NSO Survey on Sanitation - Swachh Bharat Mission Claims
iasparliament
November 27, 2019
Why in news?
The latest National Statistical Office (NSO) survey on sanitation has been released recently.
This has thrown light on the true status of the Swachh Bharat scheme’s open defecation-free or ODF India goal.
What are the highlights of the report?
Only 71% of rural households had access to toilets at a time the Centre was claiming 95%.
On October 2, 2019, PM Narendra Modi declared that the whole country was ODF with complete access to toilets.
Some large States were declared ODF i.e. 100% access to toilets and 100% usage, even before the NSO survey began.
These included Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Others which were declared ODF during the survey period included Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
But, according to the NSO, almost 42% of rural households in Jharkhand had no access to a toilet at that time.
In Tamil Nadu, the gap was 37%, followed by 34% in Rajasthan.
In Gujarat, which was one of the earliest States declared ODF, back in October 2017, almost a quarter of all rural households had no toilet access.
The other major States listed also had significant gaps: Karnataka (30%), MP (29%), Andhra Pradesh (22%) and Maharashtra (22%).
Waste disposal - Only 10% of toilets were built with the twin leach pit system pushed by the Swachh Bharat scheme.
This safely composts waste on its own without any need for cleaning or disposal.
More than 50% of rural Indian households with toilets had septic tanks, while another 21% used single pits.
Both of these needs to be cleaned and faecal sludge produced must be disposed of safely.
The NSO data thus indicates that the next big challenge may lie in the disposal of waste.
What does the report indicate?
Though the government claims were invalidated, there is notable progress recorded in toilet access and use in rural areas.
The 71% access to toilets is a significant improvement over the situation during the last survey period in 2012.
In 2012, only 40% of rural households had access to toilets.
The NSO survey had also noted that 95% of people with access to toilets in rural India used them regularly.
This shows that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’s efforts to change behaviour have borne fruit.
This was aided by the fact that water was available around the toilet in more than 95% of cases.
What lies ahead?
The Centre has disputed the survey results, but it should ideally treat it as a fresh assessment of the ground reality.
The data could help it review performance in States such as Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
In these states, the lack of toilets is reported to be higher than the national average.
More fundamentally, the survey provides an opportunity to review other social determinants such as education, housing and water supply.
These certainly have a strong influence on adoption of sanitation.
Local bodies who lack the capacity and resources to bring universal sanitation even where political will is present should be equipped.
Sustained work to eliminate shortfalls in coverage and a massive urban programme are critical to ending open defecation and universalising toilet access.
