Towards Swachh Bharat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to turn India into ‘Swachh Bharat’ by 2019 to commemorate Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary is laudable. That he has aired his dismay over India’s poor hygiene and sanitation in almost all his speeches reflects serious intent, which is required given the enormity of the problem. The 2011 Census is a throwback to Katherine Mayo’s sarcastically titled bestseller, Mother India (1927), which Gandhiji called a ‘drain inspector’s report’: over two-thirds of rural households and a fifth of urban households do not have a toilet. But to turn India into a cleaner and relatively disease-free place, Modi will have to go far beyond exhorting every Indian to devote 100 hours a year to sanitation. It requires a lot of things to come together: funds, technology, managerial know-how, inter-disciplinary skills and the right social attitudes.

Swachh Bharat, a souped-up version of the UPA’s Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, is estimated to cost ₹62,009 crore over five years, of which the Centre is expected to contribute ₹14,623 crore. Despite the fiscal squeeze, the Centre should consider raising its contribution. Even so, a programme which involves constructing individual toilets, community toilets and municipal solid waste facilities across 4,041 towns will require significant private capital. Philanthropists will need to pitch in. Facebook can save campaign costs. But that is not enough. A public private partnership framework for integrated waste management, as mooted by the Kasturirangan Committee on handling waste, should be put in place. This implies the efficient conversion of household waste — wet waste, dry waste, sewage — into compost, biogas and electricity. Tax holidays and soft credit should be offered, incentivising such entities to scale up. Innovative start-ups should be able to tap venture capital funds; municipalities should hold Swachh Bharat fairs enabling citizens, angel investors, innovators, firms and corporators to come together.

Scaling up the quantity and efficiency of waste management poses technological, managerial and social challenges. India also has a lot to learn about how developed countries deal with waste. The Government should urge overseas firms to set up facilities in India and create an ecosystem for technology absorption. It should involve entrepreneurs, economists, engineers, systems specialists and sociologists in this knowledge-building effort. Households should be made to segregate waste and municipality workers and others trained to take it to the next stage, a process that remains only on paper. Most important is the need to launch a social movement against caste prejudice and manual scavenging. A drive for cleaner schools which keeps Dalit children out of the classroom would be repugnant. Corporations must completely mechanise sewage cleaning and organise alternative livelihoods for the workforce. All this is meant to ensure that a contemporary account of India no longer reads like a drain inspector’s report, some 70 years after freedom.

COMMENT NOW