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Southern Asia / India

Summary

Sanitation Verdict 13/20
Water Verdict 9/20
WASH % of gov. budget N/A
Key Facts
HDI Position (UNDP) 134/177
Population (millions, World Bank) 1,140
Child mortality rate (UNICEF) 69/1000
Annual child diarrhoea deaths (UNICEF) 362,000

The majority of data on this country page was provided by Traffic Lights Publication 2011 from UNICEF/WaterAid/WSP washwatch@gmail.com

Sanitation Policy

(Monitoring the SACOSAN declarations)

Last edited by Traffic Lights Publication 2011 at UNICEF/WaterAid/WSP about 1 year ago

See regional summary

Key:

2
= Good progress
1
= Some progress
0
= No progress
n/a
= Don't know
Category Criteria Rating Justification
Verdict (out of 20) 13
Policy Is there one national plan and policy to meet the sanitation MDG target? 2 The 12 year DDWS strategy document clearly mentions time lines against various goals for achieving Nirmal Bharat. The strategy document mentions moving from the current TSC approach to a more comprehensive approach of a National Total Sanitation Mission
Is sanitation recognised as a human right, and are there specific initiatives are focusing on women and marginalised groups? 1 India has signed the UN resolution on the right to water and sanitation, but it is not mentioned in the national Water Policy document. TSC expenditure re: SCs and STs must be spent in the proportion of 22% and 10% respectively, and this applies to financial reporting and monitoring data too.
Have specific actions have been taken to improve the working conditions of sanitary workers? 1 National Advisory Council as a political advocacy body has taken up the issue of ending Manual Scavenging, but there has only been limited progress, and working conditions / salaries remain extremely poor.
Institutions Is there a clear institutional home taking leadership on sanitation? 2 For both rural and urban sanitation there is a clear departmental host in the government.
Is there one coordinating body for sanitation involving all stakeholders? 1 Effective coordination requires more than just having formal meetings and consultations on the SACOSAN Country Paper. In this paper, there is no suggestion on improved coordination on commitments. Effective coordination for SACOSAN commitments needs more effort.
Is there a plan for sanitation sector capacity development, especially of local governments? 2 Capacity building plans for states in place. However, much capacity building of LGIs is yet to take place, and funds available in the flagship national rural sanitation programme are not being used for LGI capacity building.
Finance Is there a public sector budget line for sanitation, and an investment plan to fund it? 1 While there is a 12 Year Plan being finalized by DDWS, there is no separate Financing Plan. The TSC programme financial allocations are tied to annual budget. In some states matching funds from the state governments when they do not come, the central funds are restricted.
Is adequate priority given to sanitation within national development plans? 1 Sanitation as a national priority should be prominently reflected in some important national documents in the Preamble or in the Commitment of the Government. Except for the Nirmal Gram Puraskar Scheme that the President of India honours, there is little to show progress for this.
Has sanitation been sufficiently integrated into policies for (i) health, and (ii) emergencies? 1 (i) Sanitation and hygiene in the health Policies and Plans is not adequate, (ii) Disaster management action plans specifically mention water and sanitation as a relief area, but the National Disaster Management Authority and its Policy do not mention any entitlement including WASH.
Monitoring Is there a sanitation performance monitoring system? 1 Scheme of national level monitoring exist on the basis of which the data is changed on MIS. Quarterly progress meetings held of state secretaries, video conferences held. Limited definition of performance monitoring linked to validating the spending and the engineering aspects of the programme.
Verdict (out of 20) 13

Water Policy

See regional summary

Key:

2
= Good progress
1
= Some progress
0
= No progress
n/a
= Don't know
Category Criteria Rating Justification
Verdict (out of 20) 9
Policy Is there a comprehensive policy for water supply? 0 India does not have a policy for water supply. It however has a national water policy (2002)that sets priority for drinking water. Recently Government of India has come out with a new guidlines for Rural Water Supply. Please use below link to see the new guidlines for rural water supply http://www.ddws.nic.in/popups/RuralDrinkingWater_2ndApril.pdf
Is there a plan for meeting the water MDG target or equivalent? 0 Since there is no national water supply policy there is no plan for implementation as well. However the new guidlines for the rural drinking water supply has a implimentation plan.
Are there specific measures in the plan for targeting poor people, and addressing the interests of women? 2 The water supply guidlines sets a priority to target marginalised (schedule cast and tribes) through various provisions in different schemes.
Institutions Is there a lead ministry responsible for water supply? 2 Department of Drinking Water Supply under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India is responsible for delivering on the policy.
Is there clear separation of institutional roles? 0
Is there provision within the policy for water supply sector capacity development? 0
Are donors harmonising their support behind national sector plans? 2
Finance Is there a sector investment plan for water supply? 2
Are actors responsible for delivering water supply services adequately resourced, particularly if local governments? 0 The new guidlines for rual water supply mandates the local governments (Panchayats) to take charge of the water supply programmes, and at present stage they are not adequately resourced.
Monitoring Is there an effective framework for performance monitoring? 1 The department of drinking water supply has a monitoring framework. Please use below link to visit the online monitoring site. http://www.ddws.nic.in/online_monitor.htm
Verdict (out of 20) 9

WASH Finance

Gov. WASH Budget (local currency, millions)

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Gov. WASH Budget as % of total budget

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Financial indicators 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Gov. WASH Budget as % of total budget N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Gov. WASH budget as % of GDP N/A N/A 0.565 0.553 0.482 N/A
Gov. WASH budget (current $US, millions) N/A N/A 7,130 6,840 6,890 N/A
Gov. WASH Budget (local currency, millions) N/A N/A 310,000 331,000 333,000 N/A
Gov. budget for sanitation only (local currency, millions) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total Gov. budget (local currency, millions) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
GDP (current $US, millions, IMF) 908,000 1,150,000 1,260,000 1,240,000 1,430,000 1,600,000
Average $US exchange rate for that year (xe.com) 45.3 41.4 43.5 48.4 48.4 50.8
Download Spreadsheet (csv) Read more about how this data is collected and calculated

Remarks

From Gyana Ranjan Panda at CBGA analysis via Indira Khurana (WaterAid), combining figures from the Union and State budgets. 2008 is actual expenditure, 2009 is revised estimate and 2010 is budgeted estimates.

India: Access To WASH (JMP 2010)

Water Sanitation
88% 31%

There are a number of ways to measure the proportion of people that have access to sanitation and water in a country. Governments often use a combination of management information systems and household surveys.

The official data which the UN uses to monitor progress on the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) comes from the WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). JMP aggregates data from household surveys carried out by governments.

WASHwatch.org shows JMP data because it is comparable across countries and uses the MDG definitions of access to sanitation and water. Some Governments prefer to quote the latest data from their household surveys, the best source of this information is the national statistics bureau or equivalent.

Read more about Monitoring Access

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