Follow Centre's lead: Time for states to call a war on open defecation

The Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday 10 years ago, has some commendable achievements to its credit. According to reports of the National Family Health Survey, 82.5 per cent of households now have access to toilet facilities, up from just 45 per cent in 2004-05, and 70 per cent of households have exclusive access to toilets, from 29 per cent in 2004-05. The sharp reduction in open defecation, with all its disease-propagating dangers, has played a role in the sharp decrease in the infant mortality rate as well. In a country as large and diverse as India, these metrics must count as remarkable progress. But in declaring India 100 per cent “Open Defecation Free” in 2019, the government may have celebrated prematurely. A closer look at the data suggests the battle against open defecation is yet to be decisively won.

The principal challenge remains in rural India, where open defecation has been a bigger issue. In spite of sharply improved toilet access, which stood at 90 per cent in 2019-20, usage has dropped. Overall, according to the World Bank, 11 per cent of the Indian population still practised open defecation in 2022. This is higher than in neighbouring countries, such as Afghanistan (8.8 per cent) and Pakistan (6.8 per cent). The diminishing intensity of investment and awareness programmes, curtailed expenditure, and limited institutional mechanisms to implement and sustain the programme may have played a part in regressions here. Budgetary allocation for both the rural and urban missions is falling steadily in percentage terms since 2018-19 as other programmatic objectives, such as the Jal Jeevan Mission, have gained traction. For the urban programme, for example, the Budget Estimate for FY24 was increased to Rs 5,000 crore, a sharp rise from the actual expenditure of Rs 1,926 crore in FY23, but was later halved to Rs 2,550 crore. For the rural programme, allocation has been almost unchanged over FY24 and FY25. Such shrinking allocation may be partly justified on the grounds that fewer toilets need to be built each year as the programme progresses apace. But critical investment is still needed for maintenance and on critical pending last-mile infrastructure such as grey water management, solid waste management, and sludge removal. In fact, the lack of a superstructure, malfunctioning toilets, and lack of water were cited by people as key reasons to stop using toilets. Equally, people also spoke of a personal preference for open defecation, suggesting there is still work to be done in maintaining the early tempo of the education and awareness campaign, which mobilised local participants and the bureaucracy to good effect.

The gains from the Swachh Bharat programme are too significant and hard-won to be dissipated for lack of funds or organisational momentum. More durable gains can also be delivered through progressive decentralisation, with the Centre focusing on institutional capacity building at the grassroots in collaboration with state governments and the third tier of governance. It would be a pity if such a project, which has clear benefits on both the human and economic development fronts, should remain only a Union government project.