SWACHH BHARAT

SANITATION (Swachh Bharat) IN INDIA

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi called to the nation for “Toilet to every Citizen” on the occasion of the 68^th Independence Day. It has been indeed a courageous decision on “Toilet” made by the any Prime Minister. The Prime Minister declared to have Swachh Bharat for every citizen of the country before the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019. The industrial and business houses were called by Prime minister to realize their ‘Social Responsibility’ for sanitation development. The people of the nation devoted to address the problem of sanitation since decades by Sulabh Shauchalaya. Sulabh are no-profit-no-less, non-governmental institutions and have been serving for the promotion of global environment. Its ambition is to contribute in sustainable water and sanitation solutions through capacity building, skill up gradation, knowledge sharing, technology transfer and social transformation to standardize the lives of the country.  Open defecation hinders people from leading a dignified life and poses health risks to the community. This is observed in the country’s Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 47 deaths per 1000 child births. In rural areas, it stands at 51. These health risks impose a substantial financial burden in terms of medical expenses and lost productive days. The country must provide safe sanitation access to at least 57% of all country’s citizens by 2019. Still today most of the people go for open defecation. Improvements in school sanitation with adequate hygiene management systems may help in reducing the female absenteeism and would improve educational outcomes.