Dr. Kamal Kar. Photo credit: CLTS Foundation Global

How can Uttar Pradesh, one of the global epicenters of open defecation, eliminate this scourge through Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)?

A couple of months ago, I was invited to participate in a major state-level advocacy and training workshop, ‘Good Practices on SBM-Gramin: Brainstorming for achieving ODF Uttar Pradesh’ by the Government of Uttar Pradesh as a resource person in Lucknow on 17^th and 18^th September 2016.

A few vibrant and enthusiastic District Magistrates (DMs),Chief Development Officers (CDOs) and District Panchayat Raj Officers (DPROs) from eighteen districts of Uttar Pradesh were invited to participate and share their experiences of implementing Swachh Bharat Mission in their respective districts. Their participation in the two-days workshop highlighted some very interesting and intriguing facts and explicitly explained how the young and energetic officials have been fighting the ‘household subsidy monster’ in making villages open defecation free (ODF) in the state of U.P. In India, upfront household level hardware sanitation subsidy has been a feature of sanitation programmes over the past many decades, with the centre contributing 75% and the state providing the remaining 25%. The subsidy amount has been increased more than ten times over in the last couple of decades, with it now standing at Rs. 12,000/ per household.

The CLTS approach was introduced in India in early 2001-2002 in the state of Maharashtra as a pilot in two districts, Ahmednagar and Nanded. The CLTS pilots were successful and subsequently, the approach was introduced in all the 32 districts in the state through series of hands-on training workshops, advocacy, and post-triggering follow-up activities. The success of CLTS in the state brought high-level delegations including ministers and secretaries from the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan to the ODF villages in Maharashtra. Interestingly all the state officials who visited the ODF villages were motivated by the power of CLTS in changing the mindsets of the community in stopping open defecation. The then Secretary of Government of India, in a conversation with me, remarked that he was not only very happy but also surprised to see Maharashtra, one of the poorest performing states in the country to emerge as top performing states by adopting CLTS approach.

In 2006 this model was replicated in the state of Himachal Pradesh which brought about a massive transformation in the collective hygiene behaviour across the state. The access to sanitation of Himachal Pradesh shot up from 41% in 2003 to 84% in 2007. Presently, Himachal Pradesh has successfully achieved total rural sanitation coverage of 100 percent in the state, with all 12 districts in the state being both, declared as well as verified as ODF. What was critical to the success of CLTS in these two cases (pilot project in Maharashtra and state wide scaling up in Himachal Pradesh) was the leadership of two senior IAS officers, Mr. BC Khatua, the then Principal Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Maharashtra and Mr. Deepak Sanan, the then Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, and currently Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh, who spearheaded the initiatives in their states respectively. These officials were convinced about the ability of CLTS to initiate collective action towards open defecation without waiting for any outside subsidy or dole. The state level CLTS champions realized that household hardware subsidy was blocking the smooth transition of collective local action as households were allured to grab free government subsidy or material without the necessary motivation to change open defecation behaviour. Even those who could afford to build their own toilets without waiting for outside help didn’t do so. Both the senior officers understood that the roll out of CLTS was only possible if an essential enabling environment to empower local communities without any terms dictated by outsiders was ensured. Community empowerment for roll out of CLTS was not possible because of the top-down, prescriptive, hardware subsidy model existed. These officials at the state level challenged the existing situation and did their best to eliminate household hardware subsidy model ensuring right enabling environment through the issuance of government orders and policy adjustment through cabinet approval and assembly legislation. The government of Himachal Pradesh adopted a policy of no subsidies for household toilets backed by appropriate capacity building initiatives to enable roll-out in campaign mode.This brought about a sea change in the collective hygiene behavior in rural communities of Himachal Pradesh. The triggering exercises of CLTS became meaningful and mobilized communities who invested in local resources to build toilets and stop open defecation(OD) without waiting for any help from outside.

Unfortunately this example of ensuring enabling environment through appropriate policy change was not replicated in any other state in the country and the individual household hardware subsidy continued to be the prevalent policy under ‘Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC)’ in 1999 as well as the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA)’ in 2000 to the present ‘Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)’ in 2014.

Government gives Sanitation the Top Priority: ‘Special Boost for Sanitation in India’

With SBM, sanitation received a renewed thrust and focus in India, making it one of the top four national priorities. Though there is a larger thrust on community mobilization and the need for behaviour change in SBM ever seen before in India, the provision of subsidy is still the guiding framework of all interventions under SBM. The use of the CLTS approach in SBM has been watered down to mere use of triggering tools to generate a need for toilets among community members, after which those eligible are given the sanctioned amount to build toilets. Therefore the focus has continued to remain on acquiring toilets as an individual asset, rather than inspiring collective behaviour change for better sanitation (involving the so-called eligible and not eligible) which is a public good and therefore the responsibility of every single individual in the community. An open defecation free environment guided by shared values, community solidarity and collective action from the community is what sustains this behaviour change as well. With the provision of outside financial assistance, firstly sanitation is externally motivated, seen as someone else’s need and not one’s own and hence not internalized and prioritized by the people. Secondly, when the subsidy is given only to some (those below Poverty line who have not received the same in earlier sanitation programmes) and not the others, there is no scope for collective action as the community gets fragmented. The result as we’ve seen through the many decades and different sanitation programmes in India, is a situation where communities have toilets, but either do not use it or it is used only by some members of the family while others continue to defecate in the open.

Photo source: BBC

Within this policy framework and existing reality, states are trying various innovative ways to achieve their targets and meet the national goal of an ODF India by 2019. This workshop brought to light the techniques being used by some of the administrative officials in Uttar Pradesh.

What was different about this Uttar Pradesh workshop?

The recent two-days workshop in Uttar Pradesh brought to light the experiences and reflections of young district level officers on overcoming the subsidy monster and continuing to motivate local initiatives of the people for stopping OD, as a sincere and desperate move to achieve sustainable results.This was indeed an eye opener as these enthusiastic DMs, CDOs and DPROs from 18 districts of Uttar Pradesh shared how the enormous amount of their energy, resources and time was being spent only to overcome the barrier of subsidy, which is blocking the spontaneous collective community action to end OD unleashed through the triggering of CLTS.

Uttar Pradesh: One of the Global Epicenters of the Practice of Open Defecation

Photo source: Indian Express

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India and also one of the top states affected by the scourge of open defecation. According to Census 2011, 78.2% of rural population in Uttar Pradesh defecate in the open. This makes Uttar Pradesh home to the largest number of open defecators in India, a country which contributes to 60% of the open defecation taking place in the world. In accordance to the BLS (Base Line Survey) conducted in 2012 by the Directorate of SBM (Gramin) of U.P, the percentage of households not having toilets is 64.76%. The sanitation coverage of Uttar Pradesh post-BLS in 2012 is 44.13% as on 31st March 2016. After the baseline survey, there is only 2.06% increase in construction and accessibility of sanitation facilities in the state. Uttar Pradesh felt an immediate need to implement CLTS approach for inculcating and empowering behavioral changes in the communities.

Reflections by the DMs, CDOs, and DPROs of Uttar Pradesh on innovative approaches being implemented

In the manner that triggering is being done currently, the triggered communities seem divided. While some of them realize the need to stop OD urgently, the entire community is unable to come together to take collective action due to the divisive nature of eligibility to receive subsidy set by the government. Those given subsidies build toilets but all of them don’t necessarily use the toilets and continue practicing OD. Those not given a subsidy continue to wait for it from the government and in the meanwhile continue OD. With some people continuing to defecate in the open, those using toilets continue being at the risk of contamination. As a result, most communities could not move spontaneously towards achieving ODF status. The community members understood and appreciated the CLTS approach but were allured by the government supported subsidy model.

A few senior district level officers firmly believe that it is essential to create self-empowered communities who will enable ODF environments for themselves through their own innovative collective community initiatives. These officials introduced various innovative models in different districts of Uttar Pradesh to overcome the ceaseless dependence of community members on mere subsidies. Their prime focus has been to reduce the emphasis on the importance of subsidy and in this process, they are creating an enabling environment in the communities for continuing with consistent collective local actions that will help achieve ODF. But it has been extremely challenging to mobilize collective local action of the communities because of the traditional thinking of the community members that improvement in sanitation is possible only when it is externally funded.

Sincere and dedicated efforts are being made by these administrative officials to divert the attention from subsidy towards self-realization, collective local action, and social solidarity for ensuring access to basic sanitation to the community members. In this regard, the CDO, Bijnor and his team undertook a baseline survey, after which they triggered the CLTS process which resulted in local innovations in terms of developing ‘Compressed Demand’ that led to ‘Compressed Subsidy’. Through this process, the district team in Bijnor was able to ensure that the entire demand for toilets in a particular community was met with the amount of money available in total for that community, without making individual household allocations. This is another form of community solidarity as this shows that some families were ready to forego a part of the subsidy amount to enable other households to avail toilets as well. In this way, diverse set of people including people with disabilities, widows, senior citizens etc. were brought under the eligibility criteria.

Pride and Dignity were used as triggers during the introduction of CLTS approach in the community. Stopping open defecation was linked with issues of dignity and pride. Toilets were termed as ‘Izzat Ghar’(Dignity Home) and the empowered community members proactively used local and other available materials to develop low cost and appropriate toilets as they sensed the urgency of stopping the practice of OD.

Another innovation tried out in some villages in Bijnor was to offer the subsidy amount as community-based rewards after the achievement of ODF in the community. In this case, the amount would be used for community goods such as roads, schools, water facilities etc. One of the most cherished outcomes of CLTS is shared responsibilities. It happens when most of the community members are mobilized and take actions collectively for the larger good. CLTS also results in the emergence of Natural Leaders (NLs) who play a more active role than the rest of the community in taking the community towards ODF. Some villages in U.P reported peer pressure as another tool for stopping OD. Once triggered the communities come together to stop any defaulter from defecating outside. Those who do are compelled to pay a fine to the Gram Panchayat. All these innovative approaches have to an extent been able to challenge the blockage caused by subsidies and have produced the desired outcome. Below mentioned is an info-graphical depiction of the innovative approaches:

Still, a lot needs to be done in terms of transforming the institutional attitude in thinking, establishing effective collaborations and mainstreaming the approach within the government. We need to create an ambitious yet realistic goal for ensuring successful elimination of OD in India. It is time to trust the power of social solidarity of the local communities and have faith in their abilities to change by encouraging innovations in accordance with the local situations. Rather than viewing subsidized and prescriptive toilet construction as the only solution, community-led approaches have the inherent potential to bring about rapid and long-lasting transformational change.

It would be a national shame if 80% or more of the districts of our country are being declared ODF by the government when they are not so in reality. In other words, the present statistics of child mortality, the incidence of diarrhea, malnutrition and stunting as a health outcome must coincide with such ambitious declaration.

Dr. Kamal Kar is Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global. He is the recipient of Sarphati Lifetime Achievement in Sanitation Award 2015 at Amesterdam. 

The post Dr. Kamal Kar: The struggle to overcome the ‘Sanitation Subsidy Monster’ in India appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Haryana: Paving the Pathway towards an Open Defecation Free State through CLTS 

1st intervention by World Bank and CLTS Foundation Global kicks-off in state

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This ToT workshop is organised under the aegis of the World Bank’s intervention on Swachh Bharat Mission in India. This was the first such high level institutional workshop in the state of Haryana in association with CLTS Foundation Global and Government of Haryana. The training participants consisted of block coordinators, village motivators, social work professors, students and other stakeholders. Participants came from nine districts of Haryana namely Karnal, Hisar, Sonipat, Gharunda, Rohtak, Jind, Ambala, Bhiwani.

The 5-day institutional triggering intervention in Karnal district of Haryana was conducted with the following objectives:

1. Gain clear understanding and knowledge on the principles, rationale, methodology, applicability and limitations of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in order to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) environments with special reference to respective districts and Haryana context.
2. Understand the importance of all four stages of the CLTS process:pre-triggering, triggering, post triggering follow up and post ODF activities.
3. Understand the importance of triggering usage of toilets through collective behaviour change and achieving ODF instead of focusing on mere latrine construction with no tangible outcomes.
4. Understand the importance of engaging diverse set of stakeholders in the CLTS scaling up process.
5. Discussion and presenting an action plan for expediting CLTS implementation and scaling up process across respective districts in Haryana with a clear emphasis on engaging with Natural Leaders (NL) and a focus on community empowerment.

Participants in the workshop

The initial two days of the training covered the theoretical aspects and preparation for the field work for implementation of the learning in the field. It was observed that many of the participants have been attending numerous trainings before and one of the main challenges during the training was unlearning what they had learnt to focus on the main idea of CLTS approach. Emphasis was given on the quality rather than quantity of ODF.

Many of the participants also shared the failures or challenges of many of the sanitation schemes and the subsidy approach.

Those learnings have been noted down to be presented on the last day of the training when some of the senior Govt. officials of the state are expected to be present and discuss the action plan for carrying out the in their respective districts.

The participants showed ample enthusiasm and dedication during the first two days of the workshop. The participants will be visiting 12 villages of nearby districts on the 17^th and19^th Nov and carry out triggering exercise. These villages are untouched by CLTS approach and we are expecting some of these to be Open Defecation Free (ODF) in coming days.

The post Haryana: Swachh Bharat Mission tackles Open Defecation through Behaviour Change approach appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

On October 2^nd, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the mammoth Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) with the promise to make India open defecation free (ODF) by 2019. Along with providing government funding, the SBM also sought active participation from the corporate sector to tackle the issue. To this end it launched the Swachh Bharat Kosh (fund) “to facilitate channelisation of philanthropic contributions and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds”. Companies responded with enthusiasm; many did so because of Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, which introduced mandatory CSR, to contribute to the campaign. Total fund mobilised under Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) as on January 31, 2016 stood at Rs 369.74 crore.

Now, a recent report ‘CSR in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) – What are India’s Top Companies up to?’ by the India Sanitation Coalition(ISC) and Samhita Social Ventures sheds some light on the nature of intervention by companies. The findings give interesting insights into how companies perceive their CSR investments in WASH.

Are current CSR investments making India ‘Swachh’?

The study selected 100 companies with the largest CSR budgets on the BSE 500. 90% of these 100 companies reported at least one CSR intervention in WASH over the last three years, with a total of 164 programs carried out.

Source

But, this report gives a bleak picture. It says, “Despite compelling evidence that the construction of toilets alone cannot eliminate open defecation, 75% companies were supporting programs related to creating infrastructure, such as the construction of toilets and water facilities, with little focus on programs aimed at influencing behaviour. Underlying reasons for this could include perceiving behaviour change programs as high risk due to difficulties quantifying and measuring impact, the long gestation period required and a lack of knowledge combined with construction-oriented targets defined by the Government.”

A vast body of research in the past few years prove that one of the key reasons for high open defecation rates, particularly in rural India, is the lack of proper behaviour change interventions, especially collective behaviour change. The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan had a budget outlay of Rs 4260 crore (http://www.gktoday.in/nirmal-bharat-abhiyan/), but at the end of the programme India still remained the country with the highest number of open defecators. The SQUAT survey findings by r.i.c.e. Institute also show that poverty is not the only thing that is holding rural households back from building toilets; large parts of the population do not seem to have as yet made the association between good health and using toilets.

CLTS and India Inc: Time to unleash the true potential of Community-Led Total Sanitation

Participants and Dr. Kamal Kar pledging to make Simikot in Nepal an ODF urban township. Photo: Amit Sengupta/CLTSFoundation

In the SDG era, companies can’t afford to waste their resources on toilets which will not be used. Posing beside newly built toilets could be a great photo-opportunity for companies, but they must keep in mind that the photos of defunct and unused toilets built by them could also be potentially damaging to their public image.

India Inc have to start thinking about their CSR in terms of ROI (return on investments), which in this case should be social, economic and health impact of their investments in WASH. If SBA is about behaviour change and not infrastructure then why is corporate India not following suit? Why are all monies being mobilised for constructing toilets? Or is India Inc suffering from the hangover of an incentive driven regime?

Also Read: Rural Sanitation Transformation in Himachal Pradesh

In the past two decades the CLTS (Community-led Total Sanitation) approach has firmly established its potential to create lasting social impact. It focuses on igniting a change in collective sanitation behaviour, which is achieved through a process of collective local action stimulated by facilitators from within or outside the community. CLTS involves no up-front, individual household hardware subsidy and does not prescribe latrine models. At the heart of CLTS lies the recognition that merely providing toilets does not guarantee their use, nor result in improved sanitation and hygiene. The success of this approach is evident by the scale of its spread. At present the approach has been rolled out in more than 65 countries and is in the national policy of more than 35 countries.

Facilitating session before CLTS triggering in Bangladesh which is an Open Defecation Free country. Photo courtesy: AD Roy/Care Bangladesh

It is indeed sad for India that such an approach which has been developed by an Indian national (Dr Kamal Kar) has been limited in its impact by myopic thinking.

The corporate sector in India is powerful and has been driven by innovation. It is led by business houses which are respected all over the world. We are half way through the programme period of the SBM and it’s a good tie for India Inc to pause and rethink strategies. There have been archipelagos of success of CLTS interventions which have to be replicated rapidly. For e.g.: In January 2005, the government of Himachal Pradesh formally approved a comprehensive new rural sanitation strategy for the state with every one of those features that CLTS adoption and scaling up seemed to require.

Also Read: Toilet subsidy is no solution to sanitation crisis: Sanan

From the middle of 2006, a new pro-active person was given a stable tenure as Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in Himachal Pradesh. Seeing the success of CLTS in Mandi district and WSP’s persistent advocacy, he encouraged district level trainings and participated in workshops at both state and regional level. A state level rural sanitation review committee was set up in 2007. This enabled continued interaction and the evolution of an excellent monitoring system that helped track the CLTS effort across the state. The new monitoring system focused on the processes to create ODF villages instead of counting individual toilets and state expenditure on hardware. The officials responsible for programme implementation were no longer being held accountable for toilets constructed and funds disbursed. Instead they were answerable for the extent to which communities (local government) were being facilitated to undertake the responsibility communities had assumed for improving their own sanitation situation. The programme ran effectively in campaign mode and the results became clearly visible by 2010.

In recent times, Chhattisgarh has shown remarkable success. The state began the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2^nd October 2014 and at that time there were only 20 open defecation free villages throughout the state, but as of May 2016, there are 1644 ODF villages in the state. The state doesn’t give upfront incentives to the households for construction of toilets. There is flexibility in the policy and often it is upto the Village Water and Sanitation Committee to decide. The state of Chhattisgarh has focused on the communities rather than the individuals. As a result it’s not family, but a set of families in the Gram, village or in the Panchayats, which are important.

ALSO READ: Dr. M. Geetha: Creating an enabling environment to tackle open defecation in Chhattisgarh

Indian companies have the advantage of not being burdened by red-tapism internally, so they can move with speed. There are people and organisations in India who can work with companies to help them reframe their strategies to achieve the vision of an open defecation free India.

The question: Is India Inc ready, or will it wait for 2019 and see graveyards of unused toilets in Indian villages?

The clock is ticking.

The views expressed in the blog are of the author’s own, personal reflections. Community Led Total Sanitation Foundation is not responsible for the views expressed herewith.

The post Can India Inc unleash the true potential of CLTS to make a Swachh Bharat? appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

From L to R: Ashok Meena, Navjot Sandhu, Kamal Kar, Upneet Singh, Somenath Sen and Nitika Suri

Dr. Kamal Kar was invited by the Government of Haryana and World Bank – WSP programme as a resource person for a workshop that the state organised for its senior bureaucrats including officers from the districts to prepare a pathway for improving the access to sanitation of the state to fulfill the dreams of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign and make an open defecation free Haryana on 1-3 June 2016.

However, even though the state has a provision of individual household level toilet at more than 85 % according to an independent survey (Squat Survey 2014) it was found that 35 % of rural households have at least one member defecating in the open. The Government of Haryana took advise from Dr. Kar in fast tracking its sanitation strategy by incorporating vital elements of community-led total sanitation approach in this workshop which was attended by senior officers from all the 21 districts of Haryana.

Meetings with Govt. of Haryana

During his visit, Dr. Kar met with Ms. Navjot Sandhu, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Government, Mr. Ashok Meena and other senior bureaucrats of the Government of Haryana and World Bank (WSP). It needs to be mentioned here that Government of India (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation) is implementing Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign to provide access to sanitation to all by 2019 and has recently taken a 1.5 USD Billion loan from World Bank to fast track its progress on the campaign and create an open defecation free India.

Speaking about the visit, Dr. Kar said: “I was pleased to meet the champions of CLTS in Haryana who did a splendid job back in 2005-2006 when CLTS was introduced in Haryana by Dr. Kar. These champions are Dr. Amit Agarwal, IAS, Secretary, Government of Haryana, Mr. Bikas Gupta, IAS among others who introduced community-led total sanitation in the state of Haryana.” The state of Haryana was one of the first states in the country to implement CLTS as a state strategy and stopped subsidy for two years. The focus of the state was on collective behaviour change with strong emphasis on training and building a cadre of facilitators and on ground frontline soldiers for triggering behaviour change and follow up. The state is shifting its strategy and focus on elimination of open defecation at a collective level rather than toilet construction.

However the one day planned meeting with all the deputy commisisoners was called off because of unforseen circumstances related to law and order of the state. This meeting has been called off and will be rescheduled at a later date.

“The next day i.e. 3 June there was a state level meeting in Chandigarh where the senior officers from the government, Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Ministry of Education and many champions of CLTS participated. The meeting discussed the pros and cons of developing a more effective sanitation strategy of the state which enhances the local empowerment for sustainable sanitation improvement using community-led total sanitation,” observed Dr. Kar.

The post Dr. Kar’s visit for a consultation meeting to fast track open defecation free Haryana appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Dr. Geetha during one of her visits in a district in Chhattisgarh. Photo courtesy

In an interview to Dr. Kamal Kar and Amit Sengupta, the Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission, Chhattisgarh, Dr. M. Geetha talks on how her state is on a mission mode and creating a trailblazer effect on tackling open defecation by creating an enabling environment in the state.

Amit Sengupta: As the Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission, Chhattisgarh, do you see the progress of SBM in your state?

Dr. M. Geetha: We began the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state on 2^nd October 2014 and at that time there were only 20 open defecation free villages throughout the state. Today, as we talk, there are 1644 ODF villages in the state. We don’t give upfront incentives to the households for construction of toilets. There is flexibility in the policy and often it is upto the Village Water and Sanitation Committee to decide. We are working on this approach to tackle the problem of open defecation.

We have made tremendous progress in the last almost one and a half years. We feel confident that we have followed a pattern. We have to understand that the communities are not homogeneous mix. They are a heterogeneous group of people of different caste, creed and ethnicity. Often, different dynamics play a crucial factor while dealing with the communities. We have to be aware of those dynamics.

Amit Sengupta: Recently, some new ODF Blocks has made headlines…

Dr. M. Geetha: Yes. Tow ODF Blocks – Ambagarh Chowki and Churya in the district of Rajnandgaon have been declared as open defecation free. We have not just focused on rural sanitation in these two blocks. We have moved towards and incorporated urban sanitation as well. The efforts take a lot of time and we just cannot jump from one stage to the other since we have to follow a pattern.

Geetha with other members of a local Self Help Group in Chhattisgarh. Photo: Kamal Kar/CLTS Foundation Global

When communities come together it unites them towards a common goal and vision. It binds them for a common cause and they are able to see the benefits of working towards that common goal. During those exercises and community participation and triggering, natural leaders emerge and lead from the frontlines of the grassroot movement. Bringing the community together ensures the sustainability of the project and sustainability of the open defecation free status.

Dr. Kamal Kar: But open defecation still exists and women are the worst victims?

Dr. M. Geetha: We also insist that, to ensure this behavioral change, while the state has suggested that while we could give some incentives to families and communities. The state of Chhattisgarh has focused on the communities rather than the individuals. As a result its not family, but a set of families in the Gram, village or in the Panchayats, which are important. Even the incentives, it comes later. Once the community achieved the status, the money that comes in, which we call as incentive, is then utilized for a community purpose.

Dr. Kamal Kar: So the efficiency of utilization goes many times more?

Dr. M. Geetha: Absolutely, and it is also about, the neighbors supporting the people who are not well of.

Dr. Kamal Kar: So you meant to say – total solidarity?

Dr. M. Geetha: Absolutely. I think it is the solidarity that is being built through the communities, and mission is able to achieve that once the community is triggered and brought to the notion that, sanitation and safe sanitation is towards better life.

Amit Sengupta: As the mission director of Swachh Bharat Mission how do you ensure the monitoring of the project?

Dr. M. Geetha: We have a robust monitoring system in place. There are three Consultants who report to me. Each of these 3 Consultants have a responsibility to manage 9 districts. They arrange for at least one visit to each of these districts every month. We have weekly follow up and review meetings at the district level. We get the District Collectors for the review meeting through online and video conferencing.

I also travel regularly and in particular divisions for three-four days at a stretch. As part of these regular monitoring visits, a lot of mid-course corrective measures follow. It’s a continuous process. Reviewing and follow-up are ensured to keep track of the SBM.

We also use technology to ensure monitoring and keeping track of progress real time. We have created several WhatsApp Group (there are 3 WhatsApp group – one for the District Collectors, second for the Zilla Parishads and third for the NGO partners and their staffs) for continuous engagement. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. I reply to every query before I go to bed.

Geetha interacting with the community in one of the districts in Chhattisgarh. Photo courtesy

Amit Sengupta: What do you think are the advantages of the community-led total sanitation approach that your state is implementing?

Dr. M. Geetha: As I was talking about the monitoring and constant interaction with the machinery, we want to engage the community. It’s not easy to break long existing taboos. We have experienced that sustainability becomes questionable when the community is not involved. Once they are onboard, they take ownership of the process and it becomes easier for us to sustain the status of an ODF village or unit.

It’s all about building and empowering the community. We are more hopeful now.

Amit Sengupta: I remember, in one of the sessions chaired by Dr. Kamal Kar at SACOSAN VI Conference, Dhaka you mentioned about the problem of dysfunctional toilets. How do you plan to tackle that?

Dr. M. Geetha: Dysfunctional toilets are not just a problem of Chhattisgarh. They are there in every state. There may be difficulties as we go ahead but we have got to move ahead. We continue to support our panchayats in tackling this problem. We have told them that they can try and get funds allocated under the 14^th Finance Commission to identify and support people of economically weaker sections to rebuild or repair their toilets.

The district of Rajnandgaon has taken their own initiatives in improving their dysfunctional toilets. Surguja district has declared their two blocks as ODF. Bilaspur district is showing tremendous progress as well. So, overall we are improving the status of lack of toilets and sanitation.

Interacting with villagers during a monitoring visit. Photo courtesy.

Dr. Kamal Kar: Geetha, Chhattisgarh has got 27 districts. Do you think that in the next couple of years with the great innovative action, I mean the kind of initiative that you have started, do you think that in next the 1 and 1 ½ years, this state would become one of the leading state in terms of showing this as an example for the whole country by achieving, very close to 100% ODF status?

Dr. M. Geetha: We are very optimistic. We feel that, instead of talking about individuals, and perhaps talking only of certain villages or certain blocks or certain districts, we are talking about the state as a whole. We are trying to trigger communities and we are going through all the methods possible, to achieve, you know community empowerment. We have provided some flexibility to the districts, to have their own strategies and the state has taken a pledge that it will follow the Community-Led-Total-Sanitation method. Once the state has pledged towards this then the districts are aware of it and we are all working towards this goal.

The state has also taken a stand that we should work towards empowering communities completely towards ODF by December 2018 as an outcome, and we shall work towards Dec 2018 and not wait for 2019, and work towards that through the communities.

Amit Sengupta: Which District do you think will attain the status of the first ODF District in Chhattisgarh?

Dr. M. Geetha: We are on a mission mode and attain the status as fast as possible. We have to ensure the coverage of sanitation from one village to another. We have not hired ‘motivators’ but what we are sending is a particular team of ‘CLTS practitioners’. These teams also monitor whether there is a follow-up after triggering in the community or not.

I think the district of Mungeli will attain the status of the first ODF District in Chhattisgarh. The district has launched a campaign called ‘Sankalp Swachh Mungeli’. It’s a district of 3 Blocks and 375 GPs and hopefully it will show the pathway to similar other districts in the next two-three years.

The post Dr. M. Geetha: Creating an enabling environment to tackle open defecation in Chhattisgarh appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

The crux of the success of the Community led Total sanitation (CLTS) methodology lies in igniting collective action in the community to address their own sanitation issues. Women have been at the forefront of this action in many communities, emerging as Natural Leaders and leading the change from the front. This is one such case story of a Natural Leader in an open defecation free (ODF) slum community in Kalyani Municipality that became the first ODF urban local body in India in 2009.

Geeta Biswas, 50, is a Natural Leader in Vidyasagar Colony in Kalyani Municipality, Nadia district, West Bengal, India. Vidyasagar Colony was the first slum community, among the 52, to achieve open defecation free (ODF) status in Kalyani Municipality.

‘The CLTS triggering at Vidyasagar Colony inspired locals to take control of their present situation, which was taken up fiercely by women,’ said Geeta, whose interest in social issues was nurtured during the time that she started a self-help group called “Swarnajayanti’ involving all the women in the community. “As a group we undertook a number of community development services and income generation activities which helped in making the women independent and self-reliant.” The women in Vidyasagar Colony were thus already a force to reckon with during the time that the Municipality health department approached them to implement community led sanitation initiatives.

Geeta Biswas pointing out to an open defecation map in a triggering exercise in Vidyasagar Colony. Photo: Amit Sengupta/CLTS Foundation Global

As Geeta explains, women participated very actively during the triggering exercise and hence were also engaged in the post-triggering phase. “As part of the self-help group, we used to meet once or twice a week to discuss various issues. We used this platform to discuss how we could improve sanitation in our community. It was very natural.”

Geeta reveals that the CLTS triggering was an eye opener for people in the community. “We also realised that it was not difficult to make changes. The cost of building a toilet also was very low. We asked ourselves what had stopped us from having our own toilets earlier?” She said that as a leader of her group, she invested her time in mobilizing women from her group and other women in the community to change their sanitation behaviour and practices. “We would go door-to door trying to get people to act fast after the triggering. But it was not easy.”

The women in Vidyasagar Colony were thus already a force to reckon with during the time that the Municipality health department approached them to implement community led sanitation initiatives. Photo: Amit Sengupta/CLTS Foundation Global

Geeta noted that the challenge was not that people did not understand what they had to do but in taking the decision to spend money. “In some households, the men and women jointly made the spending decisions. In some others, women had a tough time convincing the men in their households. It boiled down to them not wanting to listen to what the women were telling them,” she recounts. Geeta recalls that she had to face humiliation many a times when household members, mainly men, would not listen to what she had to say. “But we persisted. And the power of the collective won them over eventually. After everyone built their toilets, they were thankful to us.” According to Geeta, empowering each woman to come together and take charge was important. Collective action by the women and other community members was a key factor in making the community ODF.

Geeta Biswas pointing out to an open defecation map in a triggering exercise in Vidyasagar Colony. Photo: Amit Sengupta/CLTS Foundation Global

Every household started building their own toilets with technical advice from the Municipality Town planning officer as and when required. After the community was declared ODF, Geeta was offered a cash reward for all her efforts, which she refused to take stating that her real reward was in watching the transformation of her community from an extremely dirty one to the clean place that she now resides in. ‘I feel extremely proud of the proactive role that women have played in making this Colony ODF. This is the biggest reward and my greatest achievement so far’.

Note to Editors: This case story is part of a study titled “The impact of CLTS on women’s health in urban slums – The case of Kalyani Municipality”, a joint collaborative effort between the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex and the CLTS Foundation Global as part of a project within an Accountable Grant funded by UK Aid from the UK’s Department for International Development.

By Preetha Prabhakaran – Programme Manager, CLTS Foundation Global

Cover Photo: Geeta Biswas during one triggering exercise in Vidyasagar Colony, Kalyani, West Bengal, India. Photo: Amit Sengupta/CLTS Foundation Global

The post ‘Open Defecation Free Vidyasagar Colony is My Reward’: Voice of a Natural Leader in Kalyani appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

কল্যাণীর ৪ নং ওয়ার্ডের হরিজন পল্লির বাসিন্দা সূর্য বাঁশফোর। তাঁর ছয় বছরের ফুটফুটে মেয়ে যেদিন ডায়েরিয়ায় মারা গেল। সন্তান হারিয়ে দিশেহারা বাবার মাথায় আকাশ ভেঙে পড়েছিল। আর অশনি সঙ্কেত দেখেছিলেন হরিজন পল্লির বাকি বাসিন্দারা।বস্তির কয়েকজন সচেতন ব্যক্তি বুঝেছিলেন, খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম এবং তার থেকে ছড়িয়ে পড়া মারণ জীবাণুই প্রাণ কেড়েছে শিশুটির। এভাবে চলতে থাকলে আরও অনেক মায়ের কোলই শূন্য হবে। কিন্তু বস্তির অর্ধশিক্ষিত নিরক্ষর মানুষগুলিকে কীকরে সচেতন করবেন, তা বুঝতে পারছিলেন না তাঁরা। শেষে নাটকের মাধ্যমে সচেতনতা প্রসারের উদ্যোগ নিলেন এলাকার মহিলারাই। রীতিমতো মঞ্চ বেঁধে সূ‌র্য বাঁশফোর পরিবারের ঘটনাকে তুলে ধরা হল। তার ফলও মিলল হাতেনাতে। ৩০০ টাকা খরচ করে বাড়িতে প্রথম টয়লেট বানালেন সূ‌র্যই। দেখাদেখি বস্তির অন্যান্য পরিবারও এগিয়ে এল। ধীরে ধীরে খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম ইতিহাস হয়ে গেল হরিজন পল্লিতে। তবে কাজল, সীমা বাঁশফোররা সেখানেই থেমে থাকেননি। ওয়ার্ডের অন্যান্য বস্তিতেও সচেতনতা প্রসার করেছেন তাঁরা।

২০০৬ সালে কল্যাণী পুরসভার তৎকালীন চেয়ারম্যান ড. শান্তনু ঝাঁ-এর আমন্ত্রণে কল্যাণীর বস্তি এলাকায় পা রেখেই সমস্যার গভীরতা আঁচ করেছিলেন সিএলটিএস ফাউন্ডেশনের সদস্যরা।পুরসভার সঙ্গে যৌথ উদ্যোগে শুরু হয় সচেতনতা প্রসার।১৫০ টাকার টয়লেট প্যান দেওয়া হয়েছিল প্রত্যেক পরিবারকে। কয়েক বছরে কল্যাণী হয়ে ওঠে ওডিএফ বা ওপেন ডেফিকেশন ফ্রি এলাকা। ২০০৯ সালে রাষ্ট্রপতির কাছ থেকে স্বীকৃতিস্বরূপ পুরস্কারও পায়।

কল্যাণী পুরসভার এক নং ওয়ার্ডের বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি পুর এলাকার প্রথম বস্তি যেটি পুরোপুরি ওপেন ডেফিকেশন ফ্রি বা ওডিএফ হয়েছিল। এলাকার বেশিরভাগ বাসিন্দাই বাংলাদেশি উদ্বাস্তু। তাঁদের বাড়ি কাঁচা হলেও বাথরুম পাকা সকলেরই। এদের কেউ কৃষক, কেউ মুড়ি বিক্রি করে সংসার চালান। তবু এটুকু বুঝেছেন যে পরিষ্কার পরিচ্ছন্নতার কোনও বিকল্প নেই। এরজন্য সরকারি ভর্তুকিরও অপেক্ষা করেননি জগদীশ বিশ্বাস, অমর হালদাররা। আত্মীয়দের থেকে টাকা ধার করেই বাড়িতে শৌচালয় বানিয়ে ফেলেছেন।

ভারতের প্রতিবেশী রাষ্ট্র বাংলাদেশ এখন ৯৯% ওডিএফ। নেপালও তাই। অথচ ভারতে যেখানে শৌচালয় বানাতে কয়েকশো কোটি টাকা ভর্তুকি দেয় সরকার, সেখানে আজও অবাধে চলছে খোলা জায়গায় শৌচকর্ম। তাই এই ধরনের প্রকল্পের যৌক্তিকতা নিয়েই প্রশ্ন উঠছে। শুধু ভর্তুকি দিয়ে শৌচালয় বানিয়ে দিলেই দায়িত্ব ফুরিয়ে যায় না। মানুষের আচরণে পরিবর্তন আনা অত্যন্ত জরুরি। না হলে সমস্যার শিকড়ে পৌঁছানো কোনওদিনই সম্ভব নয় “, বলছিলেন সিএলটিএসের এক সদস্য সায়ন্তন রায়চৌধুরী।

This article was first published at Your Story. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post শিশুমৃত্যু মোকাবিলায় দিশা দেখাচ্ছে কল্যাণীর বিদ্যাসাগর কলোনি appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Those of us who do not live in Delhi and live far away from the inner-chambers of power, some aspects of the new Union government’s initial pronouncements were indeed exciting.

Firstly, in consonance with the tone set by its leader in the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, the central government wanted to be an enabler and not a micro-manager in people’s lives and aspirations. Secondly, it talked about co-operative federalism, by which, real federalism would be ushered in, in a spirit of co-operation between the constituent states of the Indian Union. Right now, these feel like promises from a different planet.

It is true that the government of India increased the percentage of tax money that would be given by the Centre to the states. But that came with a serious catch, the Union government at Delhi was simultaneously either severely cutting back or completely discontinuing their funding of many schemes run in the states where the money used to come primarily from the Centre. Hence, if the schemes were to be continued, the increased allocation for tax money to states would simply be used to continue earlier existing schemes.

Many states have protested this because this is no real financial devolution at all. What is important here is how the Union government, that is the so-called Centre, constantly talks about federalism and decentralisation, and in practise has been continuing the centralising policies of the previous government. If the Union government was actually interested in federalism by empowering the states, why has it not given up the revenue collection rights from even a single revenue source in favour of the states? What is the point or meaning of decentralisation when the revenue is collected as before by the Union government only and the states are completely dependent on Delhi’s whims.

After all, if states became revenue owners and collectors, they could plan projects and outlays completely, without the Union government as a meaning-less middle-man, which apparently collects the money with the intent of giving most of it up to the states. Then why collect it in the first place and why not let the states collect the revenues and also retain the money? We need to understand why Delhi retains these rights and does not give up any revenue collection rights to the states. Without that, it would not be able to allocate more money to a bullet-train project compared to the whole of a typical annual Indian Railways budget. If the amount of revenue available to Delhi decreased drastically, it would be able to announce financial “packages” for those states from whom the government party tries to gain power.

This is precisely why there would be fat financial “packages” announced for Jammu and Kashmir or Bihar but never for West Bengal or Telengana or any other state where the party in power in Lok Sabha has no chance of gaining in the near future. With all its high talk of decentralisation and cooperative federalism, can New Delhi care or dare to give any revenue source back to state, not as alms from babus of finance commission but as an inalienable constitutional right? No, sir. Those constitutional changes are only meant for taking away taxation powers from the state. The feverish enthusiasm to pass the GST is a case in point. The GST takes away several taxation powers from the states. And yes, the Congress will also support it. It is a matter of time. When it comes to imposing the ideology and power of Delhi over the states, the Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin.

But wait, it is not as if the Union government is content with having less money and less financial obligations. After having gotten out of major funding of various schemes, its has been slapping certain kinds of taxes called “cess”, which are cunningly outside the purview of its sharing-with-states “generosity”. What it means is that the Union government is actually extracting more money from the people, with the new extractions being called “cess”, that is, of the type that won’t be shared with the states. A cess is essentially a tax whose collections are ear-marked for a particular purpose. Among this extra money that the so-called Centre is extracting from us, the people, is the ‘Swachh Bharat’ cess. The money collected from this cess will apparently go in “cleaning up” this land.

Given the vagueness of what “cleaning up” entails, this money can be used to pursue any number of pet projects conjured up by Delhi. One thing is for sure – such projects would often involve contractors and thekedars. This is all rather predictable and sad. The party that had come to power by promising decentralisation and being an enabler of people has now officially decided that cleaning your neighbourhood drain is its job, whether you like it or not, and you have to pay for it. The thing is, the real cleanliness issues lie elsewhere and inside the Indian Union itself, there are success stories of communities taking charge of their destiny in cleanliness and hygiene, even before the present bunch of decentralisers in Delhi decided to centralise even the job of cleaning your neighbourhood, or at least collect immense amounts of money under that ruse.

It is the height of centralisation where New Delhi grabs extra money from your pocket, ostensibly to clean your locality, but who will clean the muck in New Delhi’s mind that treats the states as irritants at best and revenue plunder zones at worst? While photo-ops of broom-stick wielding khadi-wearers have been a hit, open defecation is something for which photo-ops are a rarity. And while a lot of money is to be made and is being made by building made-to-order government latrines by contractors big and small, communities in many parts of the Indian Union are leading by a very different set of examples. In the canal irrigated zones of the Thar in Rajasthan, IAS officer Arti Dogra, as District Magistrate of Bikaner, took the challenge of open defecation in these zones very seriously. Incidentally, the Indian Union is the top defecator in the world, with nearly half of its population defecating in the open, as per the 2014 Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation report. Ms Dogra empowered local communities through community-led total sanitation approach, a people-centric awareness triggering method that has had astounding success in the much more swachh and nearly open-defecation free People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Local elected representatives were taken into confidence, public meetings were held where women’s concerns were specifically highlighted. The results have been impressive which huge swathes in nearly desolate desert land having humble hutments with newly erected toilets – not sarkari public toilets but private ones built largely with people’s own funds. More than money, it is earnestness, community-centric empowerment and decentralisation of decision-making that matters, when it comes to solving most problems. If the government of India is at all seriously interested in what it calls the Swachh Bharat campaign, these are the examples it needs to look at seriously. It also might want to learn from Bangladesh – there is no shame in learning from areas where best practises have achieved success, especially in cash-poor zones such as the subcontinent.

In Haryana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, the presence of a latrine at home has been made a mandatory condition for qualifying as a candidate for local-body or panchayat elections. Such rules, made from above, only reflect non-engagement with reality and a deep contempt for communities. Such rules are biased against those who are usually excluded from their rightful share of money and power – the poor and the so-called backward castes. Communities do not need apathetic and criminal rulers from above. What lies behind such election qualifications is a mentality of prejudice and bias which in turn requires cleaning. Empowered communities can take care of themselves.

By Garga Chatterjee. Garga is a journalist and a PHD from Harvard University.

The article was first published at DNA India as part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC and CLTS Foundation Global. 

The post Swacch Bharat: Cleanliness and the muck in our minds appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti last year, the then newly elected Modi government launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan with zeal. A host of ministers, including the PM himself, were seen on the streets with brooms in their hands, promoting and propagating the mission. The programme set up an ambitious target of constructing 12 crore toilets in five years, that is, before October 2019. The government aims to achieve total sanitation.

But does India really need a tsunami of toilets?

The question forces itself to come to the forefront as subsidy-driven sanitation programmes in India have been pumping crores of rupees for the past three decades, without any success in bringing down open defecation.

The goal of all previous governments has been to achieve total sanitation or a complete stop to open defecation. In 1999, the NDA government called its programme Total Sanitation Campaign which was later renamed as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan by the UPA government in 2012. And now the new government calls it Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA). Moving towards its target, SBA has already provided 95 lakh toilets. But do they work? More importantly, do all of them even exist? These are the questions no one is asking, least of all the government.

The 12 crore target is based on the number of households which are still practising open defecation. If, on average, a household has five members, then the population that would be covered under SBA in five years would be 60 crore.

Despite change in governments over the past few decades, the strategy for achieving total sanitation has remained the same – to provide subsidy for building toilets free of cost. “The philosophy seems to be that people don’t have toilets because they can’t afford them. Or because people are idiots and don’t know how to get toilets,” says Kamal Kar, who pioneered a no-subsidy approach called the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). Kar was honoured with the 2015 Sarphati Sanitation Life Time Achievement Award in November this year at Amsterdam.

Interview: Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global

CLTS is a demand-driven sanitation approach where people change behaviour through peer pressure and awareness. People are taught to find out how exactly their neighbours’ faeces is entering their food. Once they know that, they would stop open defecation, subsidy or no subsidy, says Kar.

CLTS has been embraced by about 60 countries all over the world. They include neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. According to Kar, Bangladesh started off worse than India a decade ago but is now all set to declare itself open defecation-free in 2016. Pakistan is also moving in the same direction though it calls CLTS as Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS). So is Nepal. But India continues to follow the subsidy approach which is a top-down outlook.

The government’s role has principally been that of a supplier. Kar says this approach has led to supply of a large number of toilets which have crossed the number of households requiring toilets. “If one counts the toilets supplied under all the central and state programmes in the past 30 years, it is a tsunami of toilets that India faces with the SBA too willing to achieve its target.”

The present target for total sanitation under SBA is to construct 65,000 toilets every day, says Kar. To ensure this, the subsidy has been increased three to four times. Earlier it was ‘7,500 per household, whereas now it is ‘12,000 per household. The outcome of all these supply-driven programmes has also been much the same. Open defecation continues.

Kar cites the census findings of 2011. It indicates that 70 million toilets are missing. Where did they disappear? he asks. It points to something. But no one is willing to look into it or learn a lesson, says Kar. Besides, 600 million people still defecate in the open as per the census, he adds. So what happened to the toilets? Shouldn’t someone look at the fate of toilets that are already there through government subsidies? Kar asks.

Where India stands:

In October, a workshop called Journey to Zero was held in Dhaka, in preparation for the sixth conference of South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN). Kar, who was invited at the workshop, said that India spends one of the highest amounts on sanitation each year. But it has the largest number of people who practise open defecation.

Bangladesh adopted CLTS in 1999. Kar, who had then been working on participatory approaches to social problems, conceived this approach which was rooted in creating awareness about faecal contamination of food and motivating communities to analyse and map contamination of their food through open defecation. Bangladesh, under the guidance of Kar, decided to go for this approach. At that time only 33 percent people in Bangladesh had access to toilets.

Dhaka which hosted the first SACOSAN conference in 2003 will host the sixth summit next year in January. And it is expected that Dhaka will declare itself to be open defecation-free there.

Kar cites the example of Bangladesh to show that it is not the want of wealth that hinders total sanitation. When Bangladesh started its journey to total sanitation in 1999, it was the third poorest nation, as per UNDP. But according to the joint monitoring program progress report on sanitation and drinking water (2015) by WHO and UNICEF, Bangladesh has already achieved 99 percent of the total sanitation target as well as part of goal seven of millennium development goals, which is total sanitation.

India has taken the political decision to stick to wrong decisions despite knowing that they never worked, says Kar. The only state which tried to shift to CLTS was Himachal Pradesh in 2006, and it was a success. But the state government later went back to the subsidy driven approach. Today no state has the courage to defy the centre as they fear that subsidy would be denied to them and they would lose out financially. Besides, every government loves subsidies. It is a known fact and Kar blames this primarily for government’s bias towards subsidy-based approach and its failure to wipe out open defecation.

“CLTS is no rocket science. The whole world has understood it. If you don’t change behaviour, then you won’t use a toilet even if you have one,” says Kar. The numbers say it all. The money allocated for sanitation year after year has said it all. Unfortunately, policy makers who need to realise the futility of their efforts and expenditure refuse to wake up.

By Sreelatha Menon. She is a freelance journalist.

This article was first published at Governance Now. It was part of a media advocacy partnership between WSSCC, Geneva and CLTS Foundation Global.

The post Swachh Bharat campaign: More money down the drain appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Deepak Sanan, IAS

In recent years, especially after the launch of major programmes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, sanitation has become a hotly debated topic in India. Crores of rupees have gone into building toilets but they remain unused, villages that were declared open defecation free (ODF) are unable to sustain that, and sewage treatment continues to be a big challenge. In such a scenario, community led total sanitation (CLTS) offers a different approach. It calls for the suspension of toilet subsidies and instead works towards securing collective behaviour change by instilling disgust or fear in the community.

Himachal Pradesh was one of the early adopters of this concept, reaching about 67 percent rural toilet coverage as per Census 2011 which was more than double the national average of 31 percent. But urban areas have started facing problem of sewage disposal with state capital Shimla registering major jaundice outbreaks frequently.

We talk to Deepak Sanan, Additional Chief Secretary in the Himachal Pradesh government and one of the flag bearers of CLTS on how the state achieved such a feat and what are some challenges.

CLTS has been tried in other states of India as well. Was the social set up in Himachal Pradesh different that it worked so well in the State?

I don’t think there is any difference in the social set up of Himachal that was critical. Himachal Pradesh has strong caste divisions even if it is a predominantly Hindu state. CLTS focuses on collective behaviour change and not on subsidy and it can work anywhere. For instance, Chhattisgarh which is very different when compared to Himachal in terms of education levels, poverty and other social aspects, is moving very fast in the last year using CLTS and abjuring individual household subsides. In fact, it’s setting a good example for states like Bihar and Jharkhand where people say you cannot have toilets without doling out money.

In Himachal, as at other places that have got CLTS right, what worked was the policy shift from subsidies on individual toilets to collective behaviour change. Capacity building in CLTS techniques was arranged at the state level. Local champions like the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi district engaged appropriate NGO support, constituted committees, prepared action plans and involved Panchayati raj institutions. Other DCs followed suit as they also wanted the accolades and awards Mandi district was getting.

CLTS has the potential to work even in urban locations like Kalyani town in West Bengal has shown. The key is to locate the right triggers, involve local governments and facilitate an appropriate action plan that can ensure safe confinement and disposal of human waste irrespective of whether the location is rural or urban, or whether the community is homogenous or diverse.

You mentioned that poverty and illiteracy are not the barriers. What do you feel is the barrier to CLTS?

The only barrier as Dr. Kamal Kar, the pioneer of CLTS says, is “intellectual constipation”. It needs a change in perspective that sanitation improves with collective behavior change and not subsidy. By giving out money for building toilets, you are not helping the poor. It sends out a message, “this is my problem more than yours which is way I am giving you money”. Let them access toilets because they feel the need for it.

You have to spread the idea to entire communities that excreta contaminates their surrounding environment and they are ingesting their own shit. Once the community is triggered and decide to get rid of open defecation, they will come forward to assist the poor and needy amongst them. Even the poorest are not willing to eat shit and the better off will also ensure they do not eat the shit of the poor.

If the entire community is not involved, open defecation by a few people places the entire habitation at risk. This is happening in most villages of India where toilets have been built but not put to use. Favourable public health outcomes are secured only when the entire community changes its behaviour.

Instead of subsidies, give them award money for achieving total sanitation and let them decide how they want to spend it for community welfare. By giving individual subsidies, you also create divisions in the community and reinforce the feeling that certain people need toilets more than others. So it is the perception that subsidy from above is essential that has to change. That is the only barrier to make rapid progress in ending open defecation.

Safe disposal of sewage in the hills is a big issue as the overflow goes on to contaminate water sources downstream as is evident in the annual jaundice outbreaks in Shimla. How do you think high toilet coverage can translate into safe waste disposal as well?

That’s the next big challenge for us. In urban areas, proper sewage linkages and waste water management are crying for attention. There needs to be proper Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) for septic tank-based households. In rural areas, this problem will emerge in the coming times. We need to start putting in place monitoring systems where people can test their own environment for contamination and then devise treatment strategies. Waste management is not a very big issue yet in rural areas but we will have to deal with it pretty soon. In addition, Himachal has forgotten the gains made with CLTS and has gone back to subsidising individual household toilets so there is still the last mile of dealing with left out households, migrants and public spaces to end open defecation.

Are all community members able to opt for sanitary toilets or do they gradually move to improved toilets as and when they have the money?

In Himachal Pradesh, I have seen a few instances of triggered communities ensuring immediate construction of basic pit toilets before moving to improved toilets. But by and large, communities have straightaway adopted improved toilets. Twin pit toilet is the best option for rural areas if there’s no proper onsite treatment system. But in Himachal, people have mostly gone for septic tanks as they feel it is a better option.

In certain remote areas like Lahaul and Spiti, night soil is often used in the fields as manure. What do you think about such traditional practices?

It is a very good model as people mix excreta with soil and use it in the fields. In fact, these areas could easily move to twin pit toilets since that also involves the use of excreta as compost after the waiting period is over. Twin pit toilet is also a more hygienic way to confine and reuse the waste.

Have you noticed villages covered by CLTS slipping back on their ODF status? If yes, what could be the reasons?

I have not seen any ‘slipback’ as such in Himachal Pradesh. A 2010 survey in the state reported that in villages which got Nirmal Gram Puraskars, there was no reversion to open defecation. There was a small (6%) reversion noted in the other villages.

The article is republished with permission from India Water Portal. It was originally published here.

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