(GIST OF YOJANA) Swachata: Juggernaut of Change

[NOVEMBER-2018]

Swachata: Juggernaut of Change

When the Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat abhiyan at the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2014, he perhaps began one of the greatest social missions in recorded history. Never before have over 1 billion people aspired and worked together for a common objective in such a short span of time. Four Years have passed since and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has moved from a vision into a juggernaut of change. While we still haven’t submitted the task of universal Swachhata there has been an unprecedented improvement across the country. Sanitation coverage in India has increased from 38 per cent in 2-014 to 90 per cent in 2014 to 90 per cent in 2018. Over 9 crore toilets have been declared open Defecation Free (ODf). Millions of people today have access to Swachh through toilet facilities,, clean drinking water and a clean drinking water and a cleaner environment leading to better health. The World Health Organisation recently reported that the Swachh Bharat Mission will result in averting more than 300,000 deaths between 2014 and October 2019. Most importantly, Swachhata has moved from being an individual construct to a catalyst for behavioral change in India.

I, in my personal capacity, and as the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP & NG) and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoS D & E), am wholeheartedly committed towards fulfilling the objectives of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan . Both MoP & NG and MoS D & E have passionately supported this mission and mobilized all sources towards fulfilling the vision of a Swachh and Swasth Bharat. Landmark policy changes and resolutes initiatives have laid the foundation stones for a green clean and healthy India. Under the Swachhata Action Plan, n inter-ministerial action Plan, an inter-ministerial action plan for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, MoP & NG allocated the 4th highest budget among all Government of India (GoI) ministries, at Rs. 335.68 crore for 2017-18 and recorded a expenditure of Rs. 402 crores.

Amenities in Petrol Pumps

Petrol Pumps of nationalized Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) form one of the densest retail networks in the country. Every day, countless Indians fuel their vehicles at these pumps and so, sanitation amenities at petrol pumps and so, sanitation amenities at petrol pumps would benefit hundreds and thousands of commuters. Thus, a mission-mode plan to provide clean toilets, clean drinking water and waste disposal facilities across all OMC petrol pumps was launched under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan .At the time of writing, over 55,784 out of 56,601 OMC petrol pumps have toilet facilities . Underpinning MoP & N G’s commitment towards Women’s safely and dignity, as of September 2018, separate toilets for men and women are available in nearly 90 percent of the feasible petrol pumps on National Highways and State Highways and . The Swachhata@ petrol pump app leverages technology putting consumers at the forefront to monitor, report and ensure cleanliness of the toilets at outlets across India on real time basis. Making available user-friendly and well-maintained separate toilets for men and women in every OMC petrol pump across India is an ongoing task and we are determined to achieve it.

Making Cooing Women Friendly

Since millennia, women of India have been choking helplessly over the Kitchen choolha. Exposure to the smoke produced by a firewood/coal/cow-dung burning choolha, apart from causing alarming household pollution and deforestation also adversely affects the health of women and children causing several respiratory disorders. This debilitating choolha also chains women to the chore of cooking depriving them of an opportunity to earn a livelihood and paralyzing their social equity. The Prime Minister empathized with the suffering of these millions of underprivileged women and families in India, who could not afford clean cooking fuel like LPG and set out to bring a Blue Flame Revolution .Since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 01.05.2016 more than 5.51 crore LPG connections have been released for women from underprivileged and SC/ST communities in India. Bolstered by the stories of transformation in the lives of these families, the Prime Ministers has set a new PMUY target of 8 crores LPG connections by 2020. To assets its impact on the environment, consider that LPG penetration in India from Independence till 2014 was about 54 per cent. The LPG penetration at the time of writing in 2018 is 88 per cent.

Improving Fuel Efficiency

As India accelerate its economic development, the increasing consumption of petroleum transport fuels is directly linked with atmosphere pollution. In line with India’s climatic change commitments at COP21 in Paris, the Central Government has taken several policy measure and interventions to reduce vehicular emissions Followed the regulatory pathway for fuel quantity and vehicle emissions standards termed as Bharat Stage (BS) and successfully implemented BS IV norms at petrol pumps all across the
country in april 2017. Further, the Governments has taken a bold decision to leapfrog from BS IV to BS VI fuel norms directly . BS VI standard fuel is significantly is less polluting than BS VI., and comparable to global standards such as Euro VI. BS VI has be proactively launched at Petrol pumps in Delhi from April 2018 and will be rolled out pan India by April 2020 .

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Biofuel Policy

Pertinent to India’s challenge of balancing climatic change with rapid economic growth, biofuels hold great promise. While we have progressed beyond an agrarian economy, agriculture is still inextricably linked with the lives of millions who depend on the fields for a livelihood. Most readers in the northern parts of the country would be familiar with the intense smog over the skies during winter due to burning of agricultural residues by farmers. With an objective of addressing both the environmental pollution from burning of agricultural waste and generating additional income for Indian farmers, the government approved the landmark National Policy on Biofuels in 2018 . Plans are afoot to set up twelve 2nd generations bio-ethanol from agricultural residue. So far we have already achieved 4 percent ethanol blending in petrol leading to a 7.8 million MT reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and forex savings of 1520 million from fuel imports, and our target is to reach 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol. Great potential also lies in the employment of used cooking oil as a potential feedstock for biodiesel which will not only augment fuel production, but also prevent diversion of used cooking oil in the food industry. MoP & NG has also driven an aggressive capacity expansion in its solar and wind energy projects by oil & gases CPSEs has increased from 299.60 MW in 2010 - 2014 to 369.80MW in 2014-2018 . The installed solar energy projects by oil gases CPSEs has gone up from 15.63 MW in 2010-14 to 70.87 MW in 2014-18 .

The oil & gas CPSEs are among India’s most profitable corporations with a commitment to speed 33 per cent of their CSR funds on Swachh Bharat activities. They have undertaken a wide gamut of activities. Under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which have brought about a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of people. Under the Swachh Bharat Vidyalaya Abhiyan sub-projected, oil & gases CPSEs have constructed more than 21,750 school toilets across the country, 95 percent of them in rural areas, which are being used by more than 5 lakh girls.

Swachhata in Tourist Locations

While the history of India is preserved in the glory of its monuments, we have all seen the garbage left behind by heavy tourist fotball at these iconic places . It is most appropriate then to spread the message of Swachhata at these locations which are visited by thousands every day. Ten such iconic places of historical and religions importance were identified and adopted by oil & gases CPSEs for upkeep and maintenance across the length and breadth of the country - tirumala tirupati Devasthanam, Tirupathi Devasthanam, Tirupathi; taj mahal, Agra; Vaishno Devi, Katra, Jammu.

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