Dayanand Panse on Governments Total Sanitation Campaign.

We have Government of India’s very ambitious project of total sanitation, i.e. total sanitation to all. Government of India has a specific department for Total Sanitation Campaign. The campaign was initiated in 2002. The target set by the Government is to provide sanitation to all the citizens of the country by 2012.

Let me give a background to this. In the year 2000, most of the nations from the world gathered together at United Nations. They formulated Millennium Developmental Goals. Goal no. 7 says that we have to not only preserve the environment but to reverse the degradation, which is causing to the environment. In this role there is a mention of providing water and sanitation to all.

In the year 2000, it was calculated that almost 2.6 billion people world over do not have access to safe sanitation. It was decided that at least by 2015 this 2.6 billion people should be brought down to half i.e. 1.3 billion. Out of this 2.6 billion more than 640 million people live in India. So one can say that 25% of people world over without sanitation are living in India. So the magnitude of the problem is very high.

Ecological Sanitation
There are many reasons and one of the reasons is that sanitation requires lot of water. We know that without water sanitation cannot be successful, and we have to give water to all for safe sanitation. Now, India is facing a lot of water problem. Therefore, ecological sanitation concept has come forward which emphasises on little use or no use of water. To understand the concept we have to come up with some pilot projects and demonstration projects, which we are doing at school, community and slums level.

On progress of the Campaign.
It is almost everywhere but Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, UP and North-East states are lagging behind. Kerala is far ahead with 100% sanitation coverage.

Today 60 % for rural and 82% of urban part of the country is being covered. But these are the statistics, which on paper say that the toilet is provided which means the sanitation is done. The real picture may not be as simple as that because there is sanitation beyond toilets. Like we providing the toilet will not solve the purpose because there are some basic issue like whether the toilet design is proper or there is water availability or whether the waste water coming out of the toilet is properly collected or treated.

But considering the population of the country and the magnitude of the process, we should thank government for at least giving the toilet to all. This is the first basic step in giving sanitation to the people of the country.

Imagine, people are spending two thousand rupees on buying a mobile but still the family refuses to build a toilet and spend more of their money on mobile, motorbikes. If we can change this behaviour, then I don’t think why we should not complete the target by 2012.

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