r.i.c.e.

Accountability Initiative has released its 2017 budget brief report on SBM-Gramin.  According to the report, GOI allocation of SBM-G have increased over threefold since 2014-15. In FY 2016-17, 98 percent of the total expenditure incurred between April and January 10 was for the construction of individual household latrines.  Like the previous years, money spent on IEC was meagre. SBM-G guidelines require 8 percent of allocations to be utilized for IEC activities. However, in FY 2016-17, till 10 January 2017, only 1 percent of total expenditure had been on IEC activities. Access the full Budget Brief here.

Yamini Aiyer, senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and director of the Accountability Initiative, writes about the constraints in achieving the country’s goal of achieving a Swachh Bharat in Live Mint. Apart from the government data, the article has used r.i.c.e.'s SARI data to show the lack of on-the-ground engagement in promoting toilet use. The SARI survey revealed that only 2.6% of respondents in rural Uttar Pradesh and 5.4% in Delhi were aware that the SBM promotes toilet use. Find this interesting article here.