The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan got a boost with Union Government giving a free hand to states and municipalities in implementation of the scheme in right earnest which is a major shift in the policy. No doubt by giving a free hand all the agencies involved in the drive would be able to execute the scheme in an accountable and proper way. The policy shift envisages no longer approval or appraisal of the project proposals by the Urban Development Ministry which proved to a bane of UPA’s flagship urban renewal mission-JNNURM. The move has significance since the success of the NDA flagship scheme for cleanliness and sanitation is critically dependent on state governments and municipal bodies. The mission will cover all the 4,041 statutory towns and cities around the country. The Urban Development Ministry guidelines will now authorise local bodies to prepare sanction and implement projects in respect of constructing individual household, communities and public toilets. Solid waste management proposals of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will also get a boost. The scheme mainly focuses on elimination of open defecation, manual scavenging , modern and scientific solid waste management besides generating awareness among the masses. To avoid diversion of funds allocation for the proposed schemes, ULBs will take self attested geo-tagged photographs of construction along with the application. This way technology works in checking the fraudulent waste of funds and check delays in implementation of the scheme thus making monitoring more easy and bring in the much needed transparency in implementing social schemes. By introducing such innovative steps at local government level the Union Government is making the scheme of providing a clean environment, as planned under Clean India campaign, which would help in showcasing the country as a modern and progressive one by including people as stake holders.
