Address At The Nirmal Gram Puraskar Function At Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi

Integrated Sanitation Mission leads to Good Human Life

I am delighted to be present at the Nirmal Gram Puraskar function here today. I am happy to see a large number of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) representatives this year compared to the previous years. This suggests that the movement started last year has gained momentum. During 2005, I had emphasized that "Sanitation is a Noble Mission for the Nation" and that this mission should be taken forward with great vigour. This mission is an important mission as it involves the lakhs of villages and rural persons across India, and is aimed at the betterment of their lives through their efforts and the Government agencies guidance. In addition, this mission forms part of the larger mission of transforming India into a developed nation by 2020. Good sanitary conditions and infrastructure are an important indicators of the state of development of any nation. I would like to discuss on the topic "Integrated Sanitation Mission leads to Good Human Life".

Hygiene and Health Care

As you are all aware, nearly 700 million people of India live in the rural areas in 600,000 villages comprising of 200,000 Panchayats. In order to ensure a good quality of life for our rural people, basic facilities of water supply and sanitation have to be provided to all. Lack of sanitation facilities leads to a large number of diseases and also loss of employment for the rural people. Poor hygiene behaviour also brings various health hazards. That makes it even more important for concerted action to be taken to tackle this problem.

Good Human Life: Integrated Mission of Rural Sanitation and Drinking water

Rural Sanitation has been much-neglected in our country for many years. As a result, sanitation coverage in rural areas has been very low. I understand that twenty-five years ago it was only 1%, which improved to 22% in 2001. These levels need to be drastically improved for ensuring a better quality of life for our people and children. I am happy to know that Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development has taken initiatives in this direction by launching the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) Programme, which has been started in 559 districts of the country with a total outlay of Rs.6017 crore. I am also happy to see that the Department has enhanced budgetary allocation for the sanitation programme considerably over the past 4 years. I am told that the allocation has increased from Rs. 135 crore in 2002-03 to Rs.700 crore in 2005-06.

Social Participation

This programme gives lot of emphasis on awareness creation and social mobilization. Sanitation to all can be provided only by mobilizing all sections of society. Providing sanitation facilities is not only the responsibility of the Government but also of the elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), non-governmental organizations and members of civil society. Mahatma Gandhi used to lay emphasis on strengthening local self governments to seek solutions for various problems. Both issues of sanitation and local self government were very close to his heart. Mahatma Gandhi's dream can be turned into reality through such programmes. Without the involvement of PRIs, the mission of sanitation cannot be achieved. It is essential that Gram Panchayats play a pivotal role in sanitation promotion as they reflect the will of the people at the grass-root level. Involvement of women is also very important. Self Help Groups, Mahila Samakhya, Women Groups should be encouraged to take up sanitation and suitable incentives should be given to them. I have personally witnessed such participation in village like Kirapalayam in Tamil Nadu and Karody village in Punjab.

What one should be remembered for?

I generally assume that most of the NGOs, have a purpose in life and would like to contribute to the welfare of the society. The motto of the NGO can be "what I should be remembered for." The study indicates that large contributions of societal work of NGOs are visible in certain southern States and Maharashtra. I would request the NGOs and rural development agencies such as CAPART to assist Bihar, UP and North Eastern States and show their societal spirit, their entrepreneurial spirit, mission oriented approach and assist in rural transformation. Life has offered us an excellent opportunity. There is no great challenge in treading the well laid out path. Rural NGOs have to create a new path. In this way NGOs can make a great contribution to the creation of beautiful and clean villages across India through the total sanitation programme.

The New Paths

Let us imagine that it has rained for over two hours in a village area. During the rain we observe many streams. Whether the water in the streams reach the local lake and ponds and stores the water for the villagers to use in subsequent period, or it goes to the sea or gets dried up on the way, is dependent on the contour which has been made in the village and the obstruction-less path created by the Village Panchayat for the flow of water. In some places, the roads are kept at a higher level so that the captured water in the road directly flows into the nearby water bodies. This I have seen this in the Mount Abu area. I had the opportunity to see the progress of works being done by the NGO's in different places. In many places the benefits of the scheme comes to a grinding halt as soon as the NGOs or the Government functionaries leave the scene. Hence we have to ensure that a sustainable mechanism has to be created for continuous functioning of the scheme, even if the NGO or government agency leaves the place of action. How? This should be done by training the local people, so that they can manage the scheme and make the benefits flow to the villagers. Rural Development Ministry must make the Panchayats and the District Authorities empowered for the sustainable functioning of the total sanitation scheme. Normally, the short of maintenance leads to non-operation of many good development works. These maintenance areas can be given to the ex-servicemen after certain amount of training, since this disciplined force are spread in all parts of the country. It is very essential in all our development work.

Close Loop System of Waste Management

When I think of sanitation first thing comes to our mind is the provision of sanitation facilities with adequate water for all the households in the village cluster. This activity itself can be made an economic wealth generating activity for the village. For example, in some of the villages the toilet facilities have been made out of fibre glass by the village self-help groups. I have seen the fabrication of toilet facilities by the villagers in Kirapalayam, Ahamedabad and Vallam. Such facilities brings down the cost of each toilet substantially. As a second step it is to be ensured that all the toilets are functional at all times. This will need training in plumbing and maintenance of toilets by a group of village personnel who can provide the service to the villagers for a fee. As a third step we have to ensure that continuous availability of water to the toilets. With the depleting water resources this can be possible only if we have a system of recycling and recharging of toilet water including the linkage to water harvesting in every home. This also must become part of the total sanitation programme. As a fourth step, there is a need to connect the individual toilets to a common sewerage system for central disposal without which all the efforts taken in providing hygienic toilet facilities in individual dwellings may not yield the desired results. I have come across a model which has been executed by Shri H.G.S. Gill, an NRI at Karodi village in Hoshiyarpur District, Punjab, very close to Martyr Bhagat Singh birth place. He has used a technology through which individual toilets are connected to a central village sewerage system which is being taken to a remote place through underground closed drainage system. There is an open sewerage tank exposed to sun, where the waste is constantly agitated and water gets separated. Also, the sewerage water is treated and is being used for agricultural purposes. Mr. Gill is ensuring that the individual households are maintaining their sanitation system without being blocked and the central system is also being maintained through specially trained staff for this purpose. After few months when the central tank is cleaned the solid waste is converted as manures and used for agricultural purposes. He is extending this model to two more villages in Hoshiyarpur District namely Jain and Jandiala. What I would like to emphasize here that it is not adequate only to bring toilets to each house. It is essential to consider the overall problem of total waste disposal and treatment for the sewerage system so that the environment is maintained clean and tidy at all times. I would suggest that the Panchayat Raj institutions may emulate this model which I have discussed and provide total waste management system including the use of waste for productive purposes.

The next level wastage in a village comes from the animals, plants and trees and the waste created due to cooking, processing, washing and other forms of day-to-day human activity. These wastes can be categorized into bio-degradable waste and non-degradable waste. The bio-degradable waste can be converted into pellets and used for household heating which otherwise consumes fossil fuels. The bio-degradable waste also can be used for vermi-composting which is very good organic manure. If the village has large amount of bio-degradable waste based on the population and the number of cattle in the villages, the bio-degradable waste can also be used for generating electricity through bio-gas plants.

Database of Sanitary Systems

If we want to fully succeed in the programme it is essential to create a data base of all the dwelling units having sanitary facilities and the state of the toilets including water recycling programmes in each village clusters. The information on the people responsible for maintenance and the response times between the reporting of the fault and the time at which it is attended to should also be captured. Village clusters must also have the data base on the sanitary facilities which are in various stages of progress in the dwelling units, schools, hospitals and other community areas so that at any time the availability of the sanitary facilities and its state can be known to the chiefs of the local bodies. They must also have a data base on the total waste generated in the village clusters and the quantum which is being converted as wealth through recycling and generation of energy.

Conclusion: Righteousness

Particularly, people who are working in societal transformation have to have a unique quality of righteousness in all their actions. I am reminded of a beautiful hymn about righteousness which I heard in a divine environment.

Righteousness

Where there is righteousness in the heart,

There is beauty in the character.

When there is beauty in the character,

There is harmony in the home.

When there is harmony in the home,

There is order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation,

There is peace in the world.

It is a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world. In a society we have to build righteousness among all its constituents. For the society as a whole to be righteous we need creation of righteousness in family, righteousness in education, righteousness in service, righteousness in career, righteousness in business & industry, righteousness in civil administration, righteousness in politics, righteousness in government, righteousness in law and order, righteousness in justice. In addition to righteousness in multiple dimensions in the society, indomitable spirit is essential for realizing the vision of developed India including the total sanitation in all our villages.

I once again congratulate all award winners and wish all participants success in your Total Sanitation Campaign Programme (TSC) leading to the provision of a clean habitat and environment to all citizens of the country.

May God Bless You.