Government makes serious effort to promote Swachh Bharat
Since its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 October 2014, Rs 253 crore has been spent to publicise the Swachh Bharat Mission, according to an RTI (Right to Information) reply received by The Sunday Guardian from the Ministry of Urban Development.
From the total expenditure of Rs 3,139 crore since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the government has spent Rs 253 crore in total for printing books, flyers, pamphlets, diaries, calendars, advertisements, promotions and awareness campaigns, along with highlighting the achievements of the Swachh Bharat Mission across the country since its launch in 2014.
The various material printed for the promotion of the Swachh Bharat Mission includes the “Idea book” — separately printed for different groups like school children, Self Help Groups, housing societies, the healthcare industry etc — which discusses the different ideas and ways to convert waste material into productive materials. Not only this, “newsletters” highlighting several case studies and achievements have also been printed from time to time, along with songs, videos, and speeches on the Swachh Bharat Mission, for its advertisement. Mails to the secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development seeking clarification on the expenditure did not yield any response.
The government’s budget for the Swachh Bharat Mission this financial year has been around Rs 1,236 crore and the government has also started collecting a “Swachh Bharat cess” at the rate of 0.5% of the value of service tax for all taxable transactions since the last budget, which would go into the “Swachh Bharat Kosh” (the fund collected for development works under the Mission).
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Dr M. Ramachandran, former Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, said that the Swachh Bharat Mission is a very ambitious project that this government has thought of and taken up, that no other government in the past had even thought of. “Publicity is an integral part of this project. This is such a humongous project that requires attitudinal and behavioral changes in the people of this country. For this, publicity and awareness campaigns are very much needed to make this a reality. Without publicity, this project would not stand to work at all.”
“Without publicity and awareness, just building toilets is worthless until people are made aware of using them. The government needs to use these publicity and awareness campaigns at the right place to achieve its desired goals. However, Swachh Bharat has made a good start and while trav- elling across several small towns and cities across the country, some changes are visible,” Ramachandran added. Solid waste management is also one of the major issues in most parts of the country which the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan is to address. While in Delhi alone, around 7,300 metric tonnes of solid waste is generated daily, only 400-480 metric tonnes of this waste are being converted into compost, while the rest lies as small mountains of garbage.
The National Green Tribunal has recently said that a fine of Rs 10,000 would be imposed on any person or agency, government or private, found throwing garbage at a public place.
Mamata Dash, manager of Campaigns and Rights with WaterAid India, told The Sunday Guardian that the funds being spent for publicity of this project is essential, but the right kind of publicity and awareness at the right place needs to done. The BJP has shelved any near plans to shift Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to the Centre, which was being mooted by a certain section of leaders both within the RSS and the BJP, as the party feels that he is still the best man the party has to lead the BJP in the state.
Highly placed party functionaries who are part of the deliberation involving Madhya Pradesh in general and Chouhan in particular, said that there was a very remote chance of Chouhan being brought to New Delhi as part of the Cabinet reshuffle, which is likely to take place within a month. This Cabinet reshuffle, according to party sources, is likely to be the biggest one that will be done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before he faces the general elections slated for May 2019.
Party sources said that Chouhan, who suffered “damages” due to the Vyapam scam, has now emerged “relatively unhurt” and it makes no sense to bring him to Delhi now. “Till last year, there were strong voices from a section both within the RSS and the BJP that he should be shifted to Delhi to save the party’s image in the state which was hit because of the Vyapam scam. This would have also helped him (Chouhan) at the time. But Chouhan himself was reluctant to move here for different reasons. However, now, whatever the negative perception was there about him, is finished. He remains the best man that we have and he will hopefully lead our party campaign in the state in 2018 when the Assembly elections are scheduled,” a senior party leader stated.
The same statement that Chouhan remains the best man to lead the party in the state was also given by another party leader who is known for his bitterness towards Chouhan. “He is the most popular leader we have and that is accepted even by his adversaries. However, it is also true that he has not let anyone else gain stature in the state. Prabhat Jha tried and so did Kailash Vijayvargiya, but were unsuccessful,” the leader said.
According to party sources, Chouhan, like every seasoned politician, has made sure that there is no second generation leader in the state to take up his place in case he is asked to vacate his chair. “Former state president Prabhat Jha was one the strongest candidates, but that is not the case anymore as he is content with his Rajya Sabha nomination and as the in-charge of Punjab. Earlier, relations between the two were very bitter, but now Chouhan makes sure that Jha is given his due respect and attention. Party general secretary and Chouhan’s Cabinet colleague Kailash Vijayvargiya, too, has been tied down by Chouhan and Uma Bharti’s political ground is now Uttar Pradesh. In short, Chouhan has made sure that everyone who had the capability and the ambition to replace him was downsized. The only time when he will vacate his chair is if the people of Madhya Pradesh will vote him out,” a party MLA said.