Pradhan Mantri Swachh Bharat Mission Yojana 2020
India is no longer a land of snake charmers and rope tricks. The central as well as the state governments are working in unison to promote the modern face of the nation. India has achieved several feats in technical, economic and scientific sectors. But one problem that looms large and tarnishes the country’s image is unsanitary surroundings. Massive population and lack of proper sanitization are the main reasons of this problem. Mahatma Gandhi was a supporter of sanitary conditions and stressed on the need to create awareness among the people. The current central government, under the leadership of Narendra Modi launched a pan-nation scheme that honored the view and wishes of the “Father of the Nation.” The former government launched a similar scheme, but was unable to implement it successfully. Narendra Modi made sure that all loopholes were sealed off to pave the path for the proper implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
| Name of the scheme | Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Swachh Bharat Mission |
| Launched in | India |
| Launched by | Narendra Modi |
| Announced in | 2013 – 2014 |
| Official launch date | 2nd October, 2014 |
| Launch venue | Rajpath, New Delhi |
| Event backdrop | 145th Gandhi Jayanti |
| Aim of the scheme | ‘Clean India’ by 2nd October, 2019 |
What is Swachh Bharat Mission?
Swachh Bharat Mission is a sanitation drive that has been promoted and implemented by the central government. Mahatma Gandhi once opined that sanitation was more important than independence. Lack of sanitation will pave the path for aliments. If the common people of the nation are not healthy, then that country will not be able to utilize its independence. In 2018, India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day. Still a major chunk of rural people don’t have access to permanent toilets in the villages. Open defecation is an issue in rural and urban areas. With the implementation of this scheme, the central authority wants to elimination such issues. A permanent toilet for every family is the major aim of this sanitation drive. Apart from this, dumping waste on the roads in urban areas is another problem that will be addressed under this scheme.
Does Indian need Swachh Bharat Mission?
Foreign travelers often point out that the cities in the European nations are cleaner and sanitized. The same is not true for the Indian cities. Solid and liquid waste disposal is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Proper waste disposal facilities will in eliminating unsanitary situations. Apart from construction of proper toilets in rural and urban areas, the authority also paved the path for the proper disposal and treatment of solid and liquid wastes. It will make the roads cleaner and sanitized. Apart from this, successful implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission will make the nation beautiful. Thus, a scheme like Swachh Bharat Mission will work wonders for changing the overall image of the country in sanitary matters.
Objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission
- Construction of individual, community and cluster toilets is the main objective of the sanitation drive. Without this, it will not be possible to eliminate the issues of open defecation properly. The central government aimed at completing the construction of 31.83 lakhs flush toilets by the end of 2015.
- The construction of latrines was not the only objective of the central government. It also wants to create necessary awareness among the people to establish accountability towards proper latrine usage mechanism.
- With the implementation of this scheme, the central authority wants to eliminate the evils of manual scavenging for good.
- Creating adequate awareness among the common people of the nation is another aspect of this campaign. Under Swachh Bharat Mission, people will learn about the advantages of sanitization.
- With separate implementation plans for villages and cities, the drive will ensure that the quality of life in both areas increases. But stress will be given on the betterment of sanitization in rural areas.
- Construction of the public toilets will not be enough. Thus, the authority will hire individuals who will ensure that people are using the toilets as per acceptable norms.
- Apart from paving the path for sanitary practices, the scheme will also lay the foundation for adequate solid and liquid waste management. Each gram panchayat will attain necessary resources to set up treatment facilities.
- Supplying clean drinking water to all villages is also included under this drive. Pipelines will be constructed. These pipes will carry clean and uncontaminated drinking water to the villagers.
Swachh Bharat Mission in cities
Problems, people face in the cities are different from that of the villagers. So, a separate implementation strategy will be used for success of Swachh Bharat Mission in urban localities. The central government plans to offer services to 1.04 crore families. For this, it will construct around 2.6 lakhs public washrooms. Apart from this, 2.5 lakhs community washrooms will also be made. Additionally each town will have a separate waste disposal and treatment facility. Construction of community washrooms will be done in all major train stations, market places, bus terminals and public hubs. The central government will have to shell out Rs. 655 crore and Rs. Rs. 4,165 crore for building community and individual family toilets respectively. Apart from this, Rs. 1,828 will be spent to educate people about the cleanliness drive and acceptable behavior. For the construction and operation of solid and liquid waste management facilities, the central authority will shell out a whopping Rs. 7,366 crore from its coffers.
Swachh Bharat Mission in villages
In 1999, the then central government had launched a scheme that was called the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. It was also known as the TSC or Total Sanitation Campaign, and was targeted towards better sanitation facilities in rural localities. However, this scheme has now been included under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The authority aims to make all the villages free from the clutches of open defecation by the end of 2019. For better performance of the drive in villages, the gram panchayat, zila parishand and panchayat samities will work together.
Though the aim of the scheme will remain more or less same, the implementation plans will vary. The primary task of officials will be to motivate the villages to shun open defecation and make use of toilets. This motivation will pave the path for better living quality and healthy environment. The local bodies will have to play an important part in distributing information. It will encourage people to apply for individual toilets in their homes. These practices will also promote better ecological balance in the villages.
People nominated for Swachh Bharat Mission
The best way to popularize and promote a scheme is to associate well-known and reputed people with the campaign. The central government has selected several brand ambassadors for making the drive popular. For 2018 – 2019 financial year, celebrated actor Akshay Kumar was picked as the brand ambassador. Apart from this, nine reputed individuals were selected by the PM himself. This list contained legendary players like Sachin Tendulkar to actors like Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra. Political personalities like Shashi Tharoor were also in this list. The entire caste of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ TV show were also selected for promoting the Swachh Bharat Mission. Some other reputed names, associated with this scheme are Sourav Ganguly, Kamal Hassan, Padmanabha Acharya, Kiran Bedi, Ramoji Rao and Sonal Mansingh.
The central government set out with a five year plan to implement this scheme. The tenure will be oven on the last day of December 2019. Though the authority has been working tirelessly for fulfilling the sanitation drive promises, a lot of work is still cut out for central government. After 2019, the central committee will analyze the success report of the campaign, and decisions will be taken based on the committee reports.
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