Clean India: Move towards making India disease free

Clean India: Move towards making India disease free

Article

1. Sanchita Sharma talks about the importance of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and its impact

Important analysis

2. Deaths related to malnutrition, dietary risk, and water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are directly related to bad hygiene.
3. Malnourished children are more likely to be underweight, stunted and wasted and are more vulnerable to infections.
4. Poor sanitation, unsafe water and low public health in India is the cause of increased drug resistant infections in India
5. Objective of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• Eliminate open defecation,
• Conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets,
• Eradication of manual scavenging,
• 100% collection and scientific processing/disposal reuse/recycle of Municipal Solid Waste,
• To bring about a behavioral change in people regarding healthy sanitation practices,
• Strengthening of urban local bodies to design, execute and operate systems,

6. Achievement of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• Rural sanitation coverage having gone up from 39% to 67% in three years.
• Use of media and campaigns like “DarwazaBandh” in Maharashtra have led to behavior change and public awareness of the need for sanitation
• The Swachh Bharat urban and rural projects have set-off healthy competition among cities and districts
• Making functional toilets a compulsory qualification for contesting panchayat elections in Haryana and Rajasthan shows the determination to achieve the dream
• In terms of quantity of toilets constructed, Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan is a success.
• People are coming with ideas to contribute to the mission
• The dropout rate of females from schools and colleges is decreasing and those that had left have come to school after construction of toilets.