Operational Guideline for implementing Mission Nirmal Bangla within the overall

framework of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in West Bengal

The Mission is named as Mission Nirmal Bangla and under the mission the Government
of West Bengal endeavors to achieve the larger objective of reduction in child mortality
and morbidity, overall mortality and morbidity by reducing chances of water borne and
fecal borne diseases due to prevalence of open defecation;
GOAL
reducing the loss of active workdays due to prevalence of
diarrheal diseases among the wage seekers; reduce the drop Achieve ODF
out of children, especially girls due to lack of appropriate toilet Rural Bengal by
facilities in schools; improve overall cleanliness in the villages 2 October 2019
thereby contributing to improved environmental conditions.
Thus the overall goal of the Mission will be to bring about positive changes in the
physical quality of life in the villages by romoting cleanliness, hygiene and elimination
open defecation. To achieve these larger impacts on the villages and the community,
the specific goal of the Mission is to transform all the villages of West Bengal to Open
Defecation Free (ODF) villages by 2 October 2019. Developing community managed
solid and liquid management systems in the rural areas will also feature as priorities to
improve overall cleanliness and environmental sanitation in the villages.

Following will be the preconditions for achieving ODF:

OBJECTIVES
1. All households will have
 Complete access to and use of toilets, by access to sanitary toilets,
everybody, everywhere, every time mostly within the premises
 Appropriate facilities for menstrual hygiene and all members of the
and disposal of menstrual waste, households will use toilets
especially in schools and community for defecation.
toilets
 Hand washing with soap, after defecation,
2. All educational institutions
before handling food, before feeding
(Primary/ Junior/ Secondary/
 Safe collection, preservation and serving of
Higher Secondary Schools/
drinking water
Madrasahs /other
educational institutions/
Colleges) will have toilets commensurate with roll strength, separately for the
boys and the girls and all students and teachers will use those toilets while in the
institutions. There will be appropriate provision for privacy in management of
menstrual hygiene and disposal of menstrual waste for the adolescent girl
students in schools.

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 3. All Anganwadi Centers will have toilet facilities for use by the children, which will
also contribute to development of appropriate toilet habits among the young
ones.

4. Community Sanitary Complexes will cater to the need of the homeless and
landless people, the commuters and the people spending time at the places of
public congregation like markets/ hats/ bus stands etc.

5. There will be appropriate arrangements for disposal of solid and liquid waste of
the villages through household-based, cluster-based and facility-based
interventions.

6. Everyone in the villages will have access to safe drinking water, which will be
hygienically collected from the source, stored in clean containers, distributed
hygienically.

7. Everyone will wash hands with soap after defecation and handling child’s
excreta, before preparing food, taking food and feeding children.

8. In the process, overall cleanliness in the villages will be improved.

9. Panchayati Raj Institutions at every stage will propagate sustainable sanitation

through effective IEC/ BCC and community mobilization activities

10. Ecologically safe and sustainable, locally suitable, cost-effective technology for
sanitation will be promoted.

In terms of facilities at the household level, an assessment of the present situation

reveals that during the baseline survey in 2012-13, which indicated that over 67 lakh
families still do not have toilets. By end of March 2015, the
figure is expected to be reduced by another 12 lakh and the IHHL target of 55
State may have a physical target of constructing a little over lakh to be covered
55 lakh individual household latrines within the project in course of making
period. So our prime target is to construct these toilets all the Gram
following a strict timeline as well as to renovate or Panchayats of the
reconstruct the nonfunctional toilets. There will be concerted state ODF
initiatives at all other spheres to ensure that the overall goal
of achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status for all the villages, Gram Panchayats,
Blocks and Districts is achieved within the stipulated time frame.

Strategy
Achieving of the above objective would require a positive change in the behavior of the
entire rural population. For bringing in such changes in behavior, intensive interpersonal
communication tools are to be used. There will be planned use of different community

2
 processes to make sanitation a priority for the
Focus to shift from community and transform the focus from toilet as
toilet as individual individual commodity to sanitation as public good
commodity to sanitation obtained, used and monitored by the community as a
as public good whole.

The statistics show that during last 12 years, West Bengal was able to construct 80 lakh
individual household toilets. However, many toilets constructed in those times have
since become non-functional/defunct. One of the major reasons for the toilets becoming
defunct is the low level of investment during the initial years. No less important is the
fact that even when the toilets were constructed, using those units by the members of
the households often remained an issue. Using toilets as a practice might not have
been accomplished as a part of the overall campaign, both during the TSC days and the
days of the NBA. Had we been successful in luring people away from the practice of
open defecation, incidences of toilets having been dysfunctional might have been much
less. Even when the existing ones met with some functional problem, it might have been
possible for the households to make little investment required to resume use. Using
toilets require changes in the behavior of the individuals for which people must perceive
the dangers of open defecation and the benefits that the toilet use may bring to the
family.

For constructing the school toilets, the

RTE norms call for 1 toilet unit in
student-toilet ratio (80:1) as per the Right to
school for 80 girls/ boys. While we
Education (RTE) norm is to be followed. As
will endeavor to achieve the
has been roughly estimated, West Bengal
norms laid by the Right to
has to construct about 61000 school toilet
Education Act, our immediate
blocks to provide proper sanitation facilities in
target will be having at least one
all schools. However, at the initial stage, the
toilet unit for the boys and another
immediate target is to have separate toilet
for the girls.
blocks for the boys and girls in every school,
depending upon the enrolment.

The existing sanitation facility in the

In absence of own/ shared Anganwadi centers of the State is far from
government building, sanitation in satisfactory. As most of the Anganwadi
Anganwadi Centers is a major Centers are running in private buildings, we
challenge in the state are constrained to provide toilets in those
centers. In places where the center is running
either in own or in shared government buildings, separate child friendly toilet block
needs to be constructed immediately.

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In common places like markets, bus stops
or other places of public congregation, Community Sanitary Complex at
construction of model community sanitary places of public congregation will
complexes are to be planned. Also row reduce chances of open defecation
toilets may be required in cases where it
might not be possible to construct individual
toilets for every household due to constraint of space or for any other area specific
nuances like erosion, recurrent instances of water logging etc.

Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) for

For SLWM, progamme fund will overall cleanliness of the villages is another
be Rs. 20 lakh for GPs having area of concern. The State’s strategy will be to
500+ households. Efforts will be ensure at least one comprehensive SLWM
made to secure additional fund facilities in every Gram Panchayat within the
from supplementary sources. next five years. However, the Districts will have
the liberty to club adjoining Gram Panchayats
for better management of the facilities. Also, efforts would be made to utilize
MGNREGA resources to dispose of the bio-degradable waste at the level of the
household itself. For management of liquid waste, construction of platform for tube
wells, pucca drain for the tube wells and soak pits too would be arranged by using
MGNREGA resources. Since Government of India has capped the cost of one SLWM
unit for a Gram Panchayat having more than 500 households to Rs.20.00 lakh only, we
will seek funding from other sources like Finance Commission, CSR, Swachh Bharat
Kosh, ISGPP, BADP, MSDP, MPLAD, BEUP etc. The primary condition for such
funding will be preparation of a comprehensive SLWM Plan for the Gram Panchayat.

Responsibility for School Sanitation and Sanitation in Anganwadi Centres

Although the State Strategy talks of covering all Schools and ICDS Centres with
appropriate and adequate toilet facilities, as per the revised national guidelines for
Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation will no longer be
the channel for funding toilet construction
in Schools and Anganwadi Centres. For School sanitation and facilities
Respective Ministries of the central at the Anganwadi Centres, fund will
government will henceforth cater to these be provided by the School Education
and naturally fund will flow through and Child Development Departments
respective Departments of the State respectively. However, IEC will be
Government (School Education the primary responsibility of the
Department for School Sanitation and the Mission.
Department of Child Development for
ICDS toilets. Role of the Department of Panchayats & Rural Development under the
Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and corresponding Mission Nirmal Bangla will be
restricted to mobilization of the teachers and students, anganwadi workers and the

4
children on safe sanitation, hand washing and water usage practices. Overall
coordination too will rest with Mission Nirmal Bangla and the District Mission
Management Units at the State and District levels.

Institutional Setup:

State level

At the State level, a Mission Office shall be set up with the following Officers:

An Officer of the IAS/ WBCS (Executive) of appropriate seniority (Mission

Director)

An officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary

(Additional Mission Director)

State Coordinator, Sanitation

(Secretary to the Mission)

State Sanitation Cell & CCDU

To achieve the required objectives and for co-ordination and convergence among state
departments dealing with Rural Sanitation, Water Supply (PHE), Education, Health &
Family Welfare, Women & Child
The State Sanitation Cell and the CCDU Development, the State Government
will be integrated into the Mission set up a State Sanitation Cell and
structure. There will be provision for Communication & Capacity
enhanced manpower support for the Development Unit (CCDU). Both the
District Mission Management Unit and Cell and the CCDU are presently
the Block Sanitation Cell. At the Block functioning from the SIPRD. There are
and Gram Panchayats, Support experts in the fields of IEC, HRD, MIS
Organisations shall be engaged and in the Cell/ CCDU and the combined
the Swachhta Doots/ village motivators structure is headed by a State
will be integrated into the Support Sanitation Coordinator. The CCDU is
Organisations. merged with the State Mission and the
State Sanitation Cell is also brought
within the Mission. However, the skeleton Sanitation Cell will retain its separate identity
and will continue to be funded from the budgetary allocations of the State.

5
Apart from the top office bearers of the Mission, there shall be the following support
personnel for the CCDU and the Cell combined:

1. Community Mobilization Coordinator

2. Communication Officer
3. Coordinator, MIS
4. Coordinator, Monitoring & Evaluation
5. Accountant
6. HRD & Capacity Building Coordinator
7. Technical Officer
8. Coordinator, Solid & Liquid Waste Management
9. Computer Operator
10. Data Entry Operators (2 positions)

Mission Director and the Additional Mission Director will be serving civil service officers
from the All India/ State Civil Service (Executive) cadre. The State Coordinator and the
Consultants other than those of the Cell will be funded through the Mission resources.
All existing personnel in the State Sanitation Cell other than the State Coordinator and
the HRD & CB Coordinator will be funded through the State Government budget (4
persons).

District level arrangements

At the district level, activities pertaining to NBA used to be coordinated at the level of the
Zilla Parishad. On the official front, the District Magistrate as the Executive Officer of the
Zilla Parishad was at the helm of affairs. However, the Additional Executive Officer
played major role in implementation of NBA as
The DMMU will have, apart from the Nodal Officer. Secretary, Zilla Parishad
the Nodal Officer, who will be a provided support. There are three to five
regular civil service officer, one contractually engaged officials (District
District Coordinator supported by Coordinator, Assistant District Coordinator(s)
4 Assistant District Coordinators and a Data Entry Operator) and also an
and one Data Entry Operator. Assistant District Coordinator (Water) at the
Zilla Parishad. Engaged by the Zilla Parishad,
these four/five contractual staff provided exclusive support to NBA and maintained close
interaction with the field. The districts were solely responsible for implementation of
IEC/HRD activities and also for taking up the SLWM works.

Under the new Mission, there shall be a District Mission Management Unit with the
following approved positions:

1. District Coordinator
2. Assistant District Coordinator (General/ Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation)
3. Assistant District Coordinator (Technical)

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 4. Assistant District Coordinator (SLWM)
5. Assistant District Coordinator (Capacity Building & Communication)
6. Data Entry Operator

The District Mission Management Unit (DMMU) will be under the charge of a senior
State Civil Service Officer. Efforts would be made to create a position of a State Civil
Service Officer to head the DMMU. The Officer may be of the rank of an Additional
District Magistrate or a senior Deputy Magistrate. Once the post is created and the
person is posted, the DMMU will come under the direct control of the District Magistrate
and the role of the Zilla Parishad will be that of a policy making body at the district level.
However, till such arrangements are made, the existing arrangements of keeping the
DMMU within the Zilla Parishad will continue. The District set up for MGNREGA will also
be associated with the initiative. Accordingly, constant interaction with the District Nodal
Officer, MGNREGA and his team will be required.

Block level arrangements

At the Block level, there is no separate manpower for supporting activities under NBA.
The Panchayat Samity under the leadership of the Sabhapati and immediate
supervision of the Karmadhakshya, Jana Swastha-O-Paribesh Sthayee Samity is
entrusted with the monitoring and supervision of the programme. At the official level,
under overall supervision of the Block Development Officer, the Joint Block
Development Officer acts as the Block
Nodal Officer for NBA. Now, under the The Joint BDO shall act as the
overall charge of the Joint Block Block Nodal Officer and a Block
Development Officer as the Block Nodal Social Mobilisation Coordinator
Officer for Sanitation there will be a Block shall be engaged, either
Social Mobilisation Cell for the Mission. The contractually or through the
Block SM Cell shall have the services of a Support Organisation to
Social Mobilisation Coordinator (BSMC) coordinate activities at the block
contractually engaged by the District level, especially with the GPs.
Magistrate. The BSMC may also be
provided to the blocks through the Support Organisation identified for the district. The
BSMC will be responsible for coordinating all the activities in the field, from actual
construction to IEC and Social Mobilisation, from training of field functionaries to data
entry in the IMIS. He/she will also be responsible for coordination with the Sanitary
Marts working in the Block. Under NRDWP, there is a provision of a Block Resource
Centre (BRC) at the block level with appropriate personnel. The BRC may be activated
and the Block Social Mobilisation Coordinator included in the BRC as the main driver for
sanitation. The provision of obtaining civil society support for formation and running of
the BRC may be explored as well.

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Gram Panchayat level arrangements

At the Gram panchayat level, there is no specific manpower support for implementation
of Mission Nirmal Bangla. Since the Executive Assistant/ Secretary of the Gram
Panchayat is responsible for overall financial management of the Gram Panchayat, he
will play pivotal role in financial management of the
All existing staff of the GP,
Mission as well. MGNREGA human resources at the
including the EA/
Gram Panchayat will have increasing role in the
Secretary, Nirman Sahayak
Mission activities. The Nirman Sahayak (Junior
and the GRS will be
Engineer) at the Gram Panchayat and the Gram
associated with the
Rozgar Sewak under MGNREGA will be responsible
Mission.
for technical supervision of the programme.

In certain Gram Panchayats local motivators, especially women have been trained as
Swachchhta Doots who work with a token monthly remuneration and incentive for
motivating households to construct and use sanitary toilets. Such engagement is
discouraged and should be done away with. The existing Swachhta Doots will be
brought under a local Community-based Organisation (CBO) and will be paid incentives
following a specific incentive structure. An amount of Rs.100/- per household achieving
ODF through construction and use of toilet will be used for payment of incentive to
motivators/Swachhta Doots in 3 installments (30% on completion of demand generation
through triggering and ODF resolution, 50% post-construction and ensuring usage and
the rest 20% after achieving ODF and continued use for six months.

The associated NGO/ CBO will be the prime mover of the programme at the Gram
Panchayat level. The organisations will be designated as the Support Organisation
(SO). Their responsibilities will include coordination of the IEC activities in the field,
constant monitoring of construction activities,
There will be association of NGO/
facilitating social mobilization activities so
CBO at the GP level for effective
that toilets are not only constructed but also
coordination between different
used regularly. Monitoring of other
stakeholders in implementation of
components of the Mission Nirmal Bangla will
the programme. The NGO/ CBO
also be the responsibility of such institution.
will be identified as Support
The districts will engage Cluster and
Organisation and will be
Federations of the Self-help Groups as the
responsible for promotional
Support Organisation, wherever the SHG
activities. The Swachhta Doots
Federations are strong. For the purpose of
will be brought under the
selection of the Support Organisation, the
associated NGO/ CBO. A specific
State Mission will also have non-financial
incentive structure for the
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
organisations has been
a group of NGOs after following due
suggested.
processes of selection. The list will be shared

8
with the districts and the district may avail of their services on incentive basis after
entering into financial MOU. The SO will be fully associated with community mobilization
including triggering for which appropriate training will be organized. For all the activities
of a SO taken together, including facilitation of the triggering process, wherever
undertaken, the SO will be paid incentive @ Rs.125.00 per household achieving ODF
through construction and use of toilet. However, this incentive too will be released in
several installments and the final installment will be released only when the village
sustains its ODF status for a period of at least 6 months, post declaration.

Funding pattern (IHHL)

As per the new set of guidelines, an amount of Rs.12000.00 will be the funding for
construction of one unit of IHHL. This amount is to be shared at the rate of 75:25
between the centre and the state. However, the additional Rs. 2000.00 is supposed to
be utilized for making provision for water storage in the toilet unit. The state
governments have been given flexibility in utilization of the incentive amount. This may
be given in the form of individual incentive, community incentive or any combination of
individual and community incentives. All the BPL households, who have not received
any incentive earlier from NBA or TSC programme, are eligible to get incentives for
toilet construction under Mission Nirmal Bangla. Selected APL families are also eligible
for incentives if they belong to one of the following
The primary target group categories-
for providing incentives 1. SC, ST families
will include the BPL 2. Small and marginal farmer families
households and certain 3. Landless labour
specific categories of APL 4. The families having physically handicapped
families (restricted APL) member
5. Woman headed families.

Also IAY beneficiaries, beneficiaries of Land Reforms, especially beneficiaries receiving

land under ‘Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi’ programme, recipients of ‘Kanyashree’ etc. will
receive priority. Other APL families (except those referred to above) are to construct
toilets on their own.
 For construction of IHHL, the state will
In West Bengal, we will go for a continue to receive Rs.900.00 or its
combination of individual incentive labour/ material equivalent (enhanced
and community incentive where contribution will be encouraged)
Rs.10000.00 per IHHL unit will be  Out of Rs. 12000 as government
used for funding individual toilet incentive, Rs.2000 will be reserved as
and the additional amount of Rs. community incentive and used for
2000.00 will be committed to the enhancing water sources/ supplies in
community as community incentive the Sansad area.

9
to be utilized mainly for arranging augmentation of water supply or in any other
intervention at the water and sanitation sector. However, the practice of receiving
Rs.900.00 as household contribution as a mark of commitment of the household will
also continue. This may be in the form of cash or even in the form of labour or other
materials. In case labour or material contribution is accepted, the monetary equivalent
of the same must not be less than Rs. 900.00 and in such cases, it will replace
individual contribution. Additional contribution from the individual households for still
better models will also be encouraged.

Funding pattern (Community Sanitary Complexes)

For construction of Community Sanitary Complexes (CSC), an amount of Rs.2.00 lakh

has been fixed as funding per unit which is supposed to be shared between the central
government, the state government and the community at 60:30:10 ratio. The
Panchayat, however, can make the community contribution out of its own resources,
from grants of the Finance Commission, from any other fund permitted by the State
Government. It has been decided by the Government of West Bengal that Community
Sanitary Complexes at places of public congregation like bust stand, market places etc.
will be built with an estimated cost
For construction of Community Sanitary of Rs. 3.50 lakh out of which
Complexes (CSC), total allocation per CSC Rs.1.20 lakh as central share and
is Rs.2.00 lakh to be shared by the centre, Rs.0.60 lakh as state share will be
state and the community at 60:30:10 ratio. met out of Swachh Bharat Mission
However, we may construct CSC with an (Gramin). Balance amount will be
investment of Rs.3.5 lakh where the sourced through different
additional fund may be sourced from Government Schemes like BADP/
several other programmes. In addition, MSDP/ ISGPP/ World Bank
water supply facilities will be arranged by support, support from the corporate
the PHE Department. partners as part of their CSR etc.
PHED resources (NRDWP fund)
will also be used for augmentation/ arrangements of water supply facilities. All such
CSCs must have adequate toilet seats, separately for men and women, arrangements
for the physically challenged like western commode, guard rails, hand support etc.,
bathing cubicles, washing platforms, wash basins, incinerator for disposal of sanitary
napkins/ cloths etc. It is also proposed to experiment with different alternative
sustainable technology options for the CSCs. However, CSCs shall be built only when
the Panchayats ensure a mechanism for maintenance of the facilities. Pay and Use is
one of the most common options for such maintenance. Using the walls for
advertisement, tie up with some corporate sponsor, non-government actors might be
other options to explore. A set of type designs for the CSCs shall be shared by the State
with the districts, which may be taken into consideration at the time of finalizing the
designs. However, the districts will have complete flexibility in choosing the design and

10
doing necessary customization based on the local situation including availability of
materials.

Another type of Community Sanitary Complex is common facility for the households
where enough space is not available for construction of IHHL. In such cases, however,
the cost shall be restricted to Rs.2.00 lakh per unit with fund sharing between the
centre, the state and the community/ user group at a ratio of 60:30:10. In this case too
appropriate arrangements for maintenance of the facilities should be ensured before
construction of the facilities.

Depending upon the capacity of the Panchayats and the assessment of the district, fund
for construction of CSC may be provided to the Block or the Gram Panchayat.

Funding pattern (Solid & Liquid Waste)

Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) is another major area of intervention to
ensure cleanliness in the villages. Waste management is possible at two levels: at the
level of the household and at the level of the community. Household based waste
management will mainly cater to
the biodegradable solid waste and  For decentralized Solid& Liquid Waste
the liquid waste of individual Management (SLWM) at the household
households. Construction of level, resources of MGNREGA will be
compost pits, soak pits, extensively used.
arrangements for vermin  Out of the Mission fund, the emphasis
composting are some of the will be on development of centralised
household level interventions which infrastructure along with specific
shall mainly be done either by the mechanism for collection of waste from
household with its own resources households and community places,
or with the resources under segregation of waste, turning waste to
MGNREGA. For community level wealth
intervention too arrangements for
larger compost pits, platforms for
tube wells, drains and soak pits from the public water sources etc. may be arranged out
of MGNREGA resources as these are permissible activities under the programme.

Appropriate awareness generation interventions shall be made in the villages so as to

raise demands for SLWM systems, which will eventually be managed by the
community. Once such demands are generated, the Block/ Gram Panchayat shall make
arrangements for setting up of a SLWM System for the Gram Panchayat as a whole.
For effective utilisation of SLWM resources, clubbing of adjoining Gram Panchayats
may be considered as an option. The main site for the facilities may be selected at a
place close to an urban settlement. There should be comprehensive planning for

11
segregation of waste at the household/ other places of waste generation, collection,
dumping, recycling of waste, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable. SBM (G)
funding for SLWM projects will be Rs.7.00 lakh for a GP having up to 150 households,
Rs.12.00 lakh up to 300 households, Rs.15.00 lakh up to 500 households and Rs.20.00
lakh for GPs having households above 500. Fund allocated for SLWM may also be
used for safe disposal of menstrual waste and setting
up of incinerators in Schools, Community Sanitary Development of DPR,
Complexes, Health Centres and Hospitals or at any sharing with the State
other required location in the villages. However, Mission and obtaining its
SLWM fund cannot be used without a specific plan clearance is mandatory
for comprehensive coverage. The specific plan in the processes for initiating
form of a DPR has to be sent to the State Mission ad work on SLWM Projects.
obtain its clearance before undertaking work under
SLWM. For preparation of project proposals for SLWM, the State shall arrange
developing a framework and organizing intensive training of the functionaries. Once the
framework is finalized and training is undertaken, the State will also seek additional
funding sources, including CSR and World Bank support, on the basis of actual
requirement.

In 1000 Gram Panchayats presently covered by the World Bank supported programme
of Institutional Strengthening of Gram Panchayats Project (ISGPP), efforts would be
made to progressively cover all those Gram Panchayats within a period of three years
through systematic planning. The Project staff shall make planning and facilitation for
SLWM in the ISGPP Gram Panchayats and implementation will rest on the Gram
Panchayats concerned.

Fund Flow

Central fund under SBM (G) will flow to the Consolidated Fund of the State. Once the
State Government releases the fund along with the state share, it will be drawn and
deposited into the Bank Account of the Mission. From the Mission, fund will flow to the
districts, based on performance of individual district. Although the districts will have their
own action plan and requirement of fund on the basis of different components as in the
action plan, fund flow will depend on actual performance. Within the overall limit of the
Annual Action Plan (AIP), the fund flow to the district will depend on actual performance
in construction of the facilities and achieving ODF villages. Naturally, the districts
achieving higher coverage will get priority in funding.

At the district level, till separate arrangements are made at the end of the District
Magistrate with a dedicated Officer as indicated earlier, fund will flow to the Zilla
Parishad where a separate account for NBA is already in existence. The account will
now be renamed as “A/C SBM (G): Mission NIrmal Bangla” with the same group of
officers as the operators of the bank account.

12
Fund will flow from district to the Block/ Panchayat Samity as the practice is in vogue in
the districts. Name of the account will be same as that of the district and the operators
of the accounts will remain unchanged.

Since we will work in two different

modes, one by utilizing the existing
Rural Sanitary Marts (RSM) and
Production Centres (PC) and
augmenting the strength of the
RSM/ PC in areas already close to
saturation and the other by
community led initiatives in areas
where the present coverage is
substantially below average by way
of community triggering, flow of
fund below Block will be left open
to the districts to decide. Generally
in cases of the conventional
arrangements where the RSM/ PC
takes the responsibility of
construction, fund may go directly
to the RSM/PC from the block level
itself. Where, on the other hand,
community mobilization is the route
and the triggered community
decides to achieve ODF in a very
short span of time, working through
RSM/ PC alone might be restrictive
and may prove counterproductive
due to the sheer time lag apprehended in supplying the facilities. In such cases, fund
flow to the Gram Panchayats may be a better option to give flexibility to the programme,
which is the hallmark of the community processes in sanitation.

Construction of CSC too can be done

directly by the Block. However,
keeping in mind the requirement of
involvement of the Gram Panchayats
in ensuring appropriate operation and
maintenance, it might be appropriate
to decentralize this operation at the
level of the Gram panchayat.
Institutional Strengthening of Gram
Panchayats Project (ISGPP), a project
supported by the World Bank in 1000
Gram Panchayats of the State will play
important role in putting in place an
institutional mechanism in the GPs for
effective SLWM.

13
 For Solid & Liquid Waste Management, it is preferable to move from the block level
itself. However, in Gram Panchayats under ISGPP where the basic aim is to strengthen
the Gram Panchayats and the Project staff takes the responsibility of facilitation, fund
may be sent to the Gram Panchayat itself on the basis on a clearly delineated plan.

Coverage Plan
An analysis of the preset sanitation scenario in relation to household facilities in the
rural areas is given in the table below (data as in January 2015) :

A B C D E F G H
Total GPs GPs up to Top Total GPs
Sl. Name of the Bottom
No. of already 90% 10% or for
No. Districts 10%
GPs Saturated coverage +> 90% coverage
1 Bankura 190 0 0 19 19 38
2 Bardhaman 277 2 32 32 29 61
3 Birbhum 167 0 1 17 20 37
4 Cooch Behar 128 0 1 15 13 28
5 Dakshin Dinajpur 65 0 0 6 7 13
6 Darjeeling (GTA) 112 0 3 14 14 28
7 Hooghly 207 8 54 - - 207
8 Howrah 157 2 23 23 16 39
9 Jalpaiguri 146 0 1 16 15 31
10 Malda 146 0 2 17 16 33
11 Midnapur East 223 3 44 - - 223
12 Midnapur West 290 0 7 27 29 56
13 Murshidabad 254 2 4 25 25 50
14 Nadia 187 103 28 - - 187
15 North 24 Parganas 200 5 56 - - 200
16 Purulia 170 6 1 18 16 34
17 Siliguri M.P. 22 0 1 3 3 6
18 South 24 Parganas 310 7 50 50 34 84
19 Uttar Dinajpur 98 0 0 10 10 20
Total 3,349 138 308 292 266 1375

The plan is to take the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent of the Gram
Panchayats in a district for immediate saturation. In the districts of Nadia, North 24
Parganas, Howrah, Purba Medinipur, Hooghly and Burdwan where most of the Gram
Panchayats are close to saturation and the district as a whole has achieved close to or
more than 80 percent coverage, efforts would be made to achieve complete ODF for the
districts in quickest possible time. In those districts, the district authority will be given
complete liberty to take up any of the Gram Panchayats for early saturation followed by
and /or combined with a vigorous behavior change communication strategy. In all other
districts, the immediate thrust will be on the top 10% of the GPs or the GPs achieving

14
90% and above in terms of households covered, whichever is higher as well as the GPs
in the bottom 10 percent in terms of coverage. This approach will be repeated in the
following years as well with gradual reduction in the Gram Panchayats at both end of
the scale. However, if any
The coverage plan will have multi-pronged strategy. district shows remarkable
For 2015-16, priority will be given to 224 GPs progress in the
located on the banks of the river Ganga, all GPs of interregnum, that district
North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Hooghly, will be taken up for
Burdwan and Nadia (if any GP is left out after 31 complete coverage in
March 2015) districts and the top 10 percent and subsequent year. Another
bottom 10 percent GPs of the remaining districts. area of special focus for
Over the next four years, the target will be fixed in the next financial year
the same manner. However, if any district shows (2015-16) will be the 224
exceptional pace of work in the interregnum, those Gram Panchayats on the
districts will be taken up for complete coverage in bank of the river Ganga.
subsequent years.
While these identified
Gram Panchayats will be
the focus of the Mission so that ODF can be achieved in those GPs by fast tracking of
activities, normal activities will continue in other Gram Panchayats, albeit in a relatively
low pace. There priority will be given to the households having differently able people,
having ‘Kanyashree / Sikshasree’ beneficiaries, beneficiaries of Land Reforms,
especially ‘Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi’, beneficiaries of IAY, liberated manual scavengers,
free bonded labourers, nomadic tribes etc.

Delivery mechanism

Over the years, Rural Sanitary Marts (RSM) have developed as the delivery mechanism
for sanitary facilities under the programme. Where the RSMs are not adequate to
provide the supplies, additional Production Centers (PC) have been developed. While
RSM/ PC as stable delivery channel was the major strength of sanitation programme in
West Bengal, over-dependence on the institutions (RSM/PC) have brought about
numerous aberrations. Since production and supply of sanitary-wares combined with
construction of facilities at the households with the help of its own pool of masons,
contractor-like arrangements became common. During the days of the NBA
implementation there came natural extension of the RSM/ PC when engagement of
private entrepreneurs was allowed and a host of private entrepreneurs were pressed
into service. In some of the districts, the Clusters and Federations of the Self-help
Groups (SHG) have grown as RSM/ PC and have provided critical support in supply
chain management.

In the present Mission, we will work through a combination of the RSM/ PC, SHGs as
RSM/ PC and individual Masons supported by easy accessibility to required sanitary

15
wares. The Gram Panchayats in an advanced stage in implementation of erstwhile
NBA and closer to saturation will mostly use the RSM/ PC network. There too, however,
individual household will also be given the liberty to build its own toilet unit, if specifically
insisted. In Gram Panchayats at the
The network of Rural Sanitary Marts and
other end of the sanitation scale,
Production Centres responsible for
where very few households have in-
community mobilization and
house sanitary toilet facilities, the
construction of toilets is one of the
Blocks and the Gram Panchayats will
major strengths of sanitation programme
be given liberty to explore multiple
in West Bengal. However, over the years,
channels. Experience shows that
the institution has, in certain cases
time is the very essence in a village
developed inertia and their capacity has
where community triggering has
often been limited. While proactive RSMs
are playing positive role in the Extensive mason training will be
campaign, the state policy has now organized across the state.
shifted towards opening this sector to Skilling component of MGNREGA
the market, provided the triggered will be effectively utilized for
community decides to procure materials training of Masons. Skilling
from the open market. component of Ajeevika Skills too
will be utilized for mason training.
Shg members will be increasingly
trained as masons so that the
technology is accessed by the
SHG women.
taken place. The community in such cases is thoroughly exposed to the sense of shame
and disgust and moves fast to dig the pits and arrange other logistics. If the pace of
delivery does not match their demand, the effect on the programme may be negative.
To avoid such a stalemate it is advisable to open up the supply to the market forces.
The local monitoring committee specifically constituted during the triggering exercise
itself to coordinate activities pertaining to ODF achievement may be given the
responsibility of procuring necessary sanitary wares from the open market. If, however,
the RSMs are capable of supplying quality materials within a very tight time schedule,
those institutions will get priority over others. Since local procurement needs to match
with the pace of installation, local Masons must be trained on appropriate and safe
sanitation technologies so that they can cope up with growing demand for IHHL. The
skilling component of the NRLM and the recently included skilling component of
MGNREGA will be extensively used to develop capacity of the local Masons and their
helpers. For local procurement, the fund flow will be to the level of the Gram Panchayat,
which will have to take a call on incurring expenditure either directly or through the local
SHG Cluster/ Support Organisation or the local Gram Panchayat member.

IEC, BCC and Community Processes for achieving ODF Villages

16
The thrust for achieving ODF villages will require extensive mobilization of the
community through different means of communication. Out of the programme fund, 4.5
% will be utilized at the district and
Filed level implementation of IEC/ BCC
sub-district level for community
activities will be priority activity for the
mobilization and capacity building
Mission. For this there will be specific
activities. An additional 0.5 percent of
communication plan and
the programme fund will be available
implementation of the communication
at the state level for implementation of
plan will be closely monitored.
the State Communication Plan. Out of
the IEC & CB fund apportioned for the
district and down below, 0.75 % will be for capacity building activities. Out of remaining
3.75% again 60% would be utilized for IPC, 15% for Mid-media activities, 15% of the
fund for Mass Media activities, 5% for M&E and 5% for KAP studies.  

In the field the major focus of communication will be on the following:

1. Inter-personal communication at the household and village level for generating mass
awareness on the perceived threats of lack of sanitation facilities and its
comprehensive use as well as the expected benefits of conforming to the practice of
close quarter defecation and other safe hygiene practices. Social mobilisers through
CBOs would be associated with the process of reaching out to the community on the
basis of an incentive structure.

2. In Gram Panchayats having extremely low coverage as yet, community processes in

sanitation would be spearheaded through use of community triggering and other
participatory tools and techniques. A part of the IEC fund would be earmarked for
such community processes.

Development of communication
SHACS roll out will be coordinated.
materials for wide scale replication,
Extensive inter-personal communication,
printed, audio visual, electronic will
community triggering and other community
be the responsibility of the State
processes, development and use of
Mission which will thereafter be
communication materials, communication
duplicated/ utilized by the districts
through school students, using frontline
and the field units. For
workers of different allied programmes and
development of the prototypes
extensive use of a NGO network will be the
support from professional agencies
major means of reaching out to the
would be taken. Both World Bank
community.
and UNICEF would be approached
to help the state Mission develop
the prototype communication materials. The State Mission will be coordinating the roll
out of the entire Sanitation Hygiene Advocacy & Communication Strategy (SHACS) with
support from UNICEF and the World Bank.

17
 Using icons for communicating the
messages, extensive use of the
digital media to reach out to the
youth and increase visibility and a
pulse polio like campaign will be
some of the thrust areas of the
communication strategy.
Massive drive will also be undertaken
periodically by using services of some
identified icons to promote safe sanitation
practices by using the television and cable
channels.
FM radio as well as the conventional All
India Radio will be used on a sustained
basis to promote sanitation.

Digital media will be increasingly used to reach out to the niche audience using internet.
The website of the Mission will be refurbished and will be made more interactive.
Facebook page of the Mission will be created and will be constantly fed with inputs from
the field. Other form of social media like twitter account, WhatsApp would be extensively
used.

There will be a comprehensive Media Plan for the Mission spread over the entire project
period. Following is the brief outline of the proposed media plan:

Target Groups

For systematic communication of the

While the direct target group will
messages of Mission Nirmal Bangla, focus
be the individuals and the
will be given on two kinds of target groups –
households, the indirect target
group will include the  Direct Target Group, i.e., the
representatives of the panchayats, individuals and the households
political leaders, religious leaders,  Influencers/ Opinion Makers/
frontline workers of different Advocacy Builders – Panchayat
departments, CBOs and NGOs. representatives, political leaders,
religious leaders, frontline workers of
different departments, community-based organisations like clusters and
federations of SHGs, medical practitioners etc.

Communication Action Flow

The flow will be three steps with specific objectives for each of the steps

 Increasing the awareness about the mission

 Sensitization towards the issue
 Motivation to act on it

Communication approach

18
  Using mass media (TV/ Cable network/ Radio including FM channels/
Newspapers extensively for developing the ambience and spreading general
awareness
 Using outdoor media
o Print- (posters/ hoardings/ Banners/
The communication approach leaflets/ wall writings etc.)
will combine mass media with o Performance-based- (street play/
outdoor media and different puppet show/ mobile vans/
processes of community exhibition/ rally/ folk show/
triggering. participation in melas and exhibitions
etc. to reinforce the messages
o Public Transport displays (for branding & recall)
o Door-to-door – IEC material distribution (leaflets/ brochures)
o Using inter-personal communication channels through SHGs/ front-line
workers/ foot soldiers for sanitation for motivating the individuals and the
community and distribution of IEC materials Distribution of IEC material +
promotional(s) (board games like snakes and ladder, picture books/
comics etc.)
 Community triggering, especially in areas of low coverage for building conviction
for the changed practices

 Using icons for mass media campaign will be one of the major mass media
interventions

 Using frontline workers of different departments for interpersonal

communication
 ANMs and ASHA Workers
 Anganwadi Workers
 School teachers
 Facilitators in SSK/ MSK
 We also propose to induct the SHGs and their Clusters and Federations, local
NGOs in the communication network.

 Using technology for massive penetration among the users of internet/

mobile phones etc.

 Development of the website of the Mission

 Social Media Activity (regular interaction & promotion on Facebook, Twitter,

Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp)

19
  Sending bulk SMS (voice and message) through mobile network

 Content Marketing (MNB Blog, Blog Syndication & Promotion)

 Monitoring and Feedback to find out reaction from the users by using tools
like /Promotion (paid/ unpaid), Networking & Communication by using
HootSuite & Google Analytics to measure our campaign effectiveness

 We propose to take support from international organisations like UNICEF and

World Bank in developing materials for reaching out to the people.

 Annual award/ incentive for high performing districts/ Blocks and GPs
o Every year through a rigorous process of identification and validation

Role of Panchayats at different level

Zilla Parishad and DMMU

 Overall policy determination at the district level

 Overall control over the District Mission Management Unit (DMMU)
 Selection of Gram Panchayats for achieving ODF each year
 Organize regular meetings with the stakeholders
 Developing the district ODF plan, IEC and Social Mobilisation Plan
 Collection of monthly report and forwarding the reports to the State Mission
 Obtaining approval from the State Mission on the SLWM Plans for specific Gram
Panchayats
 Monitoring and management of the supply chain including monitoring of the
activities of the Rural Sanitary Marts/ Production Centres
 Declaring Gram Panchayats as ODF, after due verification
 Identification of Support Organisations and their engagement (actual selection
process may be done at the state level as well, with active participation of the
districts)

Panchayat Samity and the Block Cell

 Organize monthly meetings with the stakeholders

 Management of the supply chain and overall coordination with the Rural Sanitary
marts and Production Centres
 Monitoring activities at the Gram Panchayats, especially those selected for ODF
as well as other Gram Panchayats selected for intensive activities
 Coordinating activities of the Support Organisations
 Coordinating IEC/ CC/ Community Triggering and other community processes in
the villages and Gram Panchayats

20
  Development and implementation of the SLWM Systems in GP clusters
(wherever cluster approach is followed)

Gram Panchayat

 Developing ODF plan for the GP

 Coordinate with stakeholders including Support rganisation
 Organizing regular monthly review meeting
 Facilitating training of masons
 Engagement of SHG Clusters and Federations
The lists for the ZP/
to promote sanitation and training of SHG
PS/ GP are only
members
illustrative and a lot
 Preparation of monthly reports and sending
more activities may
those to the Block
be added with the
 Monitoring supply chain including the activities
overall objective of
of the RSM/ PC
achieving ODF GP/
 If RSM/ PC is not capable of providing the
Block/ District
supplies on time, developing alternative delivery
system and send proposal to the DMMU
through Block for direct funding
 Promoting use of toilet at home and community
 Actively facilitate community triggering processes and take resolution for ODF
 Sending claim for ODF after complete saturation and verification
 Ensuring post ODF surveillance and sustenance of ODF
 Supporting and motivate Nigarani  committees, wherever formed, to regularly
conduct meetings etc.

Role of the National Rural Livelihood Mission and the Self-help Groups

One of the major strengths of West Bengal villages is existence of a large pool of Self-
help Groups (SHG) of women. The SHGs are supposed to be engaged in economic
activities for sustainable livelihood. Since this is a space for collaborative action by the
members of the groups, this institution is also used extensively for different social
activities. In Sanitation different districts of the state has made extensive use of the
SHG network for different activities. The SHG Clusters/ Federations have over time
developed into strong institutions for women participation in socio-economic activities in
the villages.
We propose to institutionalize the role of the NRLM and the SHGs, individual SHGs and
their Clusters and Federations through a joint action plan with the West Bengal State
Rural Livelihood Mission (WBSRLM) and their district level functionaries. Broadly, the
SHGs are proposed to be used in the following fashion:

21
 1. All the SHGs will take a pledge to ensure total shunning of the practice of
open defecation by all the members of the group by way of constructing
toilets and its use.
2. All the SHGs will also take pledge to use other positive hygiene and sanitation
behaviour like hand washing with soap at critical times
3. The issue of hygiene and sanitation will be taken as one of the regular
agenda in the weekly meeting of the groups. The slot will be used to discuss
and review the present status and drawing up of the action plan for future
activities. Any gaps noticed in implementation will be discussed in the
meetings and appropriate authority will be contacted for desired action.
4. The SGH Clusters, wherever strong, may also take up the responsibility of
functioning as a RSM/ PC. For this appropriate training and orientation will be
the responsibility of the block.
5. For community mobilization, including facilitating the community processes,
like triggering and use of other community tools, the SHG Federations may
also be deployed as Support Organisations.
6. In areas where we are already close to saturation, there too for ensuring
sustainability, the SHG Clusters/ Federations will be used for community
mobilization. The existing Swachhta Doots may be brought within the ambit of
the Clusters/ Federations by following the incentive structure as noted earlier.
7. The SRLM authority may also devise a methodology for in-house lending to
the members of the SHGs where Government incentive cannot be given to
the households for either earlier receipt of the incentive or due to non-
inclusion in the BPL or restricted APL categories.

Role of Schools (Teachers and Students)

 Everyday prayer session to disseminate key WASH message among children

 Lead and involve children in cleanliness of school campus, classroom, and
WASH facilities
 Ensure children have access to and use safe drinking water
 Ensure that all children wash hands with soap before mid-day meals
 Constitute child cabinet of active children to function as peers to promote hygiene
sanitation among children and monitor that all children adopts improved practices
 Facilitate and organize Nirmal Vidhyalaya Abhiyan every year and involve
parents, MTA, PRIs and other stakeholders to generate awareness on WASH
issues in school and community
 Children to function as change agents to take the key messages at home and
promote the improved hygiene practices and demand and use toilet
 Ensure that mid-day meal kitchen environment is hygienic and the cook wash
hands before cooking, while serving the food.

22
  Teacher and children should ensure that solid and liquid waste is safely
managed in compost pits, waste water is used in kitchen gardens

Role of other stakeholders and opinion leaders

 To facilitate the community dialogue process on importance of having toilet at

individual household level and its use to promote new social norms in the
community
 To facilitate solving the misconception that people having regarding the toilet
adoption and use
 The other stakeholders like private entrepreneurs can be involved and facilitate
for strengthening supply chain for continuum supply of the materials
 The opinion leaders and stakeholders will facilitate the Nigrani committee to
monitor the toilet use at the community level.
 The opinion leaders can felicitate and project people who have adopted positive
changes in key behaviors.
 To develop social governance for toilet use and sustaining ODF in respective
villages.

Role of ASHA and other health workers:

 To promote and disseminate messages on hand wash with soap at critical times
- before serving and taking food; after using the toilet; after cleaning the child
feces; handling of drinking water during their IPC activities.
 To educate caregivers, mothers and elder members of the family on the
importance of improved sanitation and hygiene promotion and toilet use by all
family members
 To facilitate tracking of toilet access and use during household visit .
 To generate awareness among adolescent age girls and women about the
menstrual hygiene management.
 To generate awareness on safe disposal of child excreta among the mothers and
care givers.
 Raise the issue of toilet uses in the 4 th Saturday meetings at the Gram
Panchayat.
 Educate mothers and caregivers on prevention and management of diarrhea and
other water borne diseases at home and community level.

Role of Civil Society Organisations

 To facilitate IEC activities and capacity building for demand generation, toilet
adoption and use among rural communities.

23
  To facilitate conducting baseline surveys, social mapping of open defecation
areas, triggering and KAP on sanitation, hygiene, safe water use and related
behaviours.
 To facilitate monitoring and validation of ODF villages, facilitate declaration of
ODF by the community and maintaining its sustainability.
 To facilitate developing systems for social governance and mobilize communities
for sustaining the improved social norms

Role of ICDS workers

 To facilitate IPC on WASH issues at village level in their catchment area.

 To facilitate assessment of toilet usage in village.
 To facilitate dissemination of key WASH message including menstrual hygiene to
pregnant women, children and adolescent girls at AWCs.
 To promote and ensure practice of hand washing with soap, before and after eating
meal and after using toilet at ICDS center.
 To ensure proper hygiene and cleanliness in cooking area, use of safe water, use of
clean utensils and hand wash before preparing the meal and also during serving the
meal.
 To ensure hygiene and sanitation education at the Early Childhood Education
center
 To ensure and monitor personal hygiene – clean nails and hands, hair neatly tidied,
clean clothes of children.

Role of Health Institutions and Individual Medical Practitioners

In all Health Sub-centres, Primary Health Centres, Block Primary Health Centres,
Rural Hospitals and other Government Health Institutions, sanitation and hygiene
will be one of the key messages for communication. While treating people for
water-borne diseases or other gastro intestinal diseases as well as diseases from
malnutrition, the prescription may contain advise regarding use of toilets. There
may be advocacy with the West Bengal Chapter of the IMA for inclusion of the
advice in the prescriptions issued by the private practitioners as well. Such
guidelines, however, will have to be issued by the Health & Family Welfare
Department.

Role of Faith leaders and Faith Based Organizations:

24
  To lead our people in mobilizing a WASH revolution where every household has
and uses a toilet; safely disposes of child faeces; practices hand washing with
soap at critical times; and drinks safe water
 To teach our people to understand and always respect the special hygiene and
privacy needs of adolescent girls and women
 To guide our people to embrace the principles of Swachh Bharat in our homes,
communities and facilities
 To leverage our influence to challenge inequity and exclusion to basic WASH
services in our communities, schools and health facilities; and to call for the
achievement of minimum standards for all children and their families.
 To advocate for inclusive policy and guidelines that ensure Water, Sanitation
and Hygiene for all

Using Corporates through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) window

The Corporate/PSU help, besides issues like IEC may also be in targeted interventions
for filling up the resource gap in areas of-

1. Reconstruction of non-functional/ defunct toilets of families who earlier availed of

the incentive out of TSC/NBA. This will include both the groups of toilets
exceeding their normal life span and defunct due to low investment and lack of
use.
2. Additional funding for Community Sanitary Complexes.
3. Additional funding for community-level SLWM projects in Gram Panchayats
having population of more than 500 where the present funding of Rs.20.00 lakh
will be grossly inadequate.
4. To facilitate developing effective communication and media engagement for
promoting the key messages on water, sanitation and hygiene promotion and
facilitate organizing major event engaging celebrities, organize sports
5. To facilitate developing video spots, promotional films, documentation of success
stories.
6. To facilitate construction of child friendly WASH facilities in school, ICDS centers
to ensure 100% coverage in all institutions
7. Focused capacity building interventions, especially for overall cleanliness of the
villages including SLWM
8. To facilitate developing a HRD institution for training of key stakeholders on
WASH at the state level.

Monitoring and evaluation

25
A well-laid and robust monitoring system has to be put in place for proper assessment
of the pace and quality of implementation. Monitoring of outcomes will be the prime
focus measured in terms of toilet usage as reflected in escalation of ODF villages.
However, monitoring of outputs will also be given importance for matching the
expenditure with the assets created. The state monitoring framework should be able to
identify the following-

1. The community mobilization activities being carried out for behavior change
2. Construction of facilities
3. Usage of toilets
4. Creation and escalation of ODF villages

The tools of monitoring may of following types-

1. The Mission shall engage an enlisted CA Farm and get the accounts audited
every year.
2. It should have a community led system like social audit for which the procedure
adopted in the MGNREGA will be followed.
3. A state level Review Mission/ Rapid Action Learning Unit will be formed to
evaluate the monitoring done by districts, for providing advice on corrective
action and upscale best practices.
4. An independent third party monitoring by engaging professional agencies. As
third party monitoring agencies, the renowned institutions from the academic
world as well as the social sector players will be approached.
5. Extensive use of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) by feeding
data in the programme IMIS as well as in the Mission website.

The state shall also conduct periodic evaluation studies of the implementation engaging
reputed organization(s) and remedial action shall be taken on the same.

26