management and particularly the production of low cost sanitary napkins.
- Village and sanitation committees shall be constituted as a part of sub-committee of gram – panchayat and 50% women participation. The money would be routed either through gram panchayats or through the water sanitation committees
