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Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness While the Swachh Bharat Mission has been lauded for pushing towards a Clean India, there seems to be no way to validate its success. Close to three years since the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)’s launch, do we know whether the mission has been a success? No, we don’t. The Swachhta Status Report 2016 published by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), merely reports that the percentage of persons practising open defecation is 52.1% in the rural areas and 7.5% in urban areas. 1 Does this mean there has been a significant improvement in open defecation rates? A researcher would point out, that these figures do not bear any significance unless they can be compared to a baseline. In the absence of a system to monitor, track and evaluate the impact of the SBM, India’s progress towards sanitation and cleanliness lacks accountability and transparency. This article explores the limitations for SBM in this data environment. Global Perspective The government is aiming to achieve an Open-Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2 nd October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Open defecation is the practice of people defecating in the open, in fields, water bodies, or other open spaces instead of using a designated toilet. This process creates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. According to World Bank projected data, India ranks highest among all South Asian countries in the percentage of people practising open defecation 2 . Can this alarming statistic be attributed to the fact that the practice has been widely accepted for generations, thereby becoming a well-established tradition deeply Lack of data means that we have no way to measure the impact and success of the Swachh Bharat Mission

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Page 1: Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness - Outline India · Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness While the Swachh Bharat Mission has been lauded for pushing towards a Clean India, there seems

Swachh Bharat: BeyondCleanlinessWhiletheSwachhBharatMissionhasbeenlaudedforpushingtowardsaCleanIndia,thereseemstobenowaytovalidateitssuccess.

ClosetothreeyearssincetheSwachhBharatMission(SBM)’slaunch,doweknowwhetherthemissionhasbeenasuccess?No,wedon’t.

The Swachhta Status Report 2016 published by NationalSample Survey Office (NSSO), merely reports that thepercentageofpersonspractisingopendefecationis52.1%intheruralareasand7.5%inurbanareas.1

Doesthismeantherehasbeenasignificantimprovementinopendefecationrates?

Aresearcherwouldpointout,thatthesefiguresdonotbearanysignificanceunlesstheycanbecomparedtoabaseline.Intheabsenceofasystemtomonitor,trackandevaluatetheimpactofthe SBM, India’s progress towards sanitation and cleanliness lacks accountability andtransparency.

ThisarticleexploresthelimitationsforSBMinthisdataenvironment.

GlobalPerspective

ThegovernmentisaimingtoachieveanOpen-DefecationFree(ODF)Indiaby2ndOctober2019, the 150thbirth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.Open defecation isthe practice ofpeopledefecating inthe open, in fields,water bodies, orother open spacesinstead of using adesignated toilet.Thisprocesscreatesa vicious cycle ofdiseaseandpoverty.

According to WorldBankprojecteddata,

IndiarankshighestamongallSouthAsiancountriesinthepercentageofpeoplepractisingopendefecation2.Can thisalarmingstatisticbeattributed to the fact that thepracticehasbeenwidelyacceptedforgenerations,therebybecomingawell-establishedtraditiondeeply

Lack of datameans thatwe have no way tomeasure the impact andsuccess of the SwachhBharatMission

Page 2: Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness - Outline India · Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness While the Swachh Bharat Mission has been lauded for pushing towards a Clean India, there seems

ingrained from early childhood and an accepted part of the Indian landscape? Certainly,policy-makersandacademics theorize this tobe thecase,pointing to theruralandurbandivideinopendefecationrates.However,thelackofdatamakesitdifficultforacademicstoprovideempiricalevidenceforthis.

What’swrongwiththedata?

GivenIndia’sphenomenaleconomicgrowthinrecenttimes,itisdifficulttounderstandwhysuchhighratesofopendefecationstillexist.Inordertoaddressthisgapininformation,weneedtotestthelinkagesbetweenODanditstheoreticaldeterminantsatthestateandnationallevel,toallow for targeted decision-making. These include testing if lower OD rates are statisticallyassociatedwithhighfemaleliteracyrates,wateravailability,GDPofthestate,andavailabilityofsanitationinfrastructure.YetmostsurveysonODdonotgatherinformationontheseindicators.Itistherefore,nearlyimpossibletodrawinferencesbetweenthemandODrates.

TheSwachhtaStatusReportsdonotcapturesuchindicatorsofinterest.TheyalsomakeseveralmethodologicaldecisionswhichleavetheirestimationsofODsuspect.Firstly,theNSSOdoesnotdirectlyaskifrespondentspracticeOD–instead,theorganizationcalculatesODbydiscountingrespondentswhoreportusingown,neighbours’orcommunity toilets.Furthermore, theNSSOinterviewsonlytheheadofthehouseholdwhomaynotbeawareofthesanitarypracticesofotherhouseholdmembers.NordotheyaccountforasocialdesirabilitybiaswhichmakesitunlikelythatrespondentswillopenlyconfesstopractisingOD,especiallywhenitissohighlystigmatized.

Politicians oftencite the success ofSBM by reportingthe number oflatrinesbuiltunderit. But this is afaulty metricbecause it is not agiven that latrinesbuilt automaticallytranslate to latrineuse. The suspectdata coming out ofthe governmenthas led to TheWorld Bankwithholding their

promiseofaUSD1.5billionloantowardsSBM;thefirstinstalmentofwhichwasdueinJulyof2016.Forthem,theIndiangovernmentfellshortonitscommitments,specificallyfailingtoshowindependentverificationofthefindingspresentedintheNSSOreports.

Needfordataintoday’sIndia

Asasociety,wespendimmenseamountsoftime,effortandmoneygettingdata.India’sODrates,forinstance,havebeentrackedinWorldBank2001projecteddata,2011Censusdataandsurveys

Page 3: Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness - Outline India · Swachh Bharat: Beyond Cleanliness While the Swachh Bharat Mission has been lauded for pushing towards a Clean India, there seems

such as the IHDS, NFHS/DHS and the SQUAT survey. Yet these surveys use differentmethodologieswhichmeanthattheirODindicatorsarenotcomparable.Theydifferintermsof:

i. Themethodofdatacollection–thenumberofhouseholdsvisited,differencesinquestionsaskedetc.

ii. Definitionsofopendefecation–forexample,differentwaysofdefiningtoilet,communitytoilets,publictoilets,sewagenetwork,etc.

iii. Referenceperiod–thetimeintervalbetweentheWorldBankData,CensusDataandNSSORapidSurveyisnotconsistent.

We need high-quality, timely and cohesive data to hold ourgovernmentaccountableandbeafullyfunctioningdemocracy.InadevelopingeconomylikeIndia,dataiscriticaltoeconomic,socialandpoliticaldecision-making.Organizationsengagedinaffecting policy-making should take account of the need ofqualitydata.Datashouldbeupdatedusingastandardreporting

timetablethatisreligiouslyadheredto.Weneedabroaderattitudinalshiftaboutthecriticalroleofhigh-qualitydata in thesociety.Unless thishappens, the taskofbringingaboutchangeandcreatingsocialimpactbecomesnotonlydauntingbutalsoimpossible.

EveryquarterOutlineIndiapublishesaWorkingPaperSeriesbasedonourexperiencesinthefield.ThispieceisauthoredbyPVApoorva,AnjaliKrishanandSayakKhatua.

1NationalSampleSurveyOffice,MinistryofStatisticsandProgrammeImplementationandGovernmentofIndia(2016).SwachhtaStatusReport2016.RetrievedfromMinistryofStatisticsandProgrammeImplementation.http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Swachhta_Status_Report%202016_17apr17.pdf2 The World Bank, People practicing open defecation (% of population), Weighted average method [Data file].http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.ODFC.ZS3Rajagopal, D. (January 2017) “World Bank yet to release fund for Swachh Bharat” Economic Times.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/56429289.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/world-bank-yet-to-release-fund-for-swachh-bharat/articleshow/56429289.cms

India requires a broaderattitudinalshiftaboutthecritical role of high-qualitydatainsociety