Thinking about Toilets: Swachh Bharat and the political and social motivations behind sanitation progress in India

The story of corruption and idealistic but ineffective legislation is an old one in India’s history, and Swachh Bharat (“Clean India”) is no exception. Despite heavy pressure from Prime Minister Modi’s central government, even this scheme -- meant to achieve Gandi’s vision of a “clean India” by 2019 – remains far from achieving its goal, largely due to a flawed system of implementation.  A significant portion of Swachh Bharat funds are allocated to the toilet proram, which entitles all families to a financial incentive to build a toilet in their home. Our research team conducted a survey of 56 families living in a slum (basti) in Jaipur, the capital of the state of Rajasthan, who applied and were approved for the incentive program. Unsurprisingly, we found that no one received the entirety of promised funds; however, more interestingly, we also found that the vast majority went into debt constructing toilets despite this, indicating that factors aside from the financial incentive are motivating citizens to get behind “Clean India.” This work looks at the political and social factors that serve to change both mindset and behavior of citizens regarding sanitation and open defecation, comparing our findings within the basti to implementation of Swachh Bharat throughout India.