How community-based platforms are changing India’s sanitation sector

The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014 by the Government of India, has made significant strides in sanitation through the construction of toilets and encouraging greater toilet usage. SBM 2.0, the second phase of the mission launched in 2021, focuses on sustaining India’s open defecation free (ODF) status and ensuring proper treatment of human waste to ensure better public health and environmental protection. In both phases, engagement with citizens has brought sanitation into people’s direct consciousness.

Access to essential public services such as water and sanitation continues to be a challenge, especially among urban poor communities who are at a disproportionate disadvantage. A community management committee (CMC) is a settlement-level forum of women, who believe in taking ownership and responsibility for their lives and making a positive impact on their communities. Each CMC consists of 10-15 women who work towards ensuring the provision of essential services such as water, sanitation, and hygiene within their settlements. They act as intermediaries between service providers and households and collaborate closely with local councillors and urban local bodies (ULBs) to improve sanitation services in their respective settlements.

Notably, Banita’s exceptional efforts enabled desludging services for over 1,000 households including 150 tribal households. Improved access to desludging services for tribal households plays a vital role in helping them minimise the risk of their septic tanks overflowing and putting them at health risk. Banita’s experience demonstrates how inclusive platforms like the CMC can address communities’ needs and make sanitation services equitable and accessible. CMCs act as a bridge between service providers and users, reflecting the power of collective action for community development.

Tiruchirappalli, a city in Tamil Nadu, has limited sewerage infrastructure covering about 30-35% of the area. Most households thus rely on on-site sanitation facilities. In on-site sanitation systems, regular desludging is essential for the effective functioning of septic tanks. It can help prevent septage from overflowing and mixing with drinking water sources. Hardening of septage at the bottom forces manual intervention, which is avoided at best. The surge in septic tank cleaning vehicles – from around 20 trucks to 70 trucks in eight years in the region – suggests a worsening situation. To streamline queries about the desludging, a collaborative approach was required to provide an effective solution to manage the entire sanitation value chain in the district.

The desludging operators in Tiruchirappalli have joined hands to form a desludging operators federation to help address the growing need for scheduled cleaning of septic tanks in the region. The federation, currently joined by 53 desludging operators, owns around 72 desludging tankers that will help expedite septic tank cleaning operations for more than 2,74,538 households in the district. The federation plays a key role in delegating desludging requests to the operators and in standardising rates. The federation has helped to collectivise desludging operators, which has helped them to secure their livelihood, amid growing competition in the sector.

Karuppaiya, a desludging operator from Trichy who initiated the formation of the federation, recounted, “Our larger goal is streamlining the sanitation work in our region. We are happy to ensure parity among operators and use a collaborative approach for long-term results in the sector. Everyone came together to ensure that we came up with implementable solutions that led to better accountability and better sanitation services. More than a profession, we are pursuing this as a service to our people and the sanitation sector. There have been instances in which we did not charge money for the service we delivered, like a query from a disabled person or an ultra-poor family living in a slum area. Our vision is to nurture models which contribute to the entire sanitation value chain.”

Recognising the crucial need for safely managed sanitation, the government of Telangana is taking a proactive approach to providing high-quality sanitation services in its urban areas, where 40% of its population lives in 142 towns. To ensure that these facilities are well-maintained, the government has enlisted the support of self-help groups (SHGs), generating meaningful livelihood opportunities for them.

Telangana has established a robust community outreach structure for women’s SHGs; about 12.6 lakh women have formed into 1.20 lakh registered SHGs. The process started with guidelines for all ULBs to implement an effective operational and maintenance (O&M) plan following standard operating practices and formalising contracts with SHGs. Capacity-building sessions were conducted with SHG members on procedures for managing community toilets, bookkeeping, monitoring usage, implementing cleanliness protocols, etc.

Capacity building was crucial not only in ensuring that SHGs are equipped to carry out proper operation and maintenance of public toilets but also in enabling members to access skilled, remunerative professions. As a result, 1,500 women have received training, and more than 150 contracts have been awarded to members of CBOs for the O&M of public and community toilets for a year. Similar kinds of initiatives have been taken in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.

Collaborating with community-based platforms in sanitation programs has demonstrated tangible benefits in improving service delivery through inclusive and people-centric solutions. It fosters increased ownership and representation and opens doors to community-driven decision-making. This bottom-up approach allows communities to make decisions on crucial matters that directly impact their lives. It also addresses challenges that urban service providers such as ULBs grapple with. The learnings and experiences of communities can help scale inclusive sanitation practices across India, building resilient cities and accelerating progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 of Clean Water and Sanitation for All. Prioritising community engagement and participation fosters sustainable and equitable development, paving the way towards a safe and inclusive sanitation system for all.

Kavita Wankhade, Head -Practice, Indian Institute for Human Settlements and Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director, Centre for Advocacy and Research. Indian Institute for Human Settlements and Centre for Advocacy and Research are members of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance, a leading collaborative body in India, with 35+ sector experts working across 14+ states to drive timely inclusive sanitation outcomes. The views expressed are personal