The Swachhata Action Plan — a programme to integrate ‘swachhata’ or ‘cleanliness’ activities into all Central Ministries and departments — had seen its budget drop by more than ₹1,500 crore in its second year, according to a statement from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The programme, launched in April 2017, was intended to take the Modi government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission beyond its nodal Ministries — the MDWS for rural sanitation and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for urban sanitation — and mainstream it into all spheres of the government. It was originally intended to be a two-year programme.
71 Ministries
In its inaugural year, the Central Ministries had allocated over ₹18,000 crore for the programme. On Friday, when the SAP 2018-19 was launched by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha, it was announced that less than ₹16,500 crore had been earmarked by 71 Ministries and departments for the second year’s activities. The statement added that some Ministries were in the process of increasing their commitment of funds.
The gallery of the Swachhata Action Plan website showed some of the activities undertaken by the Ministries. This included tree plantation drives, building of toilets or their renovation, and awareness campaigns. Cleaning of streets, offices and solar panels were also carried out.
At the review of SAP 2017-18, Mr. Sinha called for higher allocation and utilisation of funds under the programme and asked secretaries to personally monitor activities, said the statement.
