Topic– Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
6) The success of Swachh Bharat mission lies in the behavioural change it has managed to bring, more than anything else. Critically analyze. (250 words)
Why this question
The article discusses the impact of swachh Bharat mission in terms of numbers and the behavioural impact that it has managed to create. As we move into the fifth and final year of swachh Bharat mission, an assessment of the programme and its successes is important.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to critically analyze whether the most important success of swachh Bharat mission lies in the behavioural change that it has led to or other things. Thus we have to give the numbers in terms of toilets having been constructed under SBM rural and urban, the number of villages which have attained ODF status, and the behavioural change that it has brought about. In the end your opinion is required on what the mission has achieved.
Directive word
Critically analyze – When asked to analyze, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, all you need to do is look at the good and bad of something and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Give a brief introduction to the swachh bharat mission.
Body
- Discuss the objectives of swachh Bharat and what it has managed to achieve so far in terms of numbers. No of toilets constructed, no of villages declared ODF etc
- Discuss the achievements under the scheme
- Since October 2014, 91.5 million toilets have been constructed and 154.3 million rural households have toilets now. Goa and Odisha, however still lag behind. Barring these two states, IHHL (individual household latrine application) coverage in all states is in excess of 95 per cent (Telangana is marginally less). By October 2019, coverage should be universal.
- simple on-ground verification of numbers uploaded on the MDWS website in a few areas found that many of the toilets claimed may not actually exist on the ground. This was revealed when organizations working in those areas went to provide the communities where such toilets were built information on post-construction usage and instead found the toilets missing. This raises questions on the efficacy of the SBM’s monitoring systems. Also a lot of money has been spent on building of toilets without an indication, at least until now, of toilet usage.
- Discuss the achievements with respect to creating awareness with regards to sanitation and the role of swachhrahis
- programme has achieved success in area of raising awareness about sanitation. Any cleanliness initiative will not achieve its objective without people’s participation. To that extent SBM surely deserves a credit. Other important initiatives include Bal Swatchata mission that was launched to inculcate cleanliness values and personal hygiene amongst children. This would go a long way in
- Also discuss the positive impact of the scheme on sections of society such as manual scavengers etc
Conclusion – Give your view and discuss way forward.
