SBM-(G)

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in Sikkim is being implemented by the Rural Management and Development Department, Government of Sikkim under the aegis of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India. On 2nd October, 2014, this new mission was launched to make India a clean country by 2nd October, 2019 within a period of 5 years by revamping the earlier Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. Sikkim was the only state to achieve Nirmal Rajya Puraskar Award in 2008 by achieving 100% Open Defecation Free status.

The various hardware and software components of SBM (G) are:

• Individual Household Latrine (IHHL)
• Community Sanitary Complex
• Solid Liquid Waste Management
• IEC

The incentive for construction of toilet under the SBM have been increased to Rs. 12,000/- per household including Rs. 2000 for water facility from the earlier amount of Rs. 5100/-. The sharing pattern between the central and State is 90:10 and no beneficiary share has been kept. Post Nirmal Rajya, a Baseline Survey was conducted in the year 2012 and it was found that 10768 household did not have their own toilet, this was mainly due to the increase in the number of households after 2008. Based on the Baseline Survey the Government of India approved the figure of 10768IHHL and the construction of these IHHL under the SBM(G) were taken up from 2012-13. The construction of these toilets were completed in 2015-16, thus becoming the 1st Open Defecation Free state in the country much before the national target of 2019. In addition to the SBM(G) funds, IHHLs were also made from the other Gram Panchayat funds such as the 14th FC fund and other GP revenue to cover those houses not covered under the Base line Survery of 2012 or houses coming into existence after 2012. The SBM (G) has also provided toilets for IAY /CMRHM houses.

Individual Household Latrine

The SBM provides for construction of community Sanitary Complex in areas where IHHL cannot be constructed and for public convenience such as places near bazaar, taxi stands, highways and other public places. The cost of toilet is Rs. 2,00,000/- out of which the Central :State: Beneficiary share is 60:30:10. During 2015-16, 42 community toilets have been completed.

The maintenance of such complexes is very essential for which the community should own the ultimate responsibility and the operation and maintenance should be assured by them.

Community Sanitary Complexes

Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) is one of the key components of the programme. After becoming the ODF state, the focus is now shifted towards Solid & Liquid Waste Management with special emphasis on 3 ‘R’s (REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE) and zero waste practices. We have already trained and created a pool of resource person on zero waste practices by training NGOs and SHGs. The first pilot was launched at Yangang with technical support from Exnora Green, Thanal, Kerala, which was a low cost system but it did not work in the hilly state like ours. So, we have upgraded it to pucca structure. Learning from the previous project, later, other projects were also initiated in Melli GPU, Namthang block, Lachen Dzumsa and Tashiding.

PICTURES OF VARIOUS SLWM PROJECTS IN SIKKIM

IEC is a very important component of the programme. It shall strive to bring about community-wide behaviour change and to trigger the demand for sanitation facilities in the rural areas. IEC is not a onetime activity. Under IEC various programmes are being conducted throughout the States from the gram Panchayat level to the State level. Various innovative programmes like were taken up:

• Elocution contest
• Point Counter Point which is a debate competition on Swachh Bharat,
• Selfie with garbage to attract the young smart phone using generation
• Money from waste to encourage students towards reuse and recycle and walk the talk loud for sanitation.
• Walkathon
• Many contest, workshops, awareness programmes were also held at the districts and block level.
• Cleanliness drives were taken up by communities and in offices.

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  Some glimpses of IEC activities under Swachh Bharat Mission (G)

To address the needs of adolescent girl child, facilities for disposal of used sanitary napkin along with easy access to sanitary napkins within the school complex was facilitated by providing disposers (incinerator) and sanitary napkin vending machine in 31 schools having high enrolment of girl child. This was done with the objective to check the absenteeism and better hygiene facilities for the girl child. To ensure continuous supply of hygienic sanitary napkins a production unit was established at Tashiding which is being run by ladies of Self help Group.

Various handbooks on sanitation, hygiene and waste management for use of school children have been published and circulated to all the schools in the state.

1) Demonstration of sanitary napkin vending machine
2) students with handbooks

To motivate young children towards washing hands the department constructed attractive Wash basins in schools.

Massive awareness campaign throughout the state along with various clean up drives, workshops, debate, elocution, painting competitions, exhibitions and rallies were held under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), which was hugely successful in reaching the people and making this campaign a people’s movement which can be attributed to the spontaneous cleanup activities happening all over the state.

Pictures of awareness campaign conducted in different districts
Different initiatives have been taken by the department by taking out Gazette notification and various circulars mentioned as below:

• Compulsory toilet for any beneficiary applying for government benefits.
• Ban of single use disposable items such as Styrofoam and plastic plates & cups, bottled water etc during any official meetings and function of the department.
• Cleanliness of the offices by all the officers and staff every second & fourth Saturday after 2 pm.
• Ban of disposables by many Gram Panchayat Units through resolutions passed in Gram Sabhas and through GP notification.

Notifications & Circulars issued by the department

The department was conferred with two prestigious national awards for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) namely “SKOCH Order of Merit” for qualifying amongst India’s Best -2015 in Smart Technology and the prestigious “SKOCH Award” conferred as India’s highest independent Honor by SKOCH Group, New Delhi. The award was conferred upon the department on the 10th and 11th of December 2015 at India Habitat Centre.

During the 10th Civil Services Day on 21 April 2016, the West District was awarded the prestigious Prime Ministers award for Excellence in Public Administration for Best Performance in implementing Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) under the category of North East and Hilly States.