Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014. The main aim of this mission was to achieve universal sanitation coverage and provide every rural family with a toilet. The project was established as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

The objective of the Swachh Bharat Mission was to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management in India. The mission has two phases: Phase 1 lasted till October 2019, while Phase 2 was for 2020-2021 and 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched with two components: Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), which was implemented in rural regions, and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), in urban areas. The focus of these two components was rural and urban sanitation, respectively.

Also, the goal of the nationwide programme was to clean up streets, highways, cities, and rural regions. 

Swachh Bharat Mission Logo 

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan logo was chosen through a competition in which thousands of people competed. Shri Anant Khasbardar from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, won the first prize. 

His logo was simple yet meaningful and accurate for the Mission. It featured Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles with Swacch Bharat written on both the glasses, with the Tricolour displayed in the background. The logo is seen as a homage to Gandhi’s ideas and the morals he preached, and it is something that the entire nation is working towards.

Bhagyashree Sheth from Rajkot, Gujarat, gave the tagline “Ek Kadam Swachhata ki aur” – for Swacch Bharat Abhiyan.

Components of the Swachh Bharat Mission 

  1. Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin): This initiative was started to ensure cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in India in five years. Its mission is to improve rural sanitation by adopting solid and liquid waste management operations and ensuring that villages are open defecation free (ODF).

It aims at expanding the scope of rural sanitation coverage and eradicating open defecation. The Swachh Bharat Mission’s primary motive in the Gramin sector is to encourage sustainable sanitation practices in villages and promote the usage of technology for sustainable sanitation. 

  • Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban): This scheme tries to fulfil a three-fold objective. The first objective is to limit the number of people who still go for open defecation. The second is to convert pit based washrooms into sanitary latrines. The third objective is to stop the construction of any new unsanitary and unclean bathrooms. The mission of the urban sector aims to construct community toilets in residential areas where it is challenging to make individual household toilets.

    As part of the scheme, public restrooms will also be built-in tourist spots, markets, bus stations, and railway stations. Eradication of manual scavenging is also one of the objectives of the urban mission. 

Objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission 

  • Hygiene and cleanliness should be promoted comprehensively.
  • To reduce the number of people and households who defecate in the open.
  • Raising the standard of living in rural communities.
  • Encourage the use of environmentally appropriate sanitation.
  • To raise public awareness about health and hygiene concerns
  • To assist India in realising the aim of sustainable development.
  • To encourage the use of cost-effective and efficient sanitation solutions.
  • To concentrate on scientific waste management strategies for both solid and liquid waste.
  • To have a positive impact on social inclusion and gender equality.

Swachh Bharat Mission Approach 

The programme employs a multi-faceted strategy to fulfil the sanitation and hygiene aims. Take a look:

  • Participation of the community- The initiative’s primary focus is to increase people’s involvement.
  • Promoting behaviour change- It is a healthy technique to promote positive efforts to provide rewards and incentives to the highest-performing businesses. 
  • Flexibility in making decisions- Every citizen has the choice of upgrading their toilets based on their needs and financial circumstances.
  • Use of technology- One of the unique elements of this programme is that it incorporates the factor of rising information technology power. This program’s success is due to its extensive use of social media and cutting-edge technologies.
  • Capacity building- The project includes the cleaning framework from the grass-root to the district level—this system’s holistic approach aids the plan in effectively strengthening community capacity. 
  • Swachh Bharat Kosh- Instilling Swachh Bharat Kosh in every part of the resource base, from Swachh Bharat Kosh to the organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility, is the main engine behind the program’s massive reach.

Swachh Bharat Mission App 

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in technical collaboration with National Informatics Centre, developed the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Mobile app to provide a 360-degree approach to the scheme’s performance evaluation procedure. Photographs of people who have toilet facilities installed in their homes can be uploaded on the app.

The outstanding feature of this design is that when it is photographed, it automatically collects the location’s latitude and longitude and the date. Subsequently, the data is uploaded to the Mission’s central server at the National Data Centre. This eliminates the time-consuming process of manually uploading data to the server.

Conclusion  

With Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts, India began its march toward cleanliness. Our “Father of the Nation” launched an effective cleanliness and sanitation awareness campaign, inspiring many more leaders to follow in his footsteps. On the 10th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, PM Modi inaugurated the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a nationwide drive to realise the dream of a clean India.