Context

India participated in ministerial round table discussion on “Scaling Up Sanitation in Africa” held at Addis Ababa

One of the biggest hurdles African ministers faced in replicating the SBM model in their countries was that they were not able to convince their finance ministries to invest heavily in sanitation like India has done since 2014.

Some of the reasons which has led to success of SBM in India are:

• Political Will especially from the very top. Prime Minister of India provided leadership to the movement and made SBM one of the government’s flagship programme.
• Large investment on sanitation through public financing:  the central and state governments have invested in excess of one lakh crore on sanitation over 2014-19 period
• Civil Society movement: Media and NGOs realized the socio-economic significance of sanitation. These groups owned up the scheme and made it into social movement which led to behavioural changes at ground level.
• Community Ownership: The scheme relied upon the community owning up the scheme (through rankings of cities, declaration of ODF villages) instead of government bureaucracy led scheme. This led to sustenance of progress made during initial period. 95% of people with access to toilets in rural India used them regularly,

Returns on these investments in sanitation (through SBM):

• UNICEF estimated that investments in sanitation in India are yielding a 400 per cent return 

• Each rural household in an open-defecation-free village saving Rs 50,000 on account of avoided medical costs and time savings.

• The Toilet Board Coalition has estimated that the sanitation infrastructure and services market in India will be worth over $60 billion by 2021 –creating many jobs even in the rural parts of the country.
• A study by UNICEF has estimated that SBM resulted in creating over 75 lakh full time equivalent jobs over the past five years, giving the rural economy a major boost.

On October 2, 2019, PM Modi commemorated the ODF declaration by all states and stated that the focus in future has to be on sustaining the success and moving towards ODF++ strategy

The next Critical service area which government considers as key pillar for broader rural development is Water. As a result, Government announced Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15th 2019.

• The goal of JJM is to ensure piped water supply for all households of India by 2024 with commitment of Rs 3.6 lakh crore of central and state funds for the scheme.
• In the Union budget for 2020-2021, the government has already allocated Rs 11,500 crore for JJM, with an additional Rs 12,000 crore being made available through extra budgetary resources
• In addition, a huge impetus to the rural water supply and sanitation sector is the earmarking of 50% of the Rs 60,750 crore grant for rural local bodies provided under the 15th Finance Commission for drinking water and sanitation. 
• This ensures that the scheme is driven by local bodies and are sufficiently financed by the government to make it a success

Conclusion

• Investment in sanitation and water is actually a facilitator for broader economic, health and social gains as indicated in UNICEF studies.
• Government should replicate the model of sanitation, which has led to its success, in the area of water also to bring inclusive development in the country.

Connecting the dots

• NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index

• Ministry of Jal Shakti (merging of two ministries and reasons)

Do you know?

• ODF protocol – Not a single person is found defecating in the open.
• ODF+ protocol- Not just open defecation but also no public urination. Additionally, all community & public toilets need to be functional and well-maintained.
• ODF++ protocol adds the condition that faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated, with no discharging and/or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.