This document discusses a national roundtable meeting on basic sanitation in rural India. It provides background on government initiatives to improve rural sanitation since 1986. The Total Sanitation Campaign and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan programs are mentioned. The Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in 2014, aims to achieve universal sanitation coverage by 2019. The roundtable meeting will bring together policymakers, administrators, and others to discuss challenges and solutions related to rural sanitation facilities implementation under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It will be held on August 20th, 2015 in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and will focus on the roles of local governments and future visions for rural sanitation in

1. Basic Sanitation in Rural areas of India is often termed as the most and essential component of
cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation. The First Nation wide programme for rural sanitation was
launched in 1986 by the Govt. of India with the objective of improving the quality of life of rural people and to
provide privacy and dignity to women. Based on the recommendations of the experts on Rural Sanitation, the
programme was again revised in 1992 aimed at an integrated approach to rural sanitation. Following the
‘community led’ and ‘people centered approach’ towards sanitation facilities, the Govt. of India has restructured the
comprehensive Rural Sanitation programme and launched the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in the year 1999.
To give a fillip to the Total Sanitation Campaign, the Govt. of India has launched an incentive scheme in the form
of award for total sanitation coverage, maintenance of a clean environment and opens defecation- free panchayat
villages, blocks and districts in the name Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) in the year 2003. Encouraged with initial
success of NGP, and looking into the need to upscale the sanitation interventions, the TSC was revamped as the
Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) in the year 2012, with the objective to accelerate the sanitation coverage in the rural
areas so as to comprehensively cover the rural community through renewed strategies and saturation approach
and to transform rural India into Nirmal Bharat. To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage
and to put focus on sanitation, the Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on 2nd
October, 2014. The objective is to achieve a ‘Clean India’ by 2019, coinciding with the year that India will celebrate
Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday anniversary. As per the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act of 1992, Sanitation is
included in the 11th Schedule. Accordingly, Gram Panchayats have a pivotal role in the implementation of SBM.
The programme may be implemented by the Panchayati Raj Institutions at all levels.
In recent years the initiatives of the Government of India towards strengthening comprehensive Sanitation
in Rural India have been made consummate at the grassroots. However, India has failed to create the basic
sanitation facilities in villages as minimum requirement of citizen for clean India. No doubt that the efforts for basic
sanitation to the people of rural India is one of the important issues on which the debate is going-on for the last 30
years in the country side without arriving any concrete solutions for clean India. As per the Baseline Survey
conducted by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in the Year 2012, the number of household not
having Toilet is 61.19 % and household having Toilet is 38.81%. It indicates that even after 67 Years of
Independent India, we don’t have the 100% lavatory facilities in the country. Today the challenge before us is to
accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve the vision of Swachh Bharat by 2019 with all Gram
Panchayats in India attaining Nirmal status.

2. The present National Round-Table Meeting on ‘Basic Sanitation in Rural India: Future Vision and
Road Map for Swachh Bharat’ is an attempt to bring together social and development functionaries working in
different capacities (policy makers, administrators, academicians, NGO’s and elected representatives of
Panchayati Raj Institutions) from across the country. The purpose of the National Round-Table Meeting is to
identify through mutual experience sharing, such challenges in Panchayati Raj Institutions, that some practitioners
face (especially in the background of the open defecation), and solutions that some others might have come
across. The deliberations would help incubate ideas and identify areas that need research and action further.
Ultimately National Round-Table Meeting purpose is to facilitate judicious local and urban decision-making at the
grassroots through concrete policy and implementation suggestions for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The specific objectives of the Round-Table Meeting are as follows:
a) To review the key policy initiatives and measures of the Union Government towards a comprehensive
sanitation in rural India;
b) To examine the status and position of the existing panorama of sanitation in rural India and identifying the
bottlenecks for establishing healthy sanitation practices;
c) To explore the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the formulation and implementation of basic sanitation
facilities in rural India;
d) To visualise the future vision and road map for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, for Clean India.
To find out the ways and means in strengthening the Basic Sanitation facilities in Rural India further, the
main theme of the National Round-Table Meeting comprises of the following sub-themes:
Panel-I : Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Efficiency of Basic Sanitation in Rural India:
A Way Forward for a Clean and Healthy India;
Panel-II : Policy Initiatives and Pro-active Measures by the Government of India for a
Comprehensive Sanitation in Rural India: Emerging Challenges and Solutions; and
Panel-III : Strategies and Implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Future Vision and Road
Map for Clean India.
Panel-IV : Swachh Andhra Pradesh: Opportunities and Emerging Challenges
The National Round-Table Meeting will be held at the Hotel Bliss (Darbar Hall), Tirupati, Andhra
Pradesh, on 20 August, 2015. The Inaugural Session will start at 10.00 a.m in the morning and end till 5.00 p.m.
in the evening, besides 4 Technical Sessions, Open Discussion Session and Valedictory Session. The 13th Bharat
Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture and conferment of the Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Outstanding
Leadership, Mahila Shakti, Yuva Shakti, Best District, Best Taluk, Best Gram Panchayat and Gram Swaraj
National Awards would be held exclusively on 20th August, 2015 at 5.00 p.m.
Papers on the main theme and sub-themes of the National Round-Table Meeting are invited from policy
makers, civil servants, parliamentarians, legislators, academicians, administrators, elected representatives of
PRI’s, NGO functionaries, and grassroots women leaders.
Abstract not exceeding 1 page in length can be communicated to us on any of the above sub-themes. All
abstracts should reach us before or on 31st July, 2015. Abstracts can be sent as E-mail attachment or can be
mailed to the address given at the end. The length paper (15-20 pages), neatly typed in double space in MS Word

3. using 12 points font size, should reach us before or on 10th August, 2015. The proceedings of the National
Round-Table Meeting would be published, as Thematic Issue of The Grassroots Governance Journal (ISSN:
0973-0257), an official bi-annual research publication of the academy.
The Registration fee for the Round-Table Meeting is given for different categories of delegates/participants
as under:
REGISTRATION Registration ( )
(before 31st July,2015)
Registration ( )
(before 10th August, 2015)
Registration ( )
(after 10th August,2015)
Consultancy Firms/
Industrial Delegates
2,850/- 3,200/- 3,500/-
Govt. Officers/NGO* 2,650/- 2,850/- 3,000/-
Local Delegates 900/- 1,000/- 1,100/-
Speakers/Authors/Sponsor
Nominees/Special Invitees
GRATIS GRATIS GRATIS
(Registration Form Attached)
Notes:
*10 % discount is admissible for two or more registrations in all categories from each organisation. The Local
Delegate fee does not include accommodation and other logistic charges for attending the Round-Table Meeting.
The registration payment can be made through a Demand Draft drawn in favour of AGRASRI, Tirupati
and payable at Tirupati, A.P. The Delegate fee is also remitted through NEFT/ONLINE to the Academy of
Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI), Current Account No: 003311011001100, IFSC Code
No: ANDB0000033, Andhra Bank, Balaji Nagar Branch, Tirupati-517502, AP.
An Outstation Delegate Registration fee will cover breakfast, working lunch, dinner, tea & cocktails for
1 day and Round-Table Meeting kit. Air Conditioned Accommodation (Twin sharing basis) would be provided to all
the Outstation Delegates at Tirupati, the venue of the National Round-Table Meeting, for 1 day. If the delegate is
accompanied by Spouse or any other person, extra delegate fee will be charged. The deadline for registration is
10th August, 2015. However, the cost of travel of the nominee(s) will be borne by the Sponsoring Organisation/
Institute itself. The Local Delegate registration fee will cover working lunch, tea & cocktails and Round-Table
Meeting kit.
For more details write to Dr. D. Sundar Ram, Director of AGRASRI, on the E.mail address
(drsundarram@gmail.com) or Call at the Mobile No. (9441245085).
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