It couldn’t have come at a better time for India; finally a prime minister has shown the courage to take on what many experts say, is a serious internal threat – our non-existent sewage systems and the little in existence that is bursting at the seams. It is no less significant that he chose the rampart of the Red Fort to address the issue on the 67th anniversary of the nation’s independence from foreign rule. Conscious about the unusual break from tradition by talking about the need for exclusive females-only toilet access to every schoolgirl, the prime minister reminded listeners that it didn’t matter if some people thought he is being uncouth in talking about personal hygiene on the occasion of Independence Day.
Apparently, it’s not just access to toilet for every schoolgirl that the PM had in the back of his mind. He had surely considered the energy potential of the sewage discharge from all the toilets that would be built for girls in schools across the country. If a concerted effort is made to biomethanize the sewage discharge from toilets in all the schools, the energy thus generated, will easily meet the electric power needs of not just the schools but also spare some for the local grid and earn some much-needed revenue for the schools.
This is no longer a drawing board projection for futuristic sustainable development. It is already happening in different parts of rural India although at a negligible scale. With government support we are likely to witness a scale-up. Soon after the prime minister’s announcement that by the next Independence Day every school in India will have separate toilets for girls, the corporate sector got into action mode and began announcing their support for the programme. TCS and Bharti Airtel were the first to announce that they will spend Rs. 100 crores each toward building toilet infrastructure for girls in schools across the country.
Since then, numerous other companies have announced their intention to build toilet infrastructure for girls in schools. It’s a dream start for such a critical project and it is expected that this time it won’t be a case of ‘started with a bang and ended with a whimper’ especially with the prime minister as a major stakeholder. It’s his word that needs to ring true come Independence Day 2015! He’s going to keep a hawk eye on the progress of the project. Cynics though are busy looking at gaps and clefts and are especially pointing out the condition of existing toilets in schools and other public premises.
Now, we all know how difficult it is to maintain public property in India especially toilets that too in a rural environment where most people aren’t even aware of how these are maintained. It’s not pleasant to hear cynics point out drawbacks in a project that has taken off like a guided missile on its way to hit the target but it will pay to absorb their point of view. So the question arises – is there a specific plan for proper sanitation of rural India where over two-thirds of the people defecate in the open? They are not going to start using the toilets right away and would need some basic training in the use and maintenance of such toilets.
A whole new culture has to develop along side the sanitation infrastructure. We keep referring to rural India, forgetting that half of urban India comprises of the rural poor who live on the margins in slums and shantytowns where the sanitation standards are far worse than what they are in the open spaces of rural India. Prime Minister Modi has taken the first big step toward a very important aspect of India’s profile – her sanitation standards. Sustaining this initial momentum isn’t going to be easy if we go by the quintessential Indian approach toward change, especially among the under-classes. Therefore, the stakes for this target group have to increase in this mission and fortunately, the options are adequate to show that there’s a sustainable and profitable economy around sanitation as well.