The Hindu : National : Gandhian approach to sanitation will help: Manmohan

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Gandhian approach to sanitation will help: Manmohan

Special Correspondent

It will ensure a life of dignity and good health to all citizens

Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday outlined a Gandhian approach to improving sanitation in south Asian countries.

Addressing the Third South Asian Conference on Sanitation after India took over chairmanship from Pakistan, Dr. Singh underlined the Mahatma’s call for total sanitation so as to ensure a life of dignity and good health to all citizens of the region.

The Prime Minister told the gathering — of 1,100 delegates from eight South Asia countries, besides representatives from 15 other countries — about his initiative to create an army of barefoot engineers and then integrate them into a national plan to sustain projects including sanitation in rural areas.

The programme aimed at training rural youth to repair agricultural pumpsets, hand-pumps, rural household connections, agricultural implements and sanitation facilities.

The Prime Minister’s concern was to address the issue of sustainability. “I’m told that 20 per cent of toilets built in the country were not functional because of a variety of factors, from poor construction to lack of maintenance. We need to build local capacity in construction and maintenance of sanitation facilities.”

Dr. Singh underscored the lacunae which were noticed despite the government spending on increasing sanitation facilities increasing sixfold during the past four years and this investment dramatically improving the coverage of sanitation facilities in rural areas from 22 to 58 per cent.

He said Sikkim had achieved 100 per cent sanitation coverage and was set to become the first State to receive the Nirmal Rajya Award. Dr. Singh called for priority to sanitation in development policy approaches, locating it as an integrated framework of public health policy and developing technology for diverse eco-systems. Also, there was need to explore models of solid and liquid waste management through innovation and even income generating schemes.

Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who presided, said total sanitation was one of the eight flagship programmes of the Union government and was confident that all houses would be covered by 2012.

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