Page 2 - Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Towards Cleaning India: A Policy Perspective
P. 2
Policy Brief
urbanization, India needs to explore smarter and sustainable The Prime Minister of India gave the wake-up call to the
ways of improving the quality of life. In comparison to rural nation on August 15, 2014, by announcing the Swachh Bharat
sanitation, fewer programmes have been enacted to tackle Abhiyan and by making a call to make India open defecation
deficiencies in urban sanitation. This policy brief outlines free by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of
various policies and programmes in the urban sanitation Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to the ‘Father of the Nation’.
sector in India and the gaps which need to be addressed. This strong political will has been able to garner support in
This includes a discussion on the Swachh Bharat Mission favour of the Water and Sanitation sector from the Central
(urban). As we decentralize services to the Urban Local and State Governments, the public sector, corporations,
Bodies, we need to create appropriate institutions at NGOs, academic institutes, Civil Society Organizations,
the local level that are responsible, accountable, and and student communities. The mission aims at complete
capable of providing quality services. A number of reform elimination of open defecation, constructing public and
measures also need to be undertaken in this sector. community toilets, maintenance of toilets, municipal solid
waste management, cleaning of roads and pavements and
Introduction most important of all, changing the mind-set of the people
and encouraging them to be conscious of cleanliness. The
The 2011 Indian census4 shows that one in six Indians lives objectives of SBM (Urban) are presented in Box 2.
in an urban slum and the urban household toilet coverage
stands at 87.4 per cent. The State wise urban household An Overview of Urban Water & Sanitation status
toilets coverage is shown in Figure 1. The problem of open in India compared to other countries
defecation is bigger in smaller cities (population below
100,000), with open defecation rate around 22 per cent. According to the JMP Update 2015, India is categorized
under ‘moderate progress’ (Figure 2) with regard to
The Government of India has allocated `7060 Crore coverage of sanitation facilities as the progress from 1990
(USD 1.2 billion) for Smart Cities in the fiscal budget to 2015 is 25 % to 56 % of the population. In 1990, about
of 2014–15. As India plans Smart Cities, it is imperative 29 % of urban population in India defecated in open,
to have a framework to deal with urbanization issues and in 2015, 10 % still continue this practice (Figure 3).
focussing on—Social equitability, Economic viability, and The proportion of population (both urban and rural
Environmental sustainability.5
Figure 1: State-wise percentage of urban household toilet coverage6
4 Census of India 2011
5 PwC India: The Smart City Perspective, July 2014.
6 Census of India 2011
2 FEBRUARY 2016
urbanization, India needs to explore smarter and sustainable The Prime Minister of India gave the wake-up call to the
ways of improving the quality of life. In comparison to rural nation on August 15, 2014, by announcing the Swachh Bharat
sanitation, fewer programmes have been enacted to tackle Abhiyan and by making a call to make India open defecation
deficiencies in urban sanitation. This policy brief outlines free by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of
various policies and programmes in the urban sanitation Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to the ‘Father of the Nation’.
sector in India and the gaps which need to be addressed. This strong political will has been able to garner support in
This includes a discussion on the Swachh Bharat Mission favour of the Water and Sanitation sector from the Central
(urban). As we decentralize services to the Urban Local and State Governments, the public sector, corporations,
Bodies, we need to create appropriate institutions at NGOs, academic institutes, Civil Society Organizations,
the local level that are responsible, accountable, and and student communities. The mission aims at complete
capable of providing quality services. A number of reform elimination of open defecation, constructing public and
measures also need to be undertaken in this sector. community toilets, maintenance of toilets, municipal solid
waste management, cleaning of roads and pavements and
Introduction most important of all, changing the mind-set of the people
and encouraging them to be conscious of cleanliness. The
The 2011 Indian census4 shows that one in six Indians lives objectives of SBM (Urban) are presented in Box 2.
in an urban slum and the urban household toilet coverage
stands at 87.4 per cent. The State wise urban household An Overview of Urban Water & Sanitation status
toilets coverage is shown in Figure 1. The problem of open in India compared to other countries
defecation is bigger in smaller cities (population below
100,000), with open defecation rate around 22 per cent. According to the JMP Update 2015, India is categorized
under ‘moderate progress’ (Figure 2) with regard to
The Government of India has allocated `7060 Crore coverage of sanitation facilities as the progress from 1990
(USD 1.2 billion) for Smart Cities in the fiscal budget to 2015 is 25 % to 56 % of the population. In 1990, about
of 2014–15. As India plans Smart Cities, it is imperative 29 % of urban population in India defecated in open,
to have a framework to deal with urbanization issues and in 2015, 10 % still continue this practice (Figure 3).
focussing on—Social equitability, Economic viability, and The proportion of population (both urban and rural
Environmental sustainability.5
Figure 1: State-wise percentage of urban household toilet coverage6
4 Census of India 2011
5 PwC India: The Smart City Perspective, July 2014.
6 Census of India 2011
2 FEBRUARY 2016
