The Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Hardeep Singh Puri launched Toilets 2.0 campaign at a national event organized today at Bengaluru, Karnataka on the occasion of the World Toilet Day 2022. The campaign aimsto change the face of public and community toilets in urban India through collective action involving citizens and Urban Local Bodies.
Launching the Toilets 2.0 campaign, the Union Minister said “India is set to go beyond the ODF narrative. Clean and safe public restrooms and public spaces will improve the experience and quality of public life and that is why I am delighted to launch Toilets 2.0 campaign”2″. He expressed confidence that all stakeholders would act together to make the campaign a resounding success.
Addressing the inaugural session, Secretary, MoHUA, Manoj Joshi reminded the participants that the sanitation journey is a continuous one and requires institutional solutions. The ODF++ protocol and certification for cities is given to ensure that human waste is contained safely. Already 25% of our cities have attained this status. A Water Plus certification is given to cities which do not discharge untreated used water into the environment. These initiatives align perfectly with the theme of the WTD 2022 ‘Groundwater and sanitation – making the invisible visible’. By the end of the Mission, it is expected that 100% of our cities will be certified ODF++ and at least 50% will attain Water Plus status.
The Joint Secretary, MoHUA, Roopa Mishra stated that the campaign will energize and bring the States cities and citizens together to take forward our rich sanitation legacy that will script the Toilets 2.0 journey of India.
Dignitaries from the Government of Karnataka also commended the Toilets 2.0 campaign and committed to active participation.
The World Toilet Day Event was preceded by three days of intensive capacity development workshops. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with knowledge partner WASH Institute conducted the 3-day capacity building workshop, between 16th to 18th Nov 2022 at Bengaluru, Karnataka to equip States to facilitate integrated management of used water in a time bound manner.
Senior state officials, mission directors and chief engineers from 29 States came together for this intensive three-day workshop . Experts from the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization, MoHUA, practitioners , academic institutes and technical agencies provided their expertise on various facets of used water management from scientific principles to planning and designing systems to the implementation of UWM. International and national best practices were shared. States also exchanged their learnings and experiences. The workshop concluded with a definite roadmap to accelerate the implementation of used water management. The importance of comprehensive UWM was highlighted which will obviate the requirement of separate treatment of faecal sludge.
An exhibition of state-of-the-art technologies was also set up for the benefit of the States. On the 18th of November a strategic workshop for the effective implementation of SBM U 2.0 was organized involving over 250 ULB officials and engineers. Experts from the CPHEEO and MoHUA guided the participants through various aspects of legacy waste dumpsite remediation, management of wet waste through waste to compost and waste to biomethanation , management of dry waste through Material Recovery Facilities and Waste to Energy plants were discussed in detail. Used water management ,treatment reuse options were also addressed. State and city best practices were also presented during the workshop. Further the need for continuous, handholding, and capacity development to keep pace with emerging and new technologies address planning and design capacities, project management and institutional gaps was emphasized.
Representatives from States and cities, academicians, experts, and practitioners reflected on India’s toilet journey. The delegates drawn from Urban Local Bodies, State officials, NGOs, sector partners etc. benefitted from the sharing of best practices and inspiring models in development of safe, inclusive, accessible, and aspirational toilets, were shared during the event. The Dos and Don’ts with reference to design of public conveniences etc. were highlighted by eminent experts. Various typologies of community and public toilets, i.e., bundled conveniences, high footfall areas etc. were showcased. Innovative financing models via public-private partnerships , sustainable revenue models through user fee, advertisement etc. were also shared during the event.
The rich heritage of sanitation that has been created since the inception of the Mission, encompass accessibility, safety, dignity, aspirational, and inclusivity. The collective experience, learning sense of responsibility, ownership and pride drawing from the extraordinary legacy of the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban came to the fore during the event. The events reaffirmed the commitment of all stakeholders to amplify this legacy through the Toilet 2.0 Campaign.
The campaign has five thematic areas:
(i) People for Toilets: Cleaning and maintaining the community and public toilets
(ii) Partners for Toilets: Adoption of Public toilets
(iii) Design Toilets: Design Challenge
(iv) Rate your Toilet: Promoting user feedback to improve public toilets and
(v) My thoughts – Our Toilets: Gathering public opinion for toilets
The People for Toilets an inter-city competition is envisaged for cleaning and maintaining the community and public toilets in which top-performing cities will be recognized. This will be evaluated based on the proportion of CTs and PTs improvement and the scale of public engagement.
The objective of the Partners for Toilets theme is to forge partnerships with potential organizations for the adoption of community and public toilets for interim cleaning, annual operations and maintenance, one-time financial aid, IEC activities, beautification activities, innovation, feedback etc. The partnerships, including public private partnership models, corporate sponsorship etc. should provide impetus for sustainability of the functionality of the Community and Public toilets in cities and enhancing toilet users experience. Interested parties for partnership can register at https://www.mygov.in/
The third theme, Design Toilets (Design Challenge) is being organized in collaboration with the Council of Architecture through which design entries will be invited from students of architecture and practicing architects for aspirational toilets in the two categories of Public toilets and Community toilets. Based on the entries received, top designs will be selected and created into a compendium for cities’ consideration to adopt the designs.
Rate your Toilet is for promoting user feedback to improve public and community toilets and My thoughts – Our Toilets is a general public survey among citizens on public toilets across the country. A questionnaire on citizen aspiration for toilets will be available on MyGov platform for the public to answer. The results from the survey are expected to help States and cities to understand gaps and provide course corrective measures. A Champion of Change certificate will be rewarded to the participants at the end of the survey.
