Critics of Swachh Bharat Survey are wrong: Govt

New Delhi: There have been some recent reports in certain sections of the media that have misquoted and drawn wrong conclusions from the Swachhta Status Report of the Rapid Survey of Swachhta Status undertaken along with the 72^nd round of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). The conclusions drawn in these media reports about the Swachh Bharat Mission and survey results are not only factually incorrect but also inappropriately interpreted, the government has clarified.

The survey period for the Rapid Survey of Swachhta Status was May-June 2015 and, hence, all the findings of the Swachhta Status Report, including the rural sanitation coverage of 45.3%, refer to the period up to June 2015. This means that the results are nearly 2 years old and only 9 months into the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).

The survey does not give any information on the number of toilets built by the government under SBM.

The survey gives information on

• The percentage of households having toilets
• The percentage of households having access to water for use in toilets (in households having toilets).

The results show that, out of all households that have toilets, 93.9% in rural areas and 99% in urban areas have access to water in these toilets.

In para 4.8.10.1 of the report, the following has been stated:

“In rural India, 42.5% households were found to have access to water for use in (the) toilet.”

In some media articles, this has been interpreted to mean that out of the households that have toilets only 42.5% have access to water. Such an interpretation is incorrect. It may be correctly interpreted as, the government clarifies, out of all households in rural areas, 42.5% have access to water in toilets. If one were to consider only those households that have toilets, the percentage of the households having access to water is 93.9% for rural areas and 99% for urban areas.

The report talks about drainage of household waste water, which includes domestic waste water from kitchen etc., and does not include waste water from toilets.

The Union government has advised that all users go through the Swachh Status Report in detail, including the appendices, particularly on ‘Concepts and Definitions’, for a complete understanding of the findings.