Draft Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA) report: Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin

Government of India (GoI) has recently launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) campaign and program to accelerate efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019. The proposed World Bank support to the program will enable GoI, in collaboration with State governments, to achieve the goals of SBM-G. The project development objective (PDO) is to reduce open defecation in rural areas and strengthen MDWS’s capacity to manage the national program. The World Bank support will concentrate on: increased access to safe and functional sanitation facilities; achieving and sustaining community-wide ODF status; improved solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) services; and strengthened capacity of MDWS in program management, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation. An Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA) of the proposed Operation was undertaken by the World Bank to understand the environmental and social risks, benefits, impacts and opportunities of the existing sanitary policy and practices on the ground.