The rural sanitation initiative in India was launched in 1954 as part of the Government of India’s First Five-Year Plan.
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The Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) was launched by the Indian government in 1986 with the primary goal of enhancing the quality of life of rural people while also providing privacy and dignity to women.
Since 1999, the “Total Sanitation Campaign” (TSC) has prioritised raising awareness and creating demand for sanitary facilities through a “demand driven” approach. In acknowledgment of their accomplishments, financial incentives were given to BPL households for the construction and use of individual home latrines (IHHL).
- The inaugural Nirmal Gram Puraskars (NGP) were given out to acknowledge the successes and efforts performed at the GP level in order to raise sanitation awareness.
- The “Nirmal Bharath Abhiyan” (NBA), the TSC’s successor programme, began on January 1, 2012. The goal was to increase sanitation coverage in rural regions as quickly as possible. The incentives for IHHLs were increased under NBA, and MNREGA provided more targeted support.
- On October 2, 2014, India’s Prime Minister launched the Swachh Bharat Mission to accelerate efforts to attain universal sanitation coverage and to focus on sanitation. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) both seek to make India clean by 2019. Gram Panchayats are becoming ODF (Open Defecation Free), clean, and sanitised.
- Goal: by 2019 to attain “Swachh Bharat”
STRATEGY :-
- Because sanitation is a state matter, the strategy is to work towards a “Swachh Bharat” , by giving state governments the latitude to decide on their implementation policies and methods, taking into consideration state-specific requirements.
- Adopt the Community-led and Community-Saturation techniques, which place a strong emphasis on changing collective behaviour.
- A sanitation army of ‘foot soldiers,’ or ‘Swachhata Doots,’ might be created and mobilised.
- States have the option of providing incentives to households for installing individual household latrines.
- The availability of water in the Village is a critical aspect in the long-term viability of the sanitation facilities that have been established.
- Rural school sanitation, with separate facilities for girls and boys, is a major intervention that will be carried out under the Department of School Education’s programme.
- A suitable monitoring system for both outputs and outcomes must be established, which might include, for example, the monitoring of open defecation in the G.P.
- Baseline survey is being updated. Preliminary survey to determine the current state of sanitation and hygiene practises.
- Orientation and creation of District plans for key individuals at the Direct/GP level.
- State Plan Preparation
Activities of the IEC:
The program’s IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) component is crucial. IEC will work to influence community behaviour and stimulate demand for sanitary facilities in rural regions for families, schools, Anganwadis, Community Sanitary Complexes, and the Solid and Liquid Waste Management Project (SLWM) by providing information and raising awareness.
Priority will be given on ‘triggering’ or ‘nudging’ communities to modify their behaviour and use toilets, resulting in an open defecation-free environment.
Guidelines for engaging Village Level Motivators to build communication machinery at the village level with participatory social mobilisation
Sanitation Messengers (Swachhata Doot) have been issued.
Building Capacity:
Stakeholders and sanitation workers, the Swachhata Doots/Sena, members of PRIs, VWSCs, BPMU, DWSM, ASHA, Anganwadi workers, SHG members, masons, CSOs/NGOs, and others benefit from capacity building. The programme will cover a variety of IEC techniques to behaviour change, including Triggering.
Individually Constructed Household Latrines:
A properly constructed household sanitary latrine will include a toilet unit with a sanitary substructure. A superstructure with water facilities, and a hand wash unit for cleansing and hand washing.
The mission’s goal is to provide toilets to all rural families. Toilets based on sanitation technologies, such as the Twin Pit, Septic tank, and Bio toilets, are available in a variety of models.
The toilets must have a structure that is acceptable to the recipients.
The incentive amount provided under SBM(G) to Below Poverty Line (BPL)/identified APLs households for the construction of one unit of IHHL and provision for water availability, including storage for hand washing and toilet cleaning, shall be up to Rs.12,000 for construction of one unit of IHHL and provision for water availability, including storage for hand washing and toilet cleaning.
Rural Sanitary Marts, Production Centers, and Self-Help Groups provide sanitation materials
- In many states, high-quality sanitary materials and hardware are available through the private sector’s market.
- However, items such as rural pans need to be made of higher quality and more widely distributed.
- The Rural Sanitary Mart (RSM) is a store that sells the materials, hardware, and plans for sanitary latrines, soakage and compost pits, vermin-composting washing platforms, certified home water filters, and other sanitation and hygiene products.
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