Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014, aimed to achieve an Open Defecation Free (ODF) India within five years, contributing significantly to Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, which seeks adequate and equitable sanitation for all, with a focus on women and girls. By 2019, through strategies emphasizing public participation, the campaign achieved the construction of over 100 million household toilets, benefiting 500 million people across 630,000 villages.
The success of SBM has inspired other national campaigns and influenced similar policies in countries like Nigeria, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. Building on this progress, SBM Phase II, launched in 2020, is focused on addressing the entire sanitation lifecycle.
The implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) involved a financial partnership between the central and state governments, fostering local ownership of outcomes, with support from development partners. States had the flexibility to decide on decentralizing funds to households. A significant portion of the budget was dedicated to social and behavior change campaigns, focusing on education, peer monitoring, role modeling, and consistent media messaging to sustain toilet use.
SBM promoted sanitation as a shared responsibility, integrating sanitation goals into annual work plans across all government ministries. This ensured adequate toilet facilities in schools, healthcare centers, workplaces, and other public spaces, with special provisions for menstrual hygiene in schools. Over 600,000 community volunteers, or swachhgrahis, were mobilized to educate communities, monitor progress using mobile tools, and organize campaigns, engaging households, schools, and healthcare facilities in improving sanitation practices.
