The reality of the Swachh Bharat Mission

India's ranking at the bottom of 180 countries in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) in 2022 has sparked debates on the effectiveness of government initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and their impact on environmental sustainability.

Challenges in Environmental Initiatives:

• Questionable implementation: Despite government initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), India's performance in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) remains poor, raising questions about the efficacy of environmental policies.
• Caste issues: Issues such as sanitation and waste management, deeply entrenched in caste dynamics, pose significant challenges to achieving environmental sustainability goals.
• Poor maintenance: Reports highlighting the poor quality of construction and maintenance of sanitation facilities under the SBM indicate systemic failures and shortcomings in addressing environmental concerns.

Privatization and Caste Discrimination:

• Privatisation and discrimination: The SBM's reliance on large, capital-intensive technologies has led to the privatization of waste management services, perpetuating caste-based discrimination in sanitation work.
• Social inequalities: The outsourcing of waste management to private contractors, who often employ marginalized communities like Dalits, exacerbates social inequalities and undermines the objectives of inclusive development.
• Systemic inadequacies: Shortages of sanitation inspectors in municipal corporations further reflect systemic inadequacies and hinder effective implementation of environmental policies at the grassroots level.

Need for Policy Overhaul:

• Fundamental re-evaluation: The failures of environmental initiatives like the SBM underscore the need for a fundamental re-evaluation of India's development model.
• Prioritisation of human rights: Addressing environmental challenges requires policies that prioritize human rights and address systemic issues contributing to climate change.
• Alignment: The link between climate change and basic human rights, as recognized by the Supreme Court, emphasizes the imperative of aligning policies with principles of social justice.

Mains Question:

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of government initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in addressing environmental challenges in India. What systemic issues and policy failures contribute to India's poor performance in global environmental rankings like the Environment Performance Index (EPI)?