Mathur Ritika Passi

Figure 1: Progress on Access to Water 14
Figure 2: Progress on Access to Improved Sanitation 15
Examining National Policies and
Programmes
Water and sanitation are state subjects.
States have the autonomy to create plans,
programmes and policies to meet their
water and sanitation targets. A guiding
policy was created in 1987 to assist states
in managing their water resources in
alignment with national priorities. This
National Water Policy (later revised in 2002
and 2012) prioritised provision of drinking
water for all and prescribed emphasis
on wastewater management. 16 Several
central- and state-level programmes under
the MDWS followed, aiming at providing
drinking water and sanitation for all, and
focused particularly on rural areas.
National programmes on rural drinking
water were envisaged as early as 1970s.
Various iterations materialised: Accelerated
Rural Water Supply Programme; National
Mission on Drinking Water (1991);
Swajaldhara (2002-2009); National Rural
Drinking Water Programme (NRWDP)
(2009); Bharat Nirman Phase I (2005-
2009) & II (2009-2012). 17 These policies
have covered a range of issues. Of note
is Swajaldhara,which focused on shifting
the paradigm of centralised governance of
water supply to a decentralised approach: 18
The programme provided communities/
panchayats the freedom to plan, implement
and operate all drinking water schemes
through a demand-driven and inclusive
participation process. The overall progress
under this programme is, however, difficult
to assess given the decentralised nature
of governance. 19 Secondly, the NRWDP
issued guidelines for not only achieving
intensive coverage of water supply, but
also ensuring sustainability of water
schemes, water conservation and water
quality management. The latter component
also formed part of the Bharat Nirman
Phases I and II, which aimed to build rural
infrastructure for water quality treatment
and supply. 20
Programmes on sanitation started a decade
later. Central programmes for rural water
and sanitation were launched in 1986.
The Central Rural Sanitation Programme
was created to improve sanitation
facilities in urban areas. In 1999, the
government initiated the Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyan, or Total Sanitation Campaign,
aimed at eradicating the practice of open
defecation by 2010 through community-led
programmes. 21 This campaign expanded
the earlier concept of sanitation to include
waste disposal and hygiene. To incentivise
community-led initiatives, the government
introduced the Nirmal Gram Puraskar
in 2003. Incentives are given to villages,
blocks and/or districts on achieving
complete eradication of open defecation;
these villages, thereafter, are to be labelled
as open defecation-free villages. Multiple
other schemes and policies have been
created to facilitate India’s sanitation goal,
but progress has been tardy. Most recently,
the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India
Mission) has been launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to eradicate the
practice of open defecation by 2019.
Policy researchers suggest that India’s
approach to sanitation has been merely
“programmatic, infrastructure-based
and subsidy-driven.” 22 Policies are
uncoordinated, institutions lack clear
mandates and implementation is poor
at ground zero because of a top-down
approach.
In view of these challenges, the Ministry
of Rural Development consulted domain
experts, academicians and members of
civil society to formulate a strategic plan
(2011-2022) separately for water and
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