New mantra for Swachh Bharat Mission

A government commissioned report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Swachh Bharat mission in urban areas has flagged how success of this flagship programme is dependent on ensuring effective intervention by government departments and particularly municipal bodies rather than authorities just placing the onus on people and communities.

Background:

Urban development ministry had engaged TISS for conducting consultative meetings with citizens groups for scaling up citizen engagement in this scheme to make it into a full-fledged `jan andolan’.

Details:

• According to the report, inability of municipal bodies, ineffective cleanliness and poor processing of both solid and liquid waste has been the major road block in achieving visible improvement in cleanliness in urban areas.
• The government is taking the cue from the TISS report and working toward bringing in “a paradigm shift” by encouraging “technocrat approach” to make the cleanliness mission a success.
• The report also stressed on the need for total sanitation and focusing on making the urban poor move away from a “life of denial and indignity to one filled with opportunities and dignity.”
• The TISS report favoured a long term association between the governments and specialists including ad agencies and behavioral scientists for clearly articulating the real value of sanitation.

The government is also considering recommendation of TISS that a “statutory National Council for Sanitation” should be set up for “robust governance and implementation with representation for civil society, academia, technocrats, policy makers, government officials and other stakeholders.” The Council can suggest required legal reforms to enhance functioning of the Mission besides promoting evidence based policy making.