The Swachh Bharat initiative of the government has led to reduced ground water contamination. A study by the UNICEF said the substantial reductions may potentially be attributed to the improvement in sanitation and hygiene practices. The report revealed that groundwater is 12.7 times less likely to be contaminated in Open Defecation Free(ODF) villages than non ODF village.

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Key highlights of the report:

• The study found that, in terms of faecal contamination, non-ODF villages were, on average:
  • 25 times more likely to have their groundwater sources contaminated (12.7 times more from contaminants traceable to humans alone)
  • 13 times more likely to have their soil contaminated
  • 48 times more likely to have food contaminated and 2.68 times more likely to have household drinking water contaminated.
• Study indicated that these substantial reductions can be attributed to the Improvement in sanitation and hygiene practices, regular monitoring and Behaviour change messaging.

Key role played by Information, Education and Communication (IEC) of SBM:

• The “Assessment of the reach and value of IEC activities under SBM (Grameen)” was conducted by Dalberg, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• It estimated the scale of IEC activities within the Mission and assessed associated monetary and in-kind costs, and outputs such as reach.
• SBM mobilized a spend equivalent worth INR 22,000 to 26,000 crores in monetary and non-monetary IEC activities.
• Of this spend equivalent, cash expenditure on IEC activities spent by the Government, private sector, and the development community was estimated to be between INR 3,500 – 4,000 crores.
• An average person living in rural India was exposed to between 2,500 – 3,300 SBM related messages over the last five years.

Evaluation of Swachh Bharat Mission:

• Five hundred and eighty four districts, 5,840 blocks, 244,687 gram panchayats and 541,433 villages are open defecation free (ODF).
• As of September 2018, the sanitation coverage of India is upwards of 93 per cent and over 465,000 villages have been declared ODF.
• Towards the end of 2017, an independent verification agency (IVA) conducted the National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS), and found that 4 per cent people who had toilets, used them regularly. NARSS also re- confirmed the ODF status of 95.6 per cent of the villages that had been verified ODF by the state governments.
• Since October 2014, 91.5 million toilets have been constructed and 154.3 million rural households have toilets now.
• IHHL (individual household latrine application) coverage in all states is in excess of 95 per cent, except Goa and Odisha.
• Over the last four years, a cadre of 500,000 swachhagrahis has been created who have triggered lakhs of villages to become ODF.
• The foot-soldiers have helped in geo-tagging toilets, verifying household behaviour, converting old toilets and retro-fitting them, engaging in other forms of cleanliness.
• Bal Swatchata mission that was launched to inculcate cleanliness values and personal hygiene amongst children. This would go a long way in.
• The SBM has transformed into a massive ‘Jan Andolan’ created on the ground using information, education, and communication, aiming to bring behaviour change.
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6.1 and 6.2 deals with water and sanitation respectively in which SBM is playing a massive role.

Way Forward:

• Governmental Initiatives of Swachhata Pakwada Campaigns should be promoted to raise awareness of sanitation and hygiene. Adequate Budgetary Allocation should be given to construct twin-pit toilets at villages, public toilets etc.
• Teach them young: Children must be taught the importance of Sanitation and hygiene. Initiatives like Bal Swachhata Mission, Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan are pushing forward the objective.
• Competition raising initiatives like Swachha Survekshan Abhiyan will help in boosting the spirit of cities and towns to improve the ODF status.
• In places of water scarcity, trains etc. use of bio-toilets can be promoted.
• Technology like mini-jetting machines, robots to clean the clogged pits as done in Hyderabad and Trivandrum should be emulated in other places to curb manual scavenging.
• Swachhata Doots, NGOs and CSOs must be involved at the grassroots level to achieve 100% ODF by October 2nd, 2019.

Conclusion:

                The success of the Swachh Bharat Mission is linked to the participation of the people. It depends on people changing their attitudes towards cleanliness, building and using toilets, and maintaining personal hygiene among other things. This means creating a ‘behavioural change’ in an individual is critical to help break old habits and norms.