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The North-East region--except Sikkim--is the worst performing region under the urban Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), and Delhi has met just 0.006% of its target over two years to October 2016, according to a FactChecker analysis of SBM data.

Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu reviewed the progress of the mission on October 24, 2016, and announced that the mission was broadly on course to meet the target of building over six million toilets in five years.

A fact-check of the claims found all of them to be true with a couple of caveats.

Claim 1: Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh meet mission target much ahead of time

Gujarat had set a target of building 406,388 toilets in five years ending 2019, but it has already built 548,642 toilets--135% of the mission target in 40% time, as per SBM data.

Andhra Pradesh, which set a target of building 193,426 toilets by 2019, has built 333,554 toilets--172% of the target.

Source: Swachh Bharat Urban

Claim 2: Kerala meets 68% of mission target; Chhattisgarh-61%, MP-46%, Tamil Nadu-43%

All these claims are correct, according to official data. There is currently no independent verification available.

Source: Swachh Bharat Urban

However, Kerala, on November 1, 2016, declared itself to be India's third state to be free of open defecation after Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

Claim 3: UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand construct over 30% of targeted toilets

These claims are correct, too, according to official data.

Source: Swachh Bharat Urban

Claim 4: 35% of mission target for construction of individual household toilets met in 40% of mission period

The SBM was launched on October 2, 2014, with a mission time of five years. The target was to build 6.64 million toilets by 2019 of which 2.57 million toilets (39%) have been built in two years of mission time (24 months, 40%).

Therefore, Naidu's claim is correct--the official SBM data exceeds the number quoted by him.

However, a look at state-wise data reveals that many states are substantially behind schedule.

The extra toilets built by Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have helped boost overall numbers.

If the target and number of toilets built by Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are subtracted from the overall target, a FactChecker analysis showed that 1.69 million out of 6.04 million toilets (28%) toilets have been built in 40% of the mission time.

North-East worst performing region

The North-East region--except Sikkim--has built the least proportion of toilets.

Tripura, which has a target of 63,348 toilets, hasn't built a single toilet in two years; Meghalaya has built one of the 5,066 toilet target.

Other equally bad performing states are Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha.

Source: Swachh Bharat Urban

Centre-state tussle affects SBM in Delhi

Delhi has met 0.006% of its target in two years. Of 125,398 toilets that are to be built in five years, no more than eight have been built. The condition of the SBM in Delhi can be attributed to two reasons:

  • Municipal corporations do not use money: Municipal corporations in Delhi did not use the money they got for the SBM; North Delhi Municipal Corporation "failed" to spend a single penny out of Rs 46.28 crore allocated to it, as per the Delhi Citizens' Handbook 2016, prepared by Centre for Civil Society, an advocacy, according to this September 2016 report by the Indian Express.

    South Delhi Municipal Corporation spent 0.25% of the Rs 31.63 crore it received. Municipal officials said the clauses attached to the programme led to the delay. "As per the guidelines, the Centre was supposed to give 20% of the amount and 6% had to come from the state government. The corporation was supposed to contribute 74%," PK Gupta, commissioner, North Delhi Municipal Corporation told the Hindustan Times in October 2016. "We were already in a financial crisis and not able to invest. We had a series of meetings with the Central government officials. Finally, last month, the Centre agreed to give 35% of the amount."

  • Tussle between the Centre and state government: The long tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government is a factor as well. "The Delhi government hasn't released nearly Rs 1,000 crore entitled to the corporation under the budget," said Sanjeev Nayyar, Mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, quoted in this October 2016 report by Scoopwhoop News. The Delhi government's urban development department responded by saying that "funds are being released without any hassle". "A cooperative framework is needed between various municipal corporations, Delhi government and Delhi residents to achieve the objective of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," Nayyar said.

(Saha is an MA Gender and Development student at Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.)

Devanik Saha