COMMENTARYaugust 16, 2008 EPW Economic & Political Weekly20panchayats, which aloneenjoysubstan-tial revenue raising powers. This cannot be done by more revenue assignments alone. It is as much a function of tax ef-forts, functional devolution as of making the size of panchayats viable in terms of convergence of services, technical and administrative capability and availability of revenue – raising potential. There is a great need to make the majority of pan-chayats viable units, at least in terms of population and revenue. While this is primarily the task of the SFCs and depends a great deal on the political will of the concerned state government, the UFC cannot stay away from the task of building local democracy in Indian fiscal federal system.Special ClaimOctroi, which was a substantial source of revenue for local governments is being phased out. The entertainment tax, an im-portant revenue source of local govern-ments, is treated as a service tax. My plea is that general sales tax should be made a shareable tax with a special share assigned to local governments to compensate for the losses they suffer.In brief, the task of building a viable local government system, which is made an integral part of Indian federal polity is a challenging task and a continuing lega-cy of the 73rd/74th constitutional amend-ments. The UFC has an important role in this. This note seeks to underscore the issues in the context of the THFC, which should work towards a new public finance architecture in the country.Notes1 The TFC, in one of its conditionalities for debt relief, specially mentions that it may not be linked with performance in human development.2 The need to customise CSSs was raised by the finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir at the national seminar on centre-state relations.ReferencesBrecher, Michael (1969): Nehru: A Political Biography, Jaico Publishing Co, Bombay.Kumudini S Hajra, P H Rakhe and Dhirendra Gajb-hiye (2008): ‘Issues before the Thirteenth Finance Commission: Correction of Horizontal and Ver-tical Imbalances’,Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 43, Nos 12 and 13, pp 89-96.Reddy G R (2007): ‘Imbalance in Agenda of Finance Commission’,Economic & Political Weekly,Vol 42, No 51, pp 8-10.Community Sanitation Campaign: A Study in HaryanaVikas Gupta, Mahi PalThis article presents a case study of a successful Community-led Total Sanitation Campaign from Bhiwani district in Haryana. Social acceptance of hygienic sanitation practices has led to enormous benefits for the village community. Since independence, various efforts have been made to alleviate the severity of insanitation but these efforts did not receive the desired impetus in rural areas as these were mostly made in a piece-meal and un-coordinated manner. Only 20 per cent of the rural population has access to sanitation even after 60 years of inde-pendence. The launch of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) under the restructured Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) and re-strategising it to follow a community-led and people-centred approach in its implementation [TSC Guidelines 2002] has been a significant departure from the earlier principle of state-wise allocation based on the poverty criteria. This approach lays critical emphasis on information, education and communication (IEC) inputs for demand generation for sanita-tion facilities through sensitisation, motivation and behavioural-attitudinal reorientation of the individual and the community. This study of its performance in Haryana assumes some importance in the context of the state’s economic advancement and social backwardness. Haryana had the highest per capita income level (Rs 29,504) in 2003-04 at current prices, but at the same time it also shows very high expenditure on health. This is because of poor sanitation facilities in villages as well as in cities. In rural Haryana, 52 per cent of the households have televisions, 76 per cent have radios but only 29 per cent have latrines or toilets in their houses as per the 2001 Census. This implies that non-availability of toilets has not been due to economic reasons but because of the lack of aware-ness about the benefits, both intrinsic and extrinsic, in accessing toilets within the household. The lack of awareness about sanitation and better hygiene prac-tices also results in an unnecessary ex-penditure on health and loss of income because of productive days wasted due to sickness. This article focuses on studying the processes and outcomes of the implemen-tation of the community-led total sanita-tion (CLTS)1 in Bhiwani district where this approach was practised for the first time in Haryana. For evaluating the processes and outcomes of the CLTS, out of 26 villages where this approach was adopted six gram panchayats were visit-ed and in addition to that primary data was collected from 119 households from four villages selected randomly for this purpose. Vikas Gupta (vikasgupta@hry.nic.in) is a member of the IAS with the government of Haryana and Mahi Pal (mpal1661@gmail.com) is a member of the Indian Economic Service, currently with the ministry of rural development, government of India.

COMMENTARYEconomic & Political Weekly EPW august 16, 2008211 Processes of the CLTSA brief account of processes and activities organised and operationalised under CLTS at the local level is given below.Sensitisation of Villagers and Capacity Building of Stakeholders: Initially, the District Rural Development Agency(DRDA) was in a fix as to how to go about imple-menting TSC as past experiences had not produced the desired results. The ice was broken by organising training programmes for trainers with the help of a few experts roped in from outside the state. This provided key inputs in the conceptualisation and implementation of the strategy.It was envisaged that at least 60 per cent of women would be made aware about theTSC and at least 20 per cent families were to be made aware about the low cost options in triggering de-mand. Capacity building of different stakeholders was considered as the cor-ner stone for the entire exercise of creat-ing demand for sanitation from the community.Persons engaged asmotivators at various levels were chosen with care keeping in view their qualification, com-mitment and eagerness to learn and work. Preference was given to women candi-dates. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) exercises were carried out for developing village plans by the trained manpower and approved by the gram sabha.Village Motivators/Animators and Clus-ter Coordinators: Each motivator was as-signed 300 households. The job of the mo-tivators, among others, was to encourage families to construct toilets, promote their use, construct soak-pits and encourage hand washing practices before meals and after toileting. He/she also liaisoned with the households and civil society organisa-tions. The cluster coordinator (CC) was expected to coordinate activities of about 25-30 villages.Constitution of Block Level Monitoring Committee:In order to monitor the regu-lar process of work in 22 villages selected for making them eligible for the Nirmal Gram Puraskar,2 the block level monitor-ing committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the block development and panchayat officer. Entry Point Activities:Mobilisation of the village community for any interven-tion is not an easy task. More so when it was being carried out without subsidy. Therefore, during the social mobilisation process, villagers were explicitly asked what according to them was the most im-portant thing they wanted from the ad-ministration for development of the vil-lages. The villagers’ requests included construction of streets, removal of gar-bage from the streets, removal of en-croachment and other routine problems pertaining to ration cards, land revenue, supply of electricity, etc. These were done by the administration within a short span. Problems Encountered and Their Solutions: The main problems faced by theDRDA were that there was no demand for sanitation, no organisational arrange-ment to implement the programme, no immediate incentive/gratification available for citizens except asking them to con-struct latrines and no proper product-mix fordifferent economic strata. Motivators engaged in the process of implementation of the TSC faced problems of an indifferent attitude of the villagers and the sarpanches/panches towards sanitation, a strong demand for a government grant for construction of toilets, humiliation of moti-vators bythe villagers,3 arrogance on the part of the educated people of the villages, lack of communication, coordination and/or adjustment and cooperation between the sarpanches and the villagers.4 These problems have been tackled by social mobilisers in the field by taking into confidence the entire village community, taking recourse to cleaning the spots in the household courtyards where flies were teeming, inducting transparency and hon-esty in the implementation mechanism, convincing the villagers in favour of the TSC and constructing soak-pits for solving waterlogging problem.It is clear from the above that a lot of systematic efforts, both quantitative and qualitative, on the part of various stake- holders have gone into convincing people about the TSC in theCLTS mode. An im-portant input in this context has been the motivated guidance from the DRDA. TheDRDA team has played a significant role in making sanitation a way of life for the villagers and other stakeholders in thedistrict.2 Outcomes of the CLTSBefore discussing the impact and out-comes of the CLTS, let us quickly comment on the socio-economic profile of the sam-pled households. Of the 119 households surveyed in four villages, 26 per cent were from the scheduled castes (SC) category, more than 34 per cent were from the back-ward caste (BC) category and the rest were from the “Others” category of households. Of the households surveyed one-fourth have been living in “kuchcha” dwellings in the sampled villages. Further, the sam-pled villages were poor villages because as many as 56 per cent of the households have not been able to meet their basic minimum requirements, and are living below the poverty line. The outcomes of the CLTS campaign have been evaluated in terms of: (i) construction of toilets without subsi-dyeven by marginalised households; (ii) improvement in health and hygiene; and (iii) financial savings in terms of reduced health costs. Construction of Toilets and Related Issues:It may be highlighted that the CLTS approach has acquired a novel significance when we look at its outcomes in terms of the proportion of the poor households that have come forward to construct their toi-lets without any subsidy. One wonders as to why they had not constructed their toi-lets before the CLTS and why they have done so post-CLTS intervention and how.As mentioned earlier, the CLTS approach has succeeded in motivating the house-holds to construct toilets without a subsidy from the government and as a result of this all the households have constructed their toilets as per requirements. When specifically asked about the reasons for not constructing toilets before the inter-vention under CLTS, the households of-fered a variety of reasons. It may be seen from Table 1 (p 22) that there were three main reasons for this phenomenon, namely, the households felt no need for toilets, lack of funds and lack of knowledge. Impor-tantly, lack of space was not much of an issue for them and this was not a negative factor in all the villages.

COMMENTARYaugust 16, 2008 EPW Economic & Political Weekly22Clearly, in the light of the above, one can conclude that the lack of social marketing of sanitation in the villages was the main reason for not having toilets. And once they had been convinced of the need for construction of toilets, lack of funds was not a constraint because most of themtook recourse to borrowing/ arranging money from different sources. The case of Siwana is different from other villages inasmuch as the house-holds there did feel and accept the need of toilets but, as most of them were from the SC category, they seemed more intensively inclined towards depending on and looking for government grants for constructing toilets. The issue arises as to how many house-holds went for loans for constructing their toilets. The relevant details are in Table 2, which shows that out of 119 households, only 59 households (44 per cent) went for loans for this purpose and, of these, al-mostan equal number were families from Mansarwas and Siwana.5 Some of the fami-lies from Simliwas too went for loans, whereasmostimportantly, all households of Asavari village constructed toilets with their own resources. We have tried to assess the impact of the sanitation on the lives of the people in the villages. The authors visited all the sampled villages and found these villages neat and clean as there was no spilling of water nor any littering of garbage in the streets, and there was no water-logging on the outskirts of the villages. This was the standard scene in these villages. But in addition to these visible changes and signs, we have also tried to look at the issue in much broader terms. We have also tried to assess and measure the impact of sanitation intervention in terms of the extent of reduction of diseases with the help of a comparative analysis of the pre- and post-intervention scenarios in these villages and the extent of monetary re-sources these households could save by not having to spend on medicines and consultation fees of the physicians. Table 3 shows the village-wise occur-rence of five diseases, namely, malaria, fever, diarrhoea, jaundice and chikungunya during the pre-intervention period of August-December 2005.It can be seen from Table 3 that fever and diarrhoea diseases were most prevalent during the period and that too in every village. It may be noted that the diseases that occurred in the sample villages were either water-borne or due to excessive insanitary conditions and practices found in the villages. We have also collected information on the expenses incurred by the households for the treatment of these diseases. It may be seen from Table 4 that a total of Rs 3,73,100 had been spent by the sam-pled households on treatment of these diseases during the pre-CLTS period un-derreference. This is a large amount when related to the income levels and livelihood profiles of the sampled house-holds of whom 56 per cent were living be-low the poverty line and a quarter of them living in kuchcha houses. It may be mentioned here that in Asa-vari village, out of the 30 households sur-veyed, 26 were from the BC community and that in Siwana village, out of 29 households surveyed, 20 were from the SC community. Ironically, maximum number of the below poverty line house-holds alsohail from these villages. Obvi-ously, the maximum amount of money on medicines and treatment of diseases was incurred by the poorer households and consequently they were the worst sufferers. This is neither good economics nor good politics nor good sociology. Let us now look at the scenario among these sample households after the CLTS intervention as revealed in a survey between August and December 2006. It may be said in this connection that after the coverage of these villages under the TSC, none of the diseases occurred in the sampled villages except the two cases of fever reported in Simliwas village. It clearly shows that on this count alone, the people of these villages have not only prevented themselves from suffering due to illness but have also saved a lot of money they would otherwise be spending on the medicines and treatment of diseases. 3 PerspectiveIt has been gathered from the field that while there was enthusiasm and commit-ment among the people and the bureaucracy which has instrumentalised total sanita-tion as a success story in reality in these villages, it was re-enforced substantively by the campaign motivational thread run-ning through all the villages for receiving the Nirmal Puraskar from the govern-ment. This raises the question of sustaina-bility of the TSC. Some relevant issues have been examined and some sugges-tions have been given in this context: (1) The sustainability of the TSC is largely dependent on the enthusiasm and com-mitment among the natural leaders of the village community. How to build and to sustain their interest is, therefore, the critical issue in this context. (2) The bene-fits received by the households after con-struction of toilets should be used as im-portant motivational icons for the promo-tion of sanitation. The Nirmal Puraskar, although used as a motivator, may also act as a deterrent for the promotion of the Table 1: Reasons for Not Constructing Toilets in Pre-CLTS PeriodVillage Reason for Not Constructing Toilet Earlier* FeltNo Lack of Lack of Lackof NeedSpaceFundsKnowledgeMansarwas 30 1 30 8Simliwas 27 1 1220Asavari 3053030Siwana 165 2521Total 103 1297 79* People have given more than one reason.Table 2: Extent of Loan Taken by the Households for Construction of ToiletsVillage No of Families Which Have Taken Loans to Construct ToiletMansarwas 26Simliwas 6Asavari 0Siwana 27Total 59(100)Source: Survey Data.Table 3: Diseases during Pre-Intervention PeriodVillage Occurrence of Diseases in August-December 2005 MalariaFeverDiarrhoeaJaundiceChikungunyaMansarwas 0 28 29 0 0Simliwas 1 298 0 1Asavari 4 26 8 5 0Siwana 1221162 3Total 17104 617 4Source: Survey Data.Table 4: Expenses Incurred on Treatment by the Households (in Rs)Village Expenses on Treatment Mansarwas 58,200Simliwas 86,100Asavari 1,91,000Siwana 37,800Total 3,73,100Source: Survey Data.

COMMENTARYEconomic & Political Weekly EPW august 16, 200823sanitation, particularly in case of the vil-lages which have not been awarded the Nirmal Gram Puraskar. Hence, as a long-term perspective, people’s behavioural/attitudinal trigger should be the fulcrum in this context. (3) It is critical to remem-ber that the motivators, animators, and campaigners are the key agents in this campaign. This campaign may be retained for at least five years or more so that the new practice of hygiene/sanitation becomes part and parcel of normal life. (4) The open defecation-free villages should be in-centivised in terms of giving them priority in taking up various developmental activi-ties under various rural development and other schemes of development. 4 Conclusions The campaign could succeed basically be-cause of the motivators and the support of the local bureaucracy who could create sustainable demand and action for sani-tation through properly engineered social marketing and attitudinal-behavioural transformation of the villagers. The study refutes the myth that poor people will construct toilets only if they get financial assistance from the government. The Bhi-wani experiment has, indeed, been an eye-opener that poor people opted for loans to construct their toilets once they had been educated and motivated.It is hoped that much can be learnt from the Bhiwani model which can be replicated elsewhere. For this, natural leaders have to be properly identified and nurtured. Equally significant, the govern-ment agencies/officials have to act more as managers and team leaders and have to cast off their bureaucratic styles. Notes 1 CLTS is an approach which facilitates a process of empowering local communities to end open def-ecation and to build and use latrines without the support of any external subsidy. This approach was first pioneered in 1999 by Kamal Kar working with the Village Education Resource Centre and supported by Water Aid, in a small community of Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. 2 Nirmal Gram Puraskar, an award scheme for achieving an environment completely free of open defecation was launched by the government of India on October 2, 2003 for PRIs, individuals and organisations, for promotion of sanitation. 3 One of the state coordinators told the research team that they had been designated as “Tatti wala”,i e, those who are dealing with faeces, in some villages. 4 Generally in every term, the panchayat’s elections created enough jealousy and animosity between and among different sections of rural community. The animosity still persists in the villages even though the elections were held two years ago and it is very difficult to handle villagers belonging to different groups. 5 There is a concentration of SCs in this village. There are a few Jat families in this village. A sar-panch (woman) happened to be from this caste. The husband of the sarpanch said he had given loans to a number of SC families to construct their toilets as after participating in various workshops and meetings on the issue of sanitation, he decided to make Siwana an open defecation free village. ReferencesKar Kamal and Katherine Pasteur (2005): ‘Subsidy or Self-respect? Community Led Total Sanitation, An Update on Recent Developments’, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex.GoI (2002): Guidelines of the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (TSC), Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India, May.Census of India (2001): Series-7 Haryana, Tables on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets.Managing Public Private PartnershipsSatish BagalBridging the infrastructure gap by promoting public private partnerships has become the preferred mode for the execution of public projects. The government needs to develop the necessary capability to handle the large number ofPPP projects that are to be taken up during the Eleventh Plan.The draft Eleventh Five-Year Plan sets a very high target for invest-ment in the infrastructure sector. According to the Planning Commission’s estimates investments in road, rail, water supply, irrigation, power generation, transmission and distribution would need to increase from 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to between 7 and 8 per cent during the Eleventh Plan period. And if one looks carefully into the plan document, investment in the infra-structure sector is supposed to contribute at least 50 per cent of the proposed increase in the growth rate of the economy. Translated in sheer numbers it would mean that in next four to five years the investment need will be to the tune of $ 275-300 billion.Structurally it is not possible for the public sector to contribute substantially to such massive requirement and therefore the Planning Commission is banking on finalising a large number of public private partnerships (PPPs) to meet the investment needs.The problem of the Planning Commis-sion and the government of India, however, appears to be that there is shortage of viable and bankable projects that can be taken up asPPP projects. Further, the investments that have come during the last five years or so have come mainly in the telecom sector; not much has come in the power sector or other sectors such as urban utilities or water supply sector where it is required urgently. And although the government has introduced fairly reasonable guidelines together with an attractive scheme for granting viability gap funding, there are difficul-ties in implementing the scheme as project sponsors have to either adhere to the Model ConcessionAgreement(MCA) or get their concession agreement vetted by the Planning Commission. On the whole there is a general feeling in the govern-ments, especially with the implementing agencies and some decision-makers that the PPPs are difficult to forge and take considerable time to conclude. This would lead us to ask two questions. Would the Satish Bagal (satish_bagal@hotmail.com) is currently with the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority.