Swachh Bharat Mission facing problems: Congress

New Delhi, December 1

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday alleged that the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched after a lot of hype, has been facing serious trouble.

“Usage of toilets has been declining in India since 2018, with the decline is most concentrated among SC and ST communities”, Ramesh said in a statement posted on X.

Ramesh said the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan launched in September 2011 got repackaged and rebranded as Swachh Bharat Mission. The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan had launched massive programmes to make every gram panchayat open defecation-free. It had started popularising the use of biotoilets in trains. Swachhata Doots like Vidya Balan were mobilised. Innovative slogans were popularized and concurrent evaluation by independent agencies was encouraged, Ramesh said.

After the initial fanfare, the Prime Minister has moved onto other schemes, headlines and events, Ramesh said.

“Staff for sanitation has been reduced and payments have been delayed. Indeed, far from tall claims abouts making India free from open defecation, over 25 percent of rural households still do not regularly use a toilet”, Ramesh claimed.

Quoting media reports, Ramesh said the World Bank first highlighted the setbacks suffered by the Swachh Bharat Mission. It faced “a lot of heat” from the Modi government as a result forcing it to withdraw the papers, Ramesh said.

The Congress leader said instead of suppressing data and declaring victory over open defecation, what is needed is an open and transparent audit of toilet usage and sanitation in India, along with reversing budget cuts. “This is even more important at a time when India has been backsliding on many important health indicators since 2014 with sharp increases especially in anaemia and child malnutrition”, Ramesh said.

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