For leading a civilized lifestyle, the basic necessity is cleanliness. Your home, workplace, and public places all should remain clean. The man behind the mantra “Cleanliness is Godliness’ was Mahatma Gandhi and the one who took it as an inspiration was Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi. He launched the campaign named Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2 2014.
How was the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan born?
In 1954, there was the launch of a sanitation program followed by the Central Rural Sanitation Programme in 1986. The scheme was revamped to the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). It was implemented in 1999 during the Vajpayee government. It was later termed as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) in 2012. This drive was initiated to make cities and towns of India completely clean by October 2, 2019, Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
On October 2, 2014, the campaign was restructured with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission). Before the launch, the government started with the drive on September 25, 2014.
About Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Though the government has initiated the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, it involves the efforts of citizens, private companies, NGOs, and other stakeholders to make it successful.
The mission focuses on providing sanitation facilities, including toilets, clean villages, waste disposal systems, provision of drinking water in all rural and urban cities of India, and reducing the negative impact on the environment.
Components of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
- Swachch Bharat Abhiyan- Gramin
This scheme mainly works towards rural sanitation coverage. Its main purpose is to remove the practice of open defecation and improve the sanitation system in villages.
- Swachch Bharat Abhiyan- Urban
It is developed to cover the three-fold objectives of the mission. Firstly it focuses on removing the practice of open defecation. Another purpose is converting pit latrines into sanitary toilets. Lastly, it aims to prevent the construction of new unsanitary toilets.
The Abhiyan coordinator is the Secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Major objectives of the campaign
- Building a large number of public and community toilets
- Promoting the concept of hygiene and sanitation at a larger scale
- Creating awareness about health and cleanliness
- Reducing open defecation in rural and urban areas
- Focusing on scientific management of solid and liquid waste
- Developing Cost-effective Sanitation measures
- Make India reach Sustainable Development Goal 6.
- Improving the quality of life in rural areas
- Setting up pipelines of water in rural areas
Impact of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Although India has got independence, the country has not got freedom from garbage and improper sanitation systems. There are overflowing drains and open dumps of garbage. This pushed the government to launch a flagship scheme Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, one of the biggest cleanliness drives ever.
This campaign positively impacts various sectors such as tourism, health, clean technology, foreign direct investment, and more.
Let us find out how things changed after the mission.
Tourism: India is known for its rich history, and tourism here is the booming sector. When talking about the GDP of India, it generates approximately 6.6 per cent. Due to poor sanitation, the industry falls back. This is because foreign tourists prefer hygiene and comfort.
However, due to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, things are improving. It is increasing the flow of foreign tourists and employing many.
Foreign Direct Investment: Due to the economic condition of India, Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) is quite crucial. Like Singapore, India is also hoping to achieve good FDI with the help of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
Health: Due to poor sanitation, diseases are widespread in India. Every year each Indian is facing the brunt of Rs 6500 as they spend it on medical care. With the help of this campaign, India” s health care sector will see good days. It will improve the health care facilities, and people will have to spend less on their health.
Improve productivity: Productivity is directly proportional to the health of the person. Due to Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, people will lead a healthy life and contribute largely to the economy’s growth.
Increase usage of biodegradable products: The campaign focuses on clean technology. India is moving towards the usage of biodegradable fuel and other such products. Currently, electric vehicles have become quite popular as other fuels create a lot of pollution.
Conclusion
It can be said that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the greatest link towards India’s economic success. The campaign works towards improving the sanitation systems and encourages the citizens to keep the surroundings clean and participate in the mission effectively.
When it comes to hygiene, we can say that this scheme is noteworthy. The scheme has given positive results. One such example is that in September 2019, when 35 states/Union Territories were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
