Integrating Women’s SHGs in Urban Sanitation Service Delivery

Source:

Urban Management Centre

Author:

Manvita Baradi & Meghna Malhotra

Published:

2023-12-11

Since the inception of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in 2014, there has been focused attention and investment in sanitation and waste-management. In the last ten years, over 60 lakh (6 million) household toilets and more than 6 lakh community toilets have been built across urban India1 , accompanied by vital infrastructure like treatment plants and recycling facilities. The key challenge is to ensure consistent delivery of quality services, maintain facilities, and foster behavioral change within local communities — with sanitation workers playing a pivotal role on the front lines. Despite focused efforts, sanitation service delivery in India remains dominated by informal, frontline workers, most of whom belong to marginalized castes and underrepresented genders. A majority of these frontline sanitation workers are women working as waste pickers, cleaners, and waste collectors. Lack of collectivization among sanitation workers limits their access to skilled employment and improved working conditions. Organizing sanitation workers—particularly women and other vulnerable groups—into SelfHelp Groups (SHGs) and building their capacities represents a bold and promising step toward advancing sustainable sanitation. This approach not only enhances livelihoods and empowers women but also creates a pool of skilled operators to maintain sanitation facilities and services. The ‘SBM and DAY-NULM Convergence Guidelines’ lay out actionable policy measures aimed at formalizing urban sanitation delivery. Many states such as Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, among others, have adopted this convergence policy. The Urban Management Center (UMC) has played a crucial role in shaping national-level convergence efforts and ensuring their effective adoption and implementation at the state level. This resource guide emerges from UMC’s extensive work with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and with state governments in Odisha and Telangana on policy-making, capacity building, and grassroots engagement with Self-Help Groups (SHGs). It offers a clear roadmap supported by resources and best practices to aid state governments, urban local bodies, and sanitation leaders across India in initiating and operationalizing convergence guidelines. We acknowledge the invaluable contributions of all team members involved in this transformative initiative. UMC has embedded teams at all four levels of government—national, state, local, and community—which enables policy development, innovation, and on-the-ground implementation. We extend our sincere gratitude to the former Principal Secretary of Odisha, Mr. G. Mathivathanan, IAS, whose vision and support facilitated the implementation of convergence across Odisha. We also recognize the pivotal role played by Joint Secretaries of DAY-NULM, MoHUA - Mr. Sanjay Kumar, IAS and Mr. Rahul Kapoor, whose involvement was instrumental in driving the convergence innovation between the missions. Finally, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the City Collab team and Ms. Vani Herlekar for spearheading the development of this resource guide and ensuring its successful publication.