Swachh Bharat Mission – Transforming India’s Sanitation Landscape

The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was integrated into the Swachh Bharat Mission. A National Scheme Sanctioning Committee (NSSC) is constituted under the mission for specific periods to approve or revise the action plans. A five-tier implementation mechanism was set up at the national, state, district, block, and village levels.

The National Scheme Sanctioning Committee comprises the following:

• Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation – Chairperson
• Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation
• Secretary in-charge of Rural Sanitation of the State (whose proposal is to be considered)
• Joint Secretary in-charge of Sanitation, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
• Two experts on rural sanitation (as nominated by the chairperson)

Phase I:

The objectives in this phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission were as follows:

• Improve general quality of life in rural areas by promoting cleanliness & hygiene and eliminating open defecation
• Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve full implementation by October 2, 2019.
• Motivate communities and Panchayati Raj institutions to adopt sustainable sanitation practices and facilities through awareness creation and health education
• Encourage cost-effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation
• Develop community-managed sanitation systems (wherever required) focusing on scientific Solid & Liquid Waste Management systems for overall cleanliness in rural areas
• Create significant positive impact on gender and promote social inclusion by improving sanitation, especially in marginalised communities

Phase II:

With successful completion of the first phase, the central government recommenced its work towards sanitation and hygiene status in rural areas with the approval of Phase II of the programme. The mission will be implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25, with a total estimated outlay of Rs. 1,40,881 crore (US$ 19.11 billion), focusing on the sustainability of eradicating open defecation and solid & liquid waste management (SLWM).

Objectives of the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission are as follows:

• Open Defecation-free Sustainability: It constitutes households in villages, primary schools, panchayat ghars and Anganwadi centres with access to toilets. It also includes at least five information, education, and communication (IEC) messages on specified themes for displaying in the villages. If a village has more than 100 households, it should have a community sanitary complex.
• Solid Waste Management: It includes effective management of solid wastes by at least 80% households and public places by management of biodegradable wastes from cattle and agricultural activities by individual and community compost pit—an adequate segregation and community system of plastic waste.
• Liquid Waste Management: It includes effective management of liquid waste by at least 80% households and public places; and, management of greywater generated from kitchen use and bathing, storm water from individual and community soak pits and black water due to overflow from septic tanks.
• Visual Cleanliness: A village will be classified as visually clean if 80% households and all public places are observed to have minimum litter and stagnant water, with zero dumping and accumulation of plastic waste.

Swachh Bharat Mission Urban Areas

Launched in October 2014, the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban Areas includes elimination of open defecation, eradication of manual scavenging, municipal solid waste management, conversion of unsanitary toilets to pour flush toilets and bringing about a behavioural change in people (towards adopting healthy sanitation practices). The programme has been implemented over a five-year period in 4,401 towns. The mission aims to cover 10.4 million households by providing 0.25 million community toilets, 0.26 million public toilets and a solid waste management facility in each town. Under the programme, community toilets are built in residential areas where it is difficult to construct individual household toilets. Public toilets are constructed in designated locations such as tourist places, markets, bus stations and railway stations.

Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan

The Swachh Vidyalaya Programme was launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development under Swachh Bharat Mission. The programme aims to provide separate toilets for boys and girls in all government schools within one year. The ministry financially supports states and union territories to provide toilets for girls & boys in schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

Rashtriya Swachhata Kosh

The Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) was set up to facilitate and channelise contributions and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to achieve the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission by 2019. The SBK was also used to achieve the objective of improving cleanliness levels in rural and urban areas including schools. To encourage contributions from individuals and corporates, tax rebates were given wherever possible.

Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2022

The goal of Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2022 (SSG2022) was to foster extensive citizen involvement, assess States and Districts based on essential cleanliness criteria, analyse the performance of Districts and States, gauge the advancement of cleanliness efforts through a survey, actively involve citizens and gather their feedback, and evaluate the effectiveness of solid and liquid waste management systems in districts. Moreover, SSG2022 aimed to instil a sense of healthy competition among Districts to enhance service delivery and collectively strive for a cleaner India.

Swachh Bharat Mission – Key Developments

• The Swachhta Hi Seva Campaign, which concluded on October 2, 2024 Swachh Bharat Diwas, achieved remarkable milestones by engaging millions of citizens in collective action, with 29.21 lakh events planned and 26.44 lakh successfully completed, 26.25 crore individuals participating, transformation efforts in 3.10 lakh residential areas, over 61 lakh trees planted, and the establishment of 15,710 Swachh Food Streets to promote hygiene in public eating spaces.
• Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi participated in the event at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. He inaugurated and laid the foundation for several projects worth over Rs. 9,600 crore (US$ 1.12 billion) related to sanitation and cleanliness. The theme for the campaign was ‘Swabhav Swachhata, Sanskaar Swachhata’, which united over 17 crore participants in 19.70 lakh programs.
• The Swachh Bharat Mission's 10th anniversary and the launch of the Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2024 campaign with the theme ‘Swabhav Swachhata – Sanskaar Swachhata’ is a significant milestone. The national rollout in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, attended by key dignitaries like Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankar and Union Minister Shri M.L. Khattar, highlights the government's commitment to cleanliness and sanitation. This campaign aims to instil values of cleanliness and hygiene in society, emphasizing both personal responsibility and cultural heritage in promoting a cleaner environment.
• A recent study published in Nature, world’s leading multi-disciplinary science journal, by leading experts reveals that the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), India’s ambitious national sanitation program, has contributed significantly to reducing infant and under-five mortality rates across the country – averting 60,000 – 70,000 infant lives annually. The study, which utilized a quasi-experimental design, provides robust evidence linking increased toilet access under SBM with improved child survival outcomes.
• In March 2023, the President launched “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: catch the rain”- 2023 with the theme “source sustainability for drinking water”.
• In October 2022, Telangana secured the top position in the large states category of Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) 2022, which assesses the sanitation conditions in rural areas. Haryana claimed the second spot, with Tamil Nadu following closely in third place.

Swachh Bharat Mission – Key Investments

• In February 2024, as part of the interim budget for 2024-25, the Jal Shakti Ministry received an allocation of Rs. 98,418 crore (US$ 11.80 billion), with its flagship Jal Jeevan Mission accounting for 71% of the total. This marks an increase from the Rs. 96,549 crore (US$ 11.58 billion) allocated in the previous year's budget for the ministry.
• In February 2021, the government allocated Rs. 1,41,678 crore (US$ 19.22 billion) to tackle water, land & air pollution besides waste management over the next five years.
• In October 2020, the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) disbursed Rs. 12,298 crore (US$ 1.66 billion) under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) for construction of 32.9 million household toilets.
• In February 2020, the government allocated Rs. 12,300 crore (US$ 1.69 billion) for Swachh Bharat.
• In December 2019, 73 central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) were nudged by their administrative department – the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) – to spend over Rs. 1,000 crore (US$ 135.70 million) towards the Swachh Bharat Mission.