Budget 2021: Nirmala Sitharaman unveils second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission

Picture for representation (Image: Wikimedia)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 announced the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission. A sum of Rs 1.41 lakh crore has been allocated for five years for  Swatch Bharat 2.0 scheme.

This scheme will focus on complete faecal sludge management, waste-water treatment, source segregation, management of waste from urban construction and also include bioremediation of legacy dump sites.

According to statistics provided by the ministry of housing and urban affairs, so far five editions of Swachh Survekshan have been conducted. The first edition of the survey which was piloted in 73 cities (with million plus population) in 2016 has grown manifold, with 4,242 cities participating in Swachh Survekshan 2020, the fifth edition of the survey.

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Swachh Survekshan 2021 has been launched with the on-field assessment to be conducted in March 2021. Citizen engagement has been a major component of Swachh Survekshan with participation increasing year on year.

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The last edition, Swachh Survekshan 2020 witnessed participation of 12 crore citizens, the ministry said.

SBM-U has also launched the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge on November 19, 2020 with the objective of preventing ‘hazardous cleaning’ of sewers and septic tanks and promote their mechanized cleaning.

The challenge is presently being undertaken in 244 cities. As part of the Challenge, a dedicated helpline number 14420 has been set up to register complaints on hazardous cleaning and provide real-time solutions on desludging or sewer line overflow. The actual on-ground assessment of participating cities will be conducted in May 2021 by an independent agency and results declared in August 2021.

The Mission has integrated over 84,000 informal waste pickers into the mainstream while over 5.5 lakh sanitation workers have been linked to various welfare schemes under the government.

Swachh Manch, an online citizen engagement portal to empower stakeholders to volunteer and contribute to the Swachhata of their cities has recorded participation from over 7 crore citizens.

SBM-U has over 140 celebrity ambassadors espousing the cause of Clean India. Some of the key campaigns in 2020 include ‘The Story of Malasur- The Demon of Defeca’ which is the first of its public awareness campaign on the issue of faecal sludge management and ‘Suraksha Nahi toh Safai Nahi’ touching upon the issue of hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 02, 2014. It had two sub-missions, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). Phase 1 of the mission lasted till October 2019. The Phase 2 is being implemented between 2020–21 and 2024-25.