SCORECARD On Faecal Sludge Management and Sanitation in Rural Areas

May 18, 2023

The first phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) had focused on availability of and accessibility to toilets. With the construction of 110 million toilets in this first phase, India declared itself open defecation free (ODF).

However, these toilets were built without any focus on their containment and treatment systems. The challenge was more evident after the completion of the first phase of SBM-G in 2019 -- retrofitting of faulty toilets, ensuring water in toilets, and proper treatment and disposal of the more than 100,000 tonne of faecal sludge produced daily needed immediate attention.

Keeping these challenges in mind, the government laid down the key objectives of SBM 2.0. This phase of the Mission aimed to sustain the ODF status of the villages and improve cleanliness and hygiene conditions through solid and liquid waste management interventions – the end objective was to make villages ‘ODF plus’ by 2024