Diving into a Revolution(The Indian Express)

Mains Paper 5: Governance
Prelims level: Swachh Bharat Mission
Mains level: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes;

Context

•  Under the SBM, there are at least two additional and complex “moves” being attempted compared to typical infrastructure programmes:
•  One, changing behaviour by getting people to use toilets and stop defecating in the open and two, sustaining the changed behaviour over time.
•  The two extra “moves” make the SBM much more difficult to implement.
•  The SBM’s primary emphasis usage of toilets infrastructure-focused “toilet construction” programme to a much more complex behaviour change social revolution.

Significance of Swachh Bharat Mission

•  The SBM was marketing a product (household toilets) for which, in most cases, there was no intrinsic demand.
•  Equilibrium in markets is more easily attained when demand matches supply.
•  For example, electricity, roads and metro rail are all intrinsically in high demand by the intended beneficiaries.
•  The gurus of marketing tell us that you may have a good product, but you still need to promote it.
•  In the case of the SBM habit of open defecation and cultural norm of not having a toilet near one’s residence.
•  When the PM addressed the nation from the Red Fort on August 15, 2014, and spoke about “dignity of women” and the importance of providing toilets to women and girls, many people were shocked.

Major Challenges

•  The four major challenges we faced were the 4 Ss:
•  Scale — 550 million people needed to change their behaviour;
•  Speed — the programme had to be implemented in 5 years;
•  Stigma — centuries-old taboos, and
•  Sustainability — having t make the recently changed behaviour stick.

Way forward

•  It took great effort to have trained village motivators (swachhagrahis) familiar with the local language and idiom work to convince the community as a whole that the health and dignity of the entire village were at stake if they persisted in open defecation.
•  The degree of difficulty was intensified by the fact that sustaining the change in behaviour is even more difficult than achieving it.
•  Lessons from the SBM could be usefully applied to other programmes requiring intensive behaviour change campaigns at scale.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Which of the following schemes are concerned with Urban Infrastructure?
1. AMRUT
2. HRIDAY
3. Swachh Bharat Mission

Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: D

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Why Swachh Bharat Mission is so significant to removing open defactaion in villages? What are the major challenges faced by Swachh Bharat Mission?