Cleanliness is subsequent to godliness. It wards off sickness and may dramatically enhance well-being and financial prospects. Since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the decision for the Swachh Bharat Mission, the entire nation has been pursuing higher milestones in cleanliness.
Right this moment, the Prime Minister’s message of cleanliness has grow to be a jan andolan and is way more than a authorities programme. It has reworked the image of rural India. Our nation got here collectively on this planet’s largest behaviour change marketing campaign and rural India achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) standing. There is no such thing as a stopping us — as a folks, and now, rural India is continuing quickly in direction of one other milestone.
The second section
Underneath Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen, Section 2, villages are progressing in direction of reaching ODF Plus standing. This entails the administration of all types of waste — be it biodegradable waste, plastic waste, gray water, faecal sludge, and so on. In August this 12 months, our nation reached one other milestone — that’s, of over one lakh villages declaring themselves as ODF Plus.
In September, all villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands declared themselves ODF Plus Mannequin. It is a nice achievement! The method of stable and liquid waste administration entails technical elements, comparatively new to rural India and is a second-generation subject.
Provision of bogs (if they don’t seem to be of turn-pit expertise) has led to the necessity to handle faecal waste. Moreover, with potable water provide, extra greywater is being generated from cooking, washing, and so on., that have to be handled and reused; and with way of life modifications and using packaged meals merchandise, the menace of plastic waste is rearing its ugly head in rural areas additionally, which should even be managed successfully.
That is what the second Section of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) is about — to appropriately handle all kinds of waste that won’t solely make our villages clear, but additionally create avenues for earnings technology for rural households and new livelihood alternatives, whereas fulfilling the necessities of sustainable growth.
SBM-G reinforces our dedication to advertise hygiene and secure sanitation and, thereby, enhance the standard of lifetime of residents. The States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry and Telangana have carried out notably, as greater than half the villages throughout these States are ODF Plus. These findings are based mostly on The Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG), which our division has been conducting since 2018. SSG has generated sturdy zeal for cleanliness and has grow to be a automobile for a people-led motion to make sure immediate optimistic motion and outputs on the bottom.
We’ve got now launched SSG 2023 to make the train extra participatory by introducing panchayat self-assessment on ODF Plus parameters. This may create wholesome competitors amongst panchayats, districts, and States, to carry out higher, imbibe finest practices and self-assess progress on objectives. The Survekshan will probably be carried out in two phases — village-level evaluation and district-level evaluation.
As on December 22, greater than 3.2 lakh villages have accomplished the baseline self-assessment.
Peer verification
The subsequent step, peer verification, will occur on the block degree for all villages which undertook self-assessment. Villages shortlisted, based mostly on efficiency, on the block degree will then be assessed on the district, State and nationwide ranges to determine one of the best panchayats within the nation. That is being envisaged to advertise the spirit of competitors however extra so in direction of cross-learning amongst GPs.
Within the second stage, the efficiency of districts will probably be assessed based mostly on their progress on ODF Plus indicators and direct remark of villages by a third-party company. All districts have been categorised into “Star classes” based mostly on their ODF+ scores they usually can proceed to graduate to greater star classes as they enhance their ODF+ scores. The ODF+ rating of a district is generated based mostly on the ODF Plus standing of its villages.
Total, this SSG 2023 framework will result in district, State and nationwide degree rewards and recognition for GPs, districts and States. The nationwide award ceremony for felicitating finest performing GPs, districts and States will probably be held on October 2, 2023.
Behind all this, is a resolve to serve the folks by empowering them to take optimistic motion for their very own well-being. All through this journey, it’s the dogged resolve of the people who has been a standout characteristic. And it’s they, who proceed lead our nation to newer milestones.
The author is Secretary, Division of Consuming Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti
