05 Apr
I just finished reading an outstanding book “Method in Madness – Insider-Outsider” written by Parmeshwaran Aiyyar who was Secretary Government of India in the department of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the architect behind the immensely successful implementation of Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan which culminated in the declaration of India as Open Defecation Free (ODF) on 2nd October, 2019. It is indeed a remarkable look about a result oriented civil servant who has had an unconventional career moving from IAS to the World Bank and then back again as a lateral entrant into government as Secretary. In between he dabbled as a professional tennis coach and manager for his children as he himself had harboured ambitions of becoming a professional tennis player but soon gave it up to join the IAS. He writes that one fine morning sitting in Hanoi (Vietnam) as a drinking water and sanitation specialist for world bank he was astounded to here the 15th Aug speech of the new Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in 2014 where the PM while outlining his agenda for the development of the country spoke about sanitation as a national priority and also declared that he intended to make India ODF by 2nd Oct, 2019. Parmeshwaran was amazed because he felt that rarely does a topic like sanitation get a mention in the speech of the Prime Minister of a country and he was excited by the vision painted by the Prime Minister. Desire to be associated with the project was born in his heart at that very moment and fructified two years later when the government appointed him Secretary. It is indeed a remarkable story of grit, determination, leadership and passion that made the seemingly impossible goal a reality.
Toilets were being constructed in the villages and cities for the past several years but it was definitely a low priority program with insufficient funds being made available. The quality of construction used to be poor and it was more of an engineering exercise without any effort to change the mindset of the people. The result was a total failure to curb open defecation and the use of these toilets as cattle sheds or store rooms by the people. India is a country having a population of over 130 billion and to provide sanitary facility to all and to make them desire it and use it was a herculean task. There is no doubt that no project or initiative succeeds if it does not have the backing of a strong political will. This has been my experience in 38 years as an IAS officer. Fortunately, for this program the political will emanated right from the top level of the Prime Minister and percolated to the Chief Ministers. Parmeshwaran provided the next required condition for success which is a strong and passionate administrative leadership. He writes that he soon realized that in India it is the PM, CM and DM (District Magistrate) model which works and personally made presentation to the Chief Ministers to align them with the vision of the Prime Minister and toured extensively to meet the DMs and ignite their zeal for the implementation of the program at the ground level. Funds were made available in sufficient quantity but still the target of construction of toilets was huge and it required close coordination, regular review and monitoring and dedication to fulfill. However, the important thing is not merely construction of toilets but to bring about a major change in the attitude and behavior of people. Majority of India lives in rural areas and were accustomed to defecating in the open for generations. Parmeshwaran and his team appointed Swatcha Grahis (Volunteers) who worked as social influencers in each village and along with the DM and his team communicated regularly and intensely with the village people about the ill effects of open defecation. Mothers had to be convinced that infant mortality is closely linked to this practice as also are several diseases. Name and shame method was also use along with presenting a realistic picture of the kind of filth people were living in and the impact it was having on their lives. To assist the DM young boys and girls were taken as interns and communication through films and media used extensively. The Akshay Kumar starrer “Toilet Ek Prem Katha” was a major example of this. Parmeshwaran is very clear in his book that this was more a program of behavioral change rather than merely construction of toilets.
I recall being associated with this project as Chief Secretary, UP. Initially, I believed in the CELTS model which was advocated by many experts and was used in countries like Bangladesh to eliminate Open Defecation. I also strongly believe that instead of taking the entire state of UP which comprised of 75 districts I should focus on the 10 district where the DMs were those who had drive and energy and had already done ground work for the implementation of this scheme. However, Parmeshwaran and his team thought otherwise and they wanted the entire state to be taken up at one go. I was skeptical initially but later events have proved me wrong as not only in UP but the entire country made this goal a reality.
We talk of good governance and often lament the Indian system and also its civil service. This making of India ODF is a shining example of the working of the Indian administrative system and the civil service. It only goes to prove that given the right kind of leadership and working environment the civil service is in a position to deliver good governance to the citizens. We see it happening regularly at the time of elections when the District Magistrate and his team are free from any kind of political interference and fully empowered to conduct free and fair elections and they succeed in doing so. In a similar vein I can talk of the success of the Rashtra Swasthya Beema Yojna (RSBY) scheme which was conceptualized and implemented by my colleague Anil Swaroop and it was also a stupendous success and has become the precursor to the intensely aspirational and ambitions scheme of Ayushman Bharat.
Good governance is required to deliver quality public service to the people of this country and the SBM or RSBY only go to show that there is nothing rotten in the system. The same system and the same set of civil servants can deliver outstanding results provided they get political support, strong leadership, unambiguous goals and the right kind of motivation and inspiration. It is leadership which is important as it helps in building teams, sharing goals, being transparent and accountable and working with total objectivity. Civil servants have to be transformed from being wedded to process, procedures and regulations to those having a passion for delivering results and outcomes. The performance evaluation of civil servants should also be done on the basis of the performance indicators they are supposed to fulfill within a time frame. Of course, this would require allowing a civil servant to stay at a post for a minimum period of 2 to 3 years. It is also important for the political executive to realise that policy making is their role and they should do so with the advice of the civil servants but policy implementation should be left entirely to the civil service without any interference directly or through the obnoxious weapon of transfer. I read many articles of intellectuals who desire reform of the civil services and the administration. It is not a rocket science and only if the conditions mentioned by me above are created you will find the civil servants deliver extra ordinary results. It all appears so simple and yet does not happen because of certain vested interests. Governance is linked to providing a better quality of life to the ordinary citizen and systems have to be built which will make this possible.
