Achievements and challenges of India’s sanitation campaign under clean India mission: A commentary

Universal access to safe sanitation is yet to be accomplished in India. Although Clean India Mission (named as “Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)” for rural India) claims that the sanitation coverage in rural India has increased from 39% to 100% of households from 2014 and 2019, yet open defaecation continues in India in large numbers. This article discusses the achievements on Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and identifies the existing challenges that need to be acted on to achieve the success of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission. We searched international database mainly Google scholar, Pubmed, Medline, Scopus, and Science direct using “Clean India,” “Swachh Bharat,” “Sanitation,” “Open defecation,” “Environmental heath,” and “India” as search keywords in different combinations. In addition, websites of relevant United Nations (UN) agencies, Government of India and leading newspaper and national agencies were also searched manually for related publications and reports. In the last 5 years (2014‑2019), significant efforts have been made for the Swachh Bharat Mission by creating various social movements and awareness program to improve toilet coverage throughout India. Over 100 million, latrines have been built as of the end of the first phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) as on October 2, 2019 and all villages across the districts of India have been declared Open Defaecation Free. Still, nearly half of the rural population (52.1%) defecate in the open. Lack of piped water supply, poor construction of toilet substructures and misconception among people about toilet use remain as key challenges in the achievement of India’s sanitation mission. Sanitation‑related behavioral change and improvement in toilet facilities must be prioritized to ensure usage of built toilets and eventually can accelerate the universal access to sanitation and meet Sustainable Development Goals.