Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A Step Towards a Cleaner and Healthier India
History
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) is one of India’s major cleanliness campaigns, initiated by the Government of India. Launched on October 2, 2014, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mission aims at achieving a cleaner, healthy India through hygiene, sanitation, and waste management. This initiative is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, who has repeatedly insisted on cleanliness as one of the important aspects of national development.
Since its inception, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has created a nationwide movement, encouraging citizens, organizations, and local bodies towards participatory action for a cleaner and more sustainable India. The campaign has been successful in transforming collective perception about cleanliness, ushering in improved sanitation facilities and waste disposal.
Objectives
The key objectives of Swachh Bharat are:
To abolish open defecation by making India ODF (open-defecation-free) through toilet construction in both rural and urban areas.
To set an example of good hygiene and sanitation by persuading people to use proper clean habits such as hand washing, proper waste disposal, and personal hygiene.
Solid waste management: create an independent robust process for waste segregation, collection, and disposal in order to curb environmental pollution.
Behavioral change: Raise awareness to help facilitate mentality changes towards cleanliness through education and propagating campaigns.
Sustainable Waste Management Solutions: Promote recycling and composting while reducing the use of plastics for the sake of environmental sustainability.
To involve the members of civil society-Corporate Bodies and NGOs-in actively contributing to a cleaner India.
Phases of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The whole campaign was conducted in two important phases to ensure sustainability: phase 1 (2014-2019). (sawachhbharatmission.com)
The first phase of the campaign, in consideration of the goal of open-defecation-free India, scripts itself as getting completed by October 2, 2019. The initiative in this phase was mainly directed toward toilet construction in rural areas, awareness raising, and behaviour change both in rural and urban areas, and thus many states were declared ODF as millions of toilets were built all over India.
Phase 2, 2020-Present
The second phase of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan promotes ODF sustainability by closing gaps in solid and liquid waste management and improving sanitation infrastructure. The objective of this phase is to maintain cleanliness in cities and villages by promoting recycling and waste disposal through water conservation and environment-friendly means. (pmindian.gov.in)
Impact of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has brought about some positive changes in India:
1.Improved Sanitation Infrastructure
Before the campaign, there were many households in India without proper toilets. Over 100 million toilets were built in rural and urban prevalence during the initiative, which brought a huge reduction in open defecation.
2.Public Awareness Has Increased
The campaign has succeeded in instilling a sense of responsibility among citizens about cleanliness. People are more aware of their duty to keep their environment clean and to practice hygiene.
3.A Better Waste Management
Modern techniques of waste management, like waste segregation, recycling, and composting, have been adopted by municipal corporations and panchayats. The prevalence of door-to-door garbage collection has also increased.
4.Health Benefits
The advancement of sanitation has aligned with the reduction of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, and malaria. Cleanliness will, in turn, bring about better public health and hygiene.
5.Environmental Conservation
The open defecation and proper disposal of guests, along with reduced plastic use, have reduced pollution of soil, water bodies, and, therefore, air.
6.Increased Tourism and Economy
Cleaning of India will get more tourists that will boost the hospitality industry; additionally, the sanitary sector also supports employment generation in waste management and infrastructure development.
Implementation challenges of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Despite its success, several challenges came in the path of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:
- Behavior change: People should stop open defecation and to develop a habit of proper sanitation. In particular, certain areas have difficulties in adapting the same.
- Segregation Issues: A large percentage of households and establishments in rural and urban segments do not have proper segregation of waste, which reduces the effectiveness of recycling.
- Sustaining ODF Status: Continued efforts to keep toilets in working condition are necessary for their active use and monitoring.
- Infrastructure gap in remote/lesser connected areas: In some rural areas, waste management systems and sanitation infrastructure are not yet in place.
- Plastic waste management: Despite awareness campaigns on minimizing plastic-use related pollution in the urban areas, plastic waste remains a huge problem.
Government Initiatives Under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The government also took up numerous other programmatic initiatives to shore up the mission:
- Swachh Survekshan
Annual cleanliness survey ranks towns and cities according to their sanitation performance to promote healthy competition among the urban local bodies.
- Gobar-Dhan Scheme
A program to encourage bio-waste management where cattle dung and organic waste are converted into biogas and compost.
- ODF Plus Initiative
This aims to continue and build on the ODF feature while continuing improving solid and liquid waste management in villages and towns.
- Plastic Waste Management Rules
Laws to control the use of single-use plastics and provide incentives for recycling initiatives.
- Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan
A campaign to create sanitation facilities in schools to inculcate hygiene among the students.
Citizens’ Role in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
While government policies signified much in this initiative, citizens were backbone for this self-respecting and noble initiative. Here is how the common man could contribute:
- Keeping It Clean: Avoid littering public places. Always use a bin.
- Separate waste wherever possible: Separate dry and wet waste in the house for recycling and composting.
- Avoid using plastic bags: Reduce the use of plastic bags and adopt eco-friendly alternatives.
- Promotion of Hygiene Practices: Members of the family and community should be educated on the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene.
- Take Part in Cleanliness Drives: Become part of local or community-led cleanliness campaigns.
- Encouragement of Great Work: Spread the word through social media, discussions, and community meetings to educate others.
Conclusion
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is not merely another initiative by the government, but rather a people’s national movement requiring the assistance of every citizen. The mission started showing efficacy in changing the manners of sanitation, improving public health, and environmental sustainability in India. (www.nic.in)
However, the process is a continuum requiring long-term commitment to maintaining cleanliness as a habit, managing waste, and creating awareness in every human mind for a clean India.
Not only is a clean nation vital for the well-being of its citizens, but it is also a necessity for economic growth, tourism development, and nature conservation. In collaboration with others, let us make the dream of a Swachh Bharat a long-lived reality.
