How “Swachh Bharat Mission” India’s Cleanliness Initiative Helped Millions Of People Live With Dignity

Kavita Malik
2 min readJan 5, 2023

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The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, was introduced by the Indian government in 2014 as a countrywide program to eradicate open defecation and improve solid waste management. India is on the verge of becoming entirely open-defecation-free (ODF) thanks to the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). This would allow people to accept change and live their lives with dignity.

Since the program’s inception on October 2, 2014, they have constructed over ten crore toilets nationwide. Most people are no longer required to wait until the prescribed time of the day to use the restroom. They can relieve themselves, which was formerly a luxury.

The primary goal of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

  • to vigorously promote cleanliness and hygiene.
  • reducing the frequency of open defecation
  • To raise living standards in rural areas
  • To advance the notion of ecologically friendly sanitation practices
  • to develop sanitary infrastructure that is locally accountable
  • to emphasise innovative solid and liquid waste management methods.

It has not gone unnoticed how far India has come since installing toilets throughout the country or its effects on millions of people there and around the world.

UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are just a few of the international organisations that have expressed their appreciation.

Later in September, when Prime Minister Modi travels to the US, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will recognise the Swachh Bharat Mission’s accomplishments, which have improved the lives of millions of people all around the nation.

Before the Swachh Bharat Mission, nearly 500 million people in India lacked access to proper sanitation; today, the majority do. The clean mission India helped millions live with dignity. The Foundation stated in a statement that although there is still a long way to go, the effects of access to sanitation in India are already becoming apparent.

The statement continued that the Swachh Bharat Mission can serve as a model for other nations around the globe that urgently need to enhance access to sanitation for the world’s poorest citizens.

Women from various parts of India claimed that the public restrooms constructed as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative have enhanced their quality of life and allowed them to live with dignity. Before toilets were invented, going to the bathroom was a terrifying daily activity that got even more difficult during monsoon seasons and floods. The situation is the same in Nagwa, Uttar Pradesh.

A more mature lady claims that 28 years were spent on restroom construction. She explained that women used to get up at odd hours, like 3 AM, to look for a place to use the restroom in peace. According to the woman from Sikkim, before, there were no restrooms.

Flies and mosquitoes were abundant, and people urinated in the open. However, it is much more pleasant now that a toilet has been installed. A bathroom is a need in almost every home and has changed the globe.”

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