For a developing nation like India, one of our biggest strengths is our young population. We have one of the highest working-age populations, around 63% people fall in the age bracket of 15-59 years, which can help transform India into an economic superpower. India’s current median population age stands at 26 years with around 36% of the people under the age 20. Among the key developed and developing nations, we are one of the youngest countries.
This demographic advantage is what sets India apart from other global economies like China and Japan that are ageing faster. Whereas in our case, with an average 1% growth rate, our population is getting younger by the year. However, for that population to be an asset, we need it to be healthy, well-educated, and skilled.
One of the biggest challenges that India has tackled in recent years is sanitation. Millions of people around the world still lack access to basic sanitation facilities and services, especially in developing countries like India. This poses a serious challenge for public health and sustainable development. Lack of toilets and sanitation infrastructure means we have more frequent outbreaks of water and vector-borne diseases. This leads to more breaks from school and work, and poorer outcomes at school.
Moreover, sudden illnesses can be particularly hard on a family’s finances, especially when they come from poor backgrounds. Disease hurts poor families in two ways: the cost of medicine, and the cost of lost wages. Moreover, many are uninsured, and often end up in debt as a result of illness in the family.
How can governments address this challenge?
There are several ways that governments can tackle sanitation with permanent and incremental solutions. While infrastructure is key, it is only one half of the problem. According to the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Mission, behavioural change is the other half. How do we ensure that users take advantage of toilets that are built? How do we educate users to do so safely and correctly? How do we ensure that these toilets remain usable and well-maintained? To that end, the efforts governments can make fall into three broad categories:
Legislative Framework and Policy Development
Enacting laws and policies that promote sanitation and hygiene writes sanitation and hygiene into culture, permanently. These laws and policies should define the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, set standards and targets, allocate resources and monitor progress. For example, the Indian government has enacted several laws related to sanitation, such as the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, which helps rural workers find employment in the sanitation sector.
Policies, too, play an important role in shaping public health outcomes by influencing the behaviour and practices of individuals, communities and service providers. They also often contain incentives that help drive adoption. The Swachh Bharat Mission, for instance, is a flagship policy initiative that aims to achieve universal sanitation coverage. It provides financial incentives to households, gram panchayats (village councils) and states for constructing toilets, improving solid waste management and promoting behaviour change.
Regulatory Frameworks and Enforcement
Laws alone can’t ensure that sanitation standards are met and maintained. For this, we need strong regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms. Regulatory frameworks include rules, guidelines, norms and codes that define the minimum requirements for sanitation facilities and services. Enforcement mechanisms include inspections, audits, penalties and rewards that ensure compliance with the regulatory frameworks. For example, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is a statutory body under the Indian government that regulates environmental pollution, including water quality and wastewater treatment. It conducts regular monitoring of water bodies, issues directions to polluters and imposes fines or closures for non-compliance.
Budget Allocation and Financial Commitment
All of this needs funding to translate policies and plans into action on the ground. Without adequate financial support, projects face delays, cost overruns, poor quality execution, and so on. An appropriate budget isn’t just about the monies overall, but how it is distributed, accounted for and administered.
A strong budget determines how much money is available for different components of sanitation, such as capital expenditure, operation and maintenance, behaviour change communication, monitoring and evaluation etc. The project team can influence how the funds are distributed among different levels of government, such as central, state and local.
Better Together: Finding the Right Partnerships
Even with the most ambitious projects, sometimes we don’t have the right skills, technical knowhow and expertise, or experience. Governments can make up for these by partnering with international organisations that can provide technical assistance, financial support, advocacy and knowledge sharing. These organisations can include the United Nations and their agencies, multilateral development banks like the World Bank, bilateral donors like USAID, NGOs, and private sector actors.
These partners can really help bolster the government’s efforts by helping with funding and loans, extending their expertise and guidance on best practices and innovations, facilitating cross-country learning and exchange, generating public awareness and even through support in the form of monitoring and evaluation systems.
Among private sector actors, the leading voice is that of Harpic, India’s leading brand in the lavatory care segment. Harpic has vocally championed the cause of toilet hygiene for decades now, through innovative and thought provoking campaigns and outreach programs. Harpic, together with News18, also created the Mission Swachhta aur Paani initiative 3 years ago. It is a movement that upholds the cause of inclusive sanitation where everyone has access to clean toilets. Mission Swachhta aur Paani advocates equality for all genders, abilities, castes and classes and strongly believes that clean toilets are a shared responsibility.
Mission Swachhta aur Paani combines intelligent dialogue between the right stakeholders, ie. government officials, NGOs, activists, sanitation workers, educators and members of the public, with the audience reach News18 brings. It has brought to light many problems our sanitation infrastructure, and sanitation workers face.
Under the aegis of Mission Swachhta aur Paani, Harpic has also undertaken several initiatives and partnerships that target different players in the sanitation ecosystem: from children advocates who champion building toilets in their homes, to sanitation workers who are bringing dignity to sanitation work through their own lived example, to the many, many activists and NGOs who join Mission Swachhta aur Paani to amplify their voices.
Join your voice to ours here, and help us unlock the power of 1.4 billion healthy and skilled Indians as we march towards a Swasth and Swachh Bharat.
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