The Swachh Bharat Revolution

On 15 August 2014, in his maiden Independence Day address to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a firm resolve to eradicate open defecation in India in just five years. Launched to implement this vision, the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) had a challenging job on hand but has proved to be one of the major successes of the government. Over the past six years, almost 10 crore toilets were built under SBM-Grameen, and rural sanitation coverage rose from 39 per cent in 2014 to 100 per cent in 2019. The Mission’s mass outreach effort mobilized over 60 crore people to change their behaviour. India declared itself Open Defecation Free on 2 October 2019, Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary. The Swachh Bharat Revolution looks at how India made the impossible possible. With a Foreword by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and edited by Parameswaran Iyer, it provides wide-ranging perspectives on the programme and celebrates a historic national achievement.