As the Swachh Bharat Mission approaches the third anniversary of its launch by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched a third party verification survey report to take stock of the progress already made by the Mission in rural India. The Quality Council of India (QCI) has conducted a transparent third-party assessment of the present status of rural sanitation in all States and UTs, called Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017.
Under the evaluation process, QCI surveyed 1.4 lakh rural households across 4626 villages, and found the overall toilet coverage to be 62.45%. At the time of the survey, i.e. May-June 2017, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) MIS reported the coverage to be 63.73%. The survey also observed that 91.29% of the people having access to a toilet, use it. The Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017 report was launched at a press conference in New Delhi by the Union Minister, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Secretary, Parameswaran Iyer.
It was also announced at the press conference that, to encourage States and districts to improve their Sanitation coverage and Solid Liquid Waste Management (SLWM), the MDWS will also begin ranking all districts in India based on the data available on the SBM-G IMIS quarterly. The ranking will be done based on parameters of Performance, Sustainability and Transparency, and the first ranking will be announced on 2nd October, 2017 for the quarter July-September 2017. To instil healthy competition amongst districts, they will also be given awards based on this ranking on a quarterly basis. The formula for calculating these rankings will be:
Total score (100) = Performance (50) + Sustainability (25) + Transparency (25)
Further, in response to the Prime Minister’s call to the nation to Quit Filth, it was announced by Tomar that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) will celebrate the week leading up to the 70th Independence Day as “Khule Mein Shauch Se Azaadi”saptaah.
Highlights of this week
- More than 24 States have prepared their Swachhta Action Plan for the week to reinforce their swachhta efforts by innovative methods and with community engagement.
- On 12 August, 2017, MDWS and MoWR, RD & GR will jointly announce 24 Ganga Grams from five States, Uttarakhand (3), UP (10), Bihar (4), Jharkhand (5) and West Bengal (2) to make them Aadarsh Ganga Gram.
- 30 Swachhta Raths will be launched at Allahabad on August 12, 2017 in the presence of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Union Minster Tomar.
- Swachhta Raths will also be launched in other parts of the country.
Tomar also announced that, in the run up to completion of three years of Swachh Bharat Mission, MDWS is planning various Swachhta events across the country from 25th September to 2nd October 2017. During this week, National Swachhta Awards will be given to grass root level swachhta champions, district officers, Best Pakhwada Ministries, outstanding contributions by Ministries, PSU sponsors for Swachh Iconic Places and Swachhta Action Plan.
Over 4.54 crore household toilets have been constructed since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin. 2,20,104 villages, 160 districts and 5 States declared ODF. Sanitation Coverage has increased from 39% in October 2016 to 66% in August 2017. 08-August, 2017
