Ministry of Urban Development (Government of India)

This guide by the Water and Sanitation Program and the Ministry of Urban Development, is meant to enable municipalities and urban local bodies make informed decisions on sanitation technologies.

Poor sanitation facilities and the lack of sanitation facilities are a health hazard and exact a human toll on human health. Realising the magnitude of the problem and the resulting fallout, the Government of India has been increasing the funding for sanitation infrastructure via the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). However, money alone cannot solve the problem. Urban local bodies and municipalities need sound advice on technological options, planning and implementation to ensure that the money is well spent and the sanitation projects cater to the need of the target audience.

This document provides information on the evolution of the Housing and Urban Policy in India since the 1950s, which was the beginning of urbanisation and migration of people from rural to urban areas. Urbanisation was then perceived negatively as a drain of resources to feed the population from cities and the contribution of cities in the economic development of the country was not appreciated.

The document describes how the policy evolved from the First Plan in (1951-1956) to the Eighth Plan in (1992-97), which for the first time explicitly recognised the role and importance of urban sector for the national economy.

The Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development recently released the National Urban Sanitation Policy. We attach the document below, as well as key excerpts. We request you to add your comments below regarding the provisions of the Sanitation Policy. Click here to view the National Urban Sanitation Policy The document is quite comprehensive and detailed. It lays out a vision for urban sanitation in India. It instructs states to come up with their own detailed state-level urban sanitation strategies and City Sanitation Plans. It moots the idea of totally sanitised and open-defecation cities as a target and the setting up of a multi-stakeholder City Sanitation Task Force to achieve this. Environmental considerations, public health implications and reaching the unserved and urban poor are given significant emphasis in the policy. Funding options are laid out including direct central and state support including through existing schemes, public-private partnerships, and external funding agencies. It directs that atleast 20% of the funds should be earmarked towards servicing the urban poor. The Center also plans to institute awards to the best performing cities, reminiscent of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards for villages. Important Excerpts from the Policy: