Swachh Bharat Mission: Achievements And Challenges

Swachh Bharat Mission: Achievements And Challenges

Hygiene is the key to a healthy and progressive nation, and thus the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched to achieve this by the Indian government. Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission or Abhiyan on 02 October 2014 at Rajpath in New Delhi. This mission aims to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to encourage hygienic sanitation practices all over the country. It is also known as Clean India Mission; it was launched as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

Challenges of the mission:

The primary aim of this mission was to achieve an “open-defecation free” (ODF) India by 2nd October 2019. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has two sub-missions: one for urban areas and the other for rural, commonly called Swachh Bharat Urban which is governed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Swachh Bharat Gramin operates under the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

The expectation level was high with this Clean India Mission, as our country had to become a clean country by the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi Ji. The government of India started Clean India Mission in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve our solid waste management.

Achievement of the program:

The government claims that they have improved the coverage of toilets in rural India from 39% to over 95% of households between 2014 and mid-2019 under The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). They have constructed over 100 million toilets across rural and urban India since the start of the campaign. One of the biggest achievements of this Swachh Barat Mission was to make a social and behavioural change in society, with several nationwide campaigns in traditional media and social media.

Now people are much aware of the advantages and disadvantages of open-defecation. Open defecation is no longer considered a choice but an unhygienic practice, and everyone wishes to help the government achieve the title of an open-defecation-free country.

Though it is a long way to go, the government of India is trying its best to achieve the aim of providing safe, hygienic, and sanitised surrounding for the people of India with this clean India mission.