October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, will mark the third anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). India’s inability to root out open defecation has been connected to infant deaths, high incidence of diarrhoeal diseases and stunting. Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Union ministry of drinking water and sanitation, spoke to Jiby J Kattakayam on SBM’s progress and challenges ahead:

SBM has achieved a phenomenal leap in toilet coverage from 38% to 68% in just three years. How was it done?

When SBM was launched there were 550 million people practising open defecation (OD). That number, by our reckoning, is down to 300 million. So 250 million no longer practice OD. That is a population almost equivalent to Indonesia. Over 2.5 lakh villages and 204 districts have become open defecation free (ODF). We have two years to achieve the prime minister’s October 2, 2019, target. There is an accelerated momentum in the past 15 months. Earlier focus was on toilet construction but SBM is about behavioural change and usage of toilets. Five states are already ODF. 10-11 states will declare themselves ODF by March 2018. So FY17-18 will give a big boost.

With Uttar Pradesh at just 50% toilet coverage and Bihar at 32% – two most populous and underdeveloped states – can the 2019 target be met?

All states including UP, Bihar and Odisha are making great strides. Some states have lower toilet coverage historically. So they have more challenges. We are in closer contact with these state governments. Ultimately water and sanitation are state subjects. We are quite confident because of high levels of political commitment, administrative involvement and popular participation.

There are reports that toilets built are being used as storerooms, cattle sheds, etc.

There may be some individual aberrations. When we find out we immediately notify the respective states to go out and rectify the situation. I want to emphasise that SBM is the world’s largest behavioural change programme right now and getting people to change ingrained behaviour (triggering) is challenging. Two-third party surveys, by NSSO in 2015 of 90,000 households and by Quality Council of India this May of 1,40,000 households, have said usage is above 90%. Some organisations may have carried out small surveys in selected parts and produced different numbers. We are very confident that usage is high.

What about coercion to ensure ODF?

We have issued an advisory which strongly discouraged coercion and emphasised that SBM is about motivating people to demand toilets because they understand its importance.

There are misgivings like inadequate financial assistance and pits filling up.

SBM offers Rs 12,000 which is quite adequate for a well-built twin pit. Moreover, this amount is an incentive to build and use a toilet not a subsidy to cover the cost of the toilet. Twin-pits are easy to empty as the fecal material in the closed pit decomposes within a year and is safe to remove by household members themselves. Some people think twin-pit ‘jaldi bhar jayega’. Others think septic tanks are pucca but badly designed septic tanks lead to overflow and the waste disposal is tougher and messy. The twin-pit works in 80-85% of India and is a better model.

Some critics say caste is the underlying issue that must be addressed to eliminate OD.

Our own view is that caste is not a major issue. SBM follows a community approach to rural sanitation. The community as a unit understands the importance, takes the responsibility, and is accountable for making their village ODF. During triggering all sections of society are brought on board. There is this conventional thinking that caste is coming in the way but our experience shows that community mobilisation for toilets overcame the caste barrier.

Now that many people have got their toilets they want piped water supply.

Water and sanitation go hand in hand. One policy decision is to provide piped water supply to all ODF villages. From technology standpoint, the rural toilet pan has a steep slope pan which requires less water to flush than the urban pan.

Rural pan, typically, requires only 1.5 litres of water against 4-5 litres for urban pan. Though no piped water supply is a hassle, a hand pump or water source nearby can address the water requirement. Out of 2.45 lakh ODF villages, 1.5 lakh have piped water supply. Most of these are public standposts (tapstands). Household connections are just 16%. But some states like Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab are already focussing on household connections. ODF villages will get piped water supply on priority and this is an additional incentive to become ODF.

What are the challenges for SBM beyond 2019?

While we are confident of attaining the SBM goals, there needs to be continued focus on sanitation, behaviour change and hygiene promotion. Whatever achievement registered on October 2, 2019, must be sustained afterwards. We are expecting people will accept their responsibility and take charge of maintenance of toilets. Government will keep playing the role of facilitator.