Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
Last month I wrote a piece titled “Swachhta will be Seva through scientific waste management ” (Daily Excelsior Sept 20th). Through this piece I wanted to convey my message to Government about the importance of scientific waste management especially in rural areas of our state which need an immediate attention towards addressing the menace of solid and liquid waste management. For management of waste and allied sanitation issues, municipal bodies are assigned this task in cities and towns. When it comes to waste management in rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir it is the duty of Rural Sanitation department which was created in the year 1989 but due to official apathy this Government organization is yet to get proper recognition in our state and with the result they are not able to reach out to rural areas of state. Even after 30 years of its creation majority of people in J&K are still unfamiliar with Directorate of Rural Sanitation.
Organizational structure of DRS
The Directorate of Rural Sanitation (DRS) is headed by a Director in J&K . There are two Deputy Directors and two Field officers for Jammu and Kashmir regions each. There is no other operational staff available in this organization except some staff who do official work in Srinagar / Jmamu offices. In a state which has 143 CD blocks and 4116 Panchayats one can imagine what kind of sanitation work would be Directorate of Rural Sanitation doing across J&K with its limited staff and resources ? Swaach Bharat Mission (SBM) may be a success in rural areas of other states , but in J&K, this programme is mere confined to construction lavatory blocks. The State Government has failed to execute Solid Liquid Waste Management programme in rural areas. The Government has also failed to appoint Block Sanitation Officers (BSOs) which were to be appointed at each block . The services of BSOs could have been kept at the disposal of Directorate of Rural Sanitation (DRS) . As per the guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin all the State Governments have been advised to post a Government officer as a full time Block Sanitation Officer (BSO) in each block of district . Till that is not made operational, the State governments may specifically officially assign SBM activities to a senior official posted at the Block level. He may be assisted by a Block Coordinator and a Data Entry Operator engaged on contract basis who shall be provided emoluments as decided by the State. As per my information as on date the implementation of SBM Gramin is only looked after at district level by District Panchayat Officer (DPO) who is the Nodal Officer for operationalizing this national flagship scheme. On the other hand DPO reports to Director of Rural Development / Panchayati Raj with the result Directorate of Rural Sanitation has no control over the DPO. SBM Gramin has to be made operational at least at block level , otherwise this will not yield any results which we have already witnessed during last 4 years.
“The Block level sanitation arrangement has to be tasked with handholding, supervising and monitoring every Gram Panchayat” reads the SBM Graminguidelines .Guidelines further say that each Block shall be provided with one computer with accessories. Internet connection including monthly charges shall be permissible per block. Administrative component to be utilized under this project annually, will be up to 2% of programme expenditure in a year. This will be adjusted at the district level where the authority will be to incur expenditure of 1.8%. The State will be authorized to incur expenditure upto 0.2% of total program expenditure of all districts taken together. Sharing pattern of expenditure was 75:25which has been revised now to 60:40 . For J&K and North Eastern states sharing pattern is said to be 90 :10. The unspent balance under SBM Gramin component will be carried over to the next year. States have been permitted to utilise funds under this component as per its requirement. The administrative charges shall normally permit expenditure on salary of temporary staff and agencies deployed for the execution of various components of the SBM(G) at State, District, Block and GP levels, Support services, fuel charges, vehicle hire charges, stationery, monitoring & evaluation activities, TA/DA to Inter-State and Inter-District Survey teams deputed for monitoring and verification, exposure visits.In order to implement the projects professionally, Specialists/ Consultants/Agencies from the fields of IEC, Human Resource Development, School sanitation & Hygiene education, SLWM, Monitoring and Evaluation etc were supposed to be hired at the State and District levels for the project period, but during last 4 years this has not at all been done. Inspite of these clear cut guidelines under Swaach Bharat MissionGramin , J&K Govthas failed to undertake Solid & Liquid Waste Management in different blocks of state.
Managing waste in villages
Waste Management is a bigger challenge in rural areas than towns and cities. We have organized teams with Municipal Corporations , Councils and Committees , but in rural area there is no such structure available. With the increase in population and urbanization of rural areas in J&K , villages are now filled with trash. Our water bodies , lakes , ponds, streams and rivers are choked with plastic and other solid waste. Due to improper drainage the liquid waste is also not at all managed in rural areas. Since Solid Liquid Waste (Resource) Management (SLWM) is a component of SBM Gramin efforts will be required to build the capacity of stakeholders at the state and district levels to facilitate the Gram Panchayat (GP) in implementing a safe waste management program. It is the GP who have to assume overall responsibility for ensuring safe management of waste in rural areas. At the village level, the local panchayat or Auqaf committee or any other social or religious body should ideally have the overall responsibility for ensuring safe management of waste. The people associated with these organizations have to work in close coordination. They have to hold individual households (IHHs) and institutions in the village responsible for the management of their waste, through household, institutional or community waste management facilities. Only waste that cannot be managed at source should be managed by the community level waste management system. There are various options for construction, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of waste management facilities. The GP, and households and institutions within it, should be responsible for the construction of SLWM facilities at village, household or cluster levels respectively. A GP can either assume responsibility for O&M or engage another agency for all or part of this activity. Gram Panchayat led O&M can include hiring workers and buying vehicles for collection and transportation of waste. A community based organization (CBO) ,NGO or private operator may be engaged by a GP to undertake O&M and processing of the waste at village level or creating village clusters by hooking up 3 to 4 villages together.
Conclusion
Recently Government created 100 posts of Panchayat Inspectors in J&K. It would be advisable if at least 22 such inspectors are deputed to Rural Sanitation Department who could be trained on solid liquid waste management. These inspectors can assist Directorate of Rural Sanitation in implementing SBM Gramin at block or village level until Block Sanitation Officers (BSOs) and other staff is hired. If Government is really serious about Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin, then Directorate of Rural Sanitation has to be empowered and strengthened.
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