HIGH POINT
| Date :04-Oct-2019 |
THAT the Government is in a position to declare India as an open defecation-free country, is a high point in contemporary public affairs. Not only does this come as a matter of social hygiene, but also as a matter of a positive cultural change the country is witnessing currently when more and more people are resolving to avoid defecation in open spaces and are serious about implementing the idea. As a part of this nationwide programme, countless of lakhs of toilets are being constructed, which ultimately is leading to a cleaner India, a healthier India. It is with legitimate pride that the Government has felt that the Swachha Bharat campaign’s success is an example to emulate for many countries that also face similar issues. Even though it was a big challenge for Independent India’s Government, the problem of open defecation was never confronted squarely by anybody.
As a result, India faced a massive problem of sanitation and public hygiene for all the 72 years since Independence. However, the Swachha Bharat made much difference to the country physically as well as culturally as more and more people started using well-built toilets. The massive campaign the Government launched for the construction of toilets for personal and public use proved to be very useful and successful, so much so that it can now be treated as a model effort internationally. Indian leadership is expecting to push the idea for implementation in other countries as well so that the footprint of better public health and hygiene expands.
The fact that the Government declared that India was an open defecation-free country right when the world was celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, has a special symbolism. It was Gandhiji who often insisted upon cleanliness as a matter of collective belief of the society. He saw the dream of the Indian village as an ideal habitat of a healthy society. Swachha Bharat is one mission that directly fulfills a dream of the Mahatma. The Swachha Bharat Mission has to be seen from all these multiple angles. One, it combats a major public hygiene and sanitation issue. Two, its success means that the people who were easing in open spaces until now are changing their habit, in the process bringing about a massive national tilt in favour of cleanliness plus dignity of the individual as well as the larger society.
Three, it also means that the nation always sensed the need for such a Mission, but lacked a political will and resolute leadership that actually believed in the concept. And four, most importantly, the common people believed in the achievability of the success in such a campaign that had never been given even a scant thought previously. The Swachha Bharat Mission also brought about certain changes in the way people looked at education of the girl child.
The Government was right in judging that countless lakhs of girls across the Indian landscape stopped going to school in their early teens because most schools did not have toilet facility. Because schools started having the facility, the number of girls in schools, particularly in the rural areas, increased, thus giving a boost to the Beti Padhav, Beti Bachav campaign. By no standard is this a mean achievement. It is true that official claim does not always match the ground reality. This may happen in the case of the claim as well that India is now an open defecation-free society. There is no doubt about the massive size of the Swachha Bharat Mission’s implementation. The official claim pertains more to rural India and less to urban India. Thus, there is also a need to expand the implementation of the campaign across the rural-urban divide. There is no doubt that this, too, will be achieved in due course of time that is not too distant in future. Beyond doubt, this Mission has a talismanic dimension that the world will never miss.