The campaign is the first big-buck cleanliness programme that involves a cost of an astounding Rs. 62,000 crore. It is expected to cover more than 4,000 towns over a span of 5 years. The objective to have a clean nation by 2019, coincides with the year our country will celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Under ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, the government has proposed to construct over 11 crore latrines in 5 years to put an end to the unsanitary defecation practices in the country. That means one new toilet is being constructed every second!
The ‘Swachhta Pledge,’ urges people to devote a minimum of 100 hours annually towards voluntary effort for the cause. That’s not all, it also asks the committed ones to spread awareness and encourage 100 other individuals to take the pledge.
A UN report states that India looses a whopping $54 billion annually due to the shortage of toilet facilities in the country. As of 2013, our nation also faces highest rate of stunted growth and development among children as a result of exorbitantly high population density, open defecation, and absence of appropriate sanitation methods. This also hastens the spread of faecal-oral transmitted infections and diseases. This is one of the major reasons behind the depletion of vital nutrients among growing children. Swachh Bharat aims to address open defaecation on a war footing.
According to a research conducted by WaterAid, around 16 million people get an access to toilet each year. This will number needs to surge and go over 100 million if the entire population is to have an access to a basic toilet by the year 2019.
Modelled on the lines of similar schemes like the ‘Nirmal Bharat Yojana’ that was brought out under the rule of UPA government, Swachh Bharat campaign is also demand-driven. Supposedly, the people demand laterines from the village head, who sends the request to a Sanitation Committee on the district-level, who then passes it forward to the Centre. This is followed by disbursement of funds to the Gram Sabha, which are used for the construction of toilets.
Ref: https://www.savethechildren.in/resource-centre/articles/swachh-bharat-abhiyan-facts-and-figures?gclid=CIHZwZrl4dMCFUiBfgodlqcEXw
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