NEW DELHI: It was three years ago when the Modi government launched Swachh Bharat Mission and it became one of the flagship missions of the government. Three years after the launch, a survey in which over 1 lakh people have participated online has revealed the ground reality of Swachh Mission in the country.
The survey conducted among the Swachh Bharat Community by online community platform Local Circles has revealed a majority of people blaming the pathetic approach of municipal bodies or urban local bodies which are the main agency to implement the cleanliness related programmes of the government.
About 62 % people said that there is hardly any improvement in civic sense of common people even after three years of the launch of Swachh Mission. Similarly, about 71 % people said that there is hardly any change in the response of municipal bodies even after three years of the mission. Piles of garbage on roads in Delhi and many other parts of the country only establishes the findings of the survey.
Government has also instructed to conduct drive among the common people and resident welfare associations to create awareness about cleanliness. However, only 16 % people said that local bodies have conducted any drive for awareness on cleanliness.
According to the survey, the biggest area requiring immediate focus according to the citizens is the municipalities. The municipalities, according to citizens are not working in parallel to Swachh Bharat and are largely disengaged from the mission. As per citizens, poor municipal enforcement, lack of processes or systems, corruption, delays, responsiveness of municipalities and lack of accountability are issues that until effectively addressed will continue to be a bottleneck in the long-term success of Swachh Bharat.
Construction of toilets and making cities open defecation free has been the prime objective of cleanliness mission. Union minister, housing and urban affairs, Hardeep singh Puri on Monday said that five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana -- have been able to make all their urban areas open-defecation free (ODF).
Addressing a programme here on the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat mission, Puri said about 38 lakh household toilets in urban areas have already been built against a target of 66 lakh, and another 14 lakh toilets are under construction. He said over two lakh community and public toilets have been built, against a target of five lakh.
The minister stated that the focus should be now on solid-waste management. Efforts are on to generate over 500 MW of electricity and over 50 lakh tonnes of compost from municipal solid waste in order to process the entire solid waste generated in urban areas, Puri said.
Swachh Survey