Technical Assistance to Government of India for Swachh Bharat Mission

This grant provides technical support to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), states and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to enable them to implement the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission at the national, state and city levels. The technical assistance promotes universal safe and sustainable waste management and sanitation access through safe containment, collection and transportation, treatment and reuse, to maximize public health impact. Through this assistance, USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsor a Project Management Unit (PMU) within MoUD to help support, coordinate and catalyze the GOI’s own massive Swachh Bharat resources. Over the past year, USAID funding of $7 million to support MoHUA has catalyzed $100 million in government resources towards building the WASH capacity of Indian cities. The project centers on enabling the MoHUA and city level authorities to better deliver on this Prime Ministerial priority, including in the areas of monitoring, learning and evaluation, and strategic communications to raise community demand for safe sanitation. It also encourages validation and evaluation of accessible, innovative, and cost-effective water and sanitation technologies. Through the PMU efforts till date,  2,644 cities have been certified as Open Defecation Free, positively impacting more than 150 million people.