Nearly Rs 16.5 thousand crores have been earmarked by 71 Ministries/Departments of Government of India to take up swachhata activities within their own spheres during the FY 2018-19. This earmarking is over and above the budget of Ministries in-charge of sanitation in the country, i.e. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). The Swachhata Action Plan (SAP) 2018-19 was launched by the Cabinet Secretary, P.K Sinha in New Delhi today at a meeting of Union Secretaries and senior officials. The SAP Compendium 2018-19 was also released on this occasion. Several Ministries are in the process of increasing their commitment of funds.Swachhata Action Plan (SAP) is a part of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision that Swachhata has to be everyone’s business in order for the nation to realize its collective vision of a Clean India. This inter-ministerial collaborative project commenced in April 2017, whereby Ministries and Departments were advised to go beyond business as usual and implement innovative and outcome-based Swachhata activities.
The Committee of Secretaries led by the Cabinet Secretary today reviewed the implementation of SAP 2017-18 by Union Ministries/Departments. During the last year, Union Ministries had allocated over Rs18 thousand crores. At the review, the Cabinet Secretary underlined that efforts under SAP need to be sustained by the respective Ministries. The Cabinet Secretary emphasized that all Secretaries need to personally monitor implementation of SAP on a regular basis. He further suggested that each Ministry should look beyond its own programmes and schemes and bring innovation in implementation of SAP with more enthusiasm and energy. He called for a higher allocation of funds and higher utilization in SAP.Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Parameswaran Iyer gave a presentation on the performance of the Swachhata Action Planfor the year 2017-18. He also presented a brief on SAP 2018-19, which will be implemented by Ministries and Departments during the current FY.Selected Ministries/ Departments who had performed well in SAP last year also presented their success stories at the review meeting.