Covid setback for Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin; 3/4th funds unutilised

In the Budget, the finance minister announced that the government would allocate Rs 7,192 crore this financial year towards the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) — 28 per cent less than the previous three years. Last year, Rs 9,994.1 crore was allocated to the rural programme.

A Business Standard analysis shows that fund utilisation for the programme, too, has fallen by three-fourths in the last two years. In 2019-20, the government was able to utilise 82.5 per cent of the allocated funds, but data from a Parliamentary Standing Committee report shows that in 2021-22, the ministry could utilise just 21 per cent