The Indian government has launched a new initiative under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, called ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon. This initiative is targeted towards easing the lives of Divyangjan by making toilets smarter, more accessible and easier to use.
Details about San-Sadhan Hackathon
This unique initiative is organized jointly by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and 91springboard. The purpose of the San-Sadhan Hackathon is to develop affordable, compact, flexible, and scalable toilet designs that suit variable area requirements.
Tailoring Solutions for Diverse Needs
The program aims to cater to different disabilities, geographies, age groups, genders, and cultures. Special attention is paid to the issues of wheelchair users, amputees, visually impaired and conditionally disabled individuals such as those with fractures, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and the elderly.
Four Main Categories of Solution Development
The solution could be developed for any one of four categories: Rural Individual Use Toilet, Rural Community Use Toilet, Urban Individual Use Toilet, or Urban Community Use Toilet. According to the 2011 census, there are 2.68 crore people in India belonging to the ‘Divyangs’ category who could benefit from these improvements.
| Category | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Rural Individual Use Toilet | For individual usage in rural areas |
| Rural Community Use Toilet | For shared usage in rural communities |
| Urban Individual Use Toilet | For individual usage in urban areas |
| Urban Community Use Toilet | For shared usage in urban communities |
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) or Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
Launched on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2014, SBA aims to clean up India’s streets, roads, and infrastructure. It has a goal to achieve an open-defecation free India by Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2, 2019, and to build 90 million rural toilets across the country. This mission will contribute to India meeting the Sustainable Development Goal-6 (SDG 6), established by the UN in 2015.
Other Initiatives Centered on Divyangjan
A notable recent event was the second ‘Disability Summit, 2019’ held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, aiming for real change for people with disabilities. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a comprehensive human rights convention and key to the disability rights movement. On a national level, India had enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2016.
Annual Observances and Recent Milestones
The international day of persons with disabilities is observed on December 3rd each year. Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment organized a regional conference on “Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)” in Mumbai. The Election Commission of India (ECI) embarked on an Accessible Elections initiative during the Lok Sabha Election-2019 to make the electoral process more inclusive. Lastly, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was recently entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for fitting 260 Divyangjans with ‘Modern Artificial Limbs (Legs)’ within eight hours.
Source Citation
The data regarding these events and initiatives are sourced from PIB.