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In order to improve the sanitation facilities in urban areas of the country, the government of India has launched National Urban Sanitation Policy on November 12, 2008. The new urban sanitation policy will focus on cleanliness of the cities and towns. Apart from it, the policy will provide affordable sanitation facilities for poor people of urban areas. According to urban development secretary, M Ramchandran, due to the increase in the urban population of the country, large chunks of households do not have any proper toilets. He informed that the out of 285 million urban population of India, 26 per cent are devoid of toilet facility.
Informing more about the National Urban Sanitation Policy, Ramchandran said that all the states will be asked to prepare their own model within one year. He stated that the investment and time required to implement the sanitation policy will be decided after getting the reports of the states. The sanitation policy will try to achieve certain goals like elimination of open defecation, integrated citywide sanitation, safe disposal and proper operation and maintenance of all sanitary installations in urban areas. The states are likely to be assisted by the central to deliver proper sanitation services. The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank will be funding the sanitation project.
