Top-Notch Toilets To Usher In Change
Context:
A quarter of all new public restrooms in Indian cities will soon have high-end features such as luxurious bath cubicles, touchless flushing, breast-feeding rooms, and automatic sanitary napkin incinerators. These will be indicated as “aspirational toilets” on Google Maps.
Points to Ponder:
- The aspirational toilets project is part of the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, which will be started in September 2022 to eliminate open defecation in Indian cities.
- The plan is to build high-end public restrooms known as “aspirational toilets.” Bath cubicles, touchless flushing, breastfeeding rooms, and automatic sanitary napkin incinerators will be included in these restrooms.
- Tourist and religious attractions, as well as iconic cities, will be the primary locations for the construction of these luxury restrooms. High-traffic areas, including as marketplaces, train stations, inter-state bus terminals, and National Highways, would be prioritized.
- High-end public conveniences may also have associated libraries, cafes, and shopping complexes to assist support their upkeep and maintenance.
- The Ministry has chosen to contract with start-ups to construct similar toilets across the country. A team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has been tasked with assessing and analyzing these start-ups’ ideas.
- Attaching these toilets to other public services such as restaurants, retail malls, libraries, cinema halls, or even pharmaceutical shops is one of the business models being investigated for their maintenance.
- According to the recommendations supplied to the states, the bathrooms must be stain- and graffiti-free, feature low-height toilets and basins for children, a well-maintained patch of greenery around them, hand-dryers and paper napkins easily available, and sanitary napkin vending machines. A user feedback mechanism based on SMS must also be implemented.
- The Centre has given 1,41,600 crore to the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, which is 2.5 times the amount provided to the mission’s first phase, which was launched in 2014.
Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0
- Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] Phase II would focus on the long-term sustainability of ODF status and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) in rural India. The program will aim to ensure that no one is left behind and that everyone uses the restroom. SBM(G) Phase-II will be implemented in mission mode from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
- On October 2, 2014, the Government of India started the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to accelerate efforts to attain universal sanitation coverage, promote cleanliness, and abolish open defecation in India by October 2, 2019.
- The national campaign was a Jan Andolan that attempted to eliminate open defecation from 2014 to 2019 through mass behavior change, the construction of household and community-owned toilets, and the establishment of an accountable structure for monitoring toilet use.
Benefits
- Construction of IHHLs and CSCs to provide toilet access to excluded households and newly emergent households. APL and BPL recipients will receive Rs 12,000 in financial assistance.
- Storage for handwashing and toilet cleansing in rural families Composting and biogas plants are used to manage biodegradable trash (GOBAR-DHAN)
- .Plastic waste management units/material recovery centers, as well as collection, sorting, and storage facilities, are being established.
- Build soak pits, waste stabilization ponds, DEWATS, and other greywater management structures. Fecal sludge management will be accomplished through co-treatment in existing Sewage Treatment Plants/Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (STPs/FSTPs) in neighboring urban areas, as well as the establishment of FSTPs under the program.
