NEW DELHI: In the last six years, India has achieved an ambitious target in the areas of water and sanitation, said Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Friday while speaking at the India Sanitation Conclave.
“The focus now is on solid and liquid waste management under the open-defecation-free (ODF) plus framework. The Jal Jeevan mission is to providing safe and adequate water. A very large proportion of the investment required for this will be borne by the government. However, it is not possible for the government alone to do this. Without the private sector coming in, it is not possible to achieve this. Private sector has a critical and major role to play,” said Kant, when asked about potential for private investment.
“We are working on different business models. We would love to work with India Sanitation Mission,” he added. “Solution-oriented partnerships are the need of the hour in the private sector.
''There can be various start ups... Technology can provide last mile effective solutions. Solutions have to be highly localised,” he said. Data should be placed in public domain,'' he said.
“Data governance was the key to success in WASH sector,” he added.
A white paper ‘Accelerating private sector engagement for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in India’ released at the conclave said scheme convergence will be a useful tool in bringing about synergies between different government policies and schemes.
“In the area of FSSM, scheme convergence will not only aid in scaling the reach of FSSM practices across the country, but also facilitate sustainable development. Additionally, doing so will also accelerate private sector involvement through every stage of the FSSM value chain,” said the white paper.
Robust community engagement is a key aspect of ensuring successful implementation of FSSM in urban, per-urban and rural areas, it said
‘Solution-oriented partnerships are needed’
Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog CEO, is of the view that solution-oriented partnerships are the need of the hour in the private sector to provide adequate and safe water to the public.