Gender Transformative Planning for Urban Sanitation in India
49
3. Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) must be included while planning for
sanitation.
4. The needs of women’s access, safety and security must be addressed in all public
and community sanitation facilities. The significance of concerns related to safety
and security is not only inside the sanitation facilities, but also in the area and
route to that facility.
5. In order to implement the above, it is essential to collect, collate and use
sex-disaggregated data for planning sanitation facilities. Most monitoring formats outlined by policy documents do not recommend the collection of sexdisaggregated data. They also do not gather information on differences among
men’s and women’s utilization of facilities and services provided. Due to this
paucity of data from monitoring and evaluation, differences by age and sex undermine the policy makers and programme planners effort to identify gender gaps
in sanitation and service delivery.
The National Fecal Sludge and Septage management (NFSSM) Policy, 2017 is
the most recent policy that addresses city-wide sanitation for all cities in India. It
has emerged as a result of a nudge from various stakeholders. It recognizes that for
a city to be free from open defecation, one needs to have an integrated approach of
on-site and off-site sanitation solutions. The policy focuses on mainstreaming fecal
sludge management (FSM), defines the role of stakeholders (Government, private
sector, civil society, etc.) for effective FSM, establishes synergies between various
Government of India (GoI) programmes (AMRUT, SBM, Smart Cities, HRIDAY,
etc.) and ensures sustainable sanitation for all. It lays thrust on incremental approach
to achieving standards set by GoI, gender-based sanitation planning and State level
strategies. Some of the aspects that it mentions on gender are:
1. Gender-specific gap: The policy mentions that it “…will promote gender mainstreaming in FSSM where women are seen as active agents and participants of
change, not merely as recipients or victims of policies.”
2. Objective 6 of the policy targets to “Mitigate gender-based sanitation insecurity
directly related to lack of toilet …and involvement of both genders…”
3. It mentions “Gender mainstreaming of IEC material for FSSM across the
country”
4. In the section on Financing, it says “The Government of India may provide
assistance for funding projects proposed as part of FSM Plans through its ongoing
urban development schemes and programs including gender budgeting of FSSM
projects”.
5. Additionally, the policy also mentions the involvement of both genders.
Though the NFSSM articulates some gender-specific needs and aspects, more
needs to be done to articulate the implementation of actions on ground.
The GoI programme that support Urban Sanitation can be grouped into four categories: main urban development programmes, dedicated sanitation programmes,
programmes of ministries other than urban development and the Finance commissions.
49
3. Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) must be included while planning for
sanitation.
4. The needs of women’s access, safety and security must be addressed in all public
and community sanitation facilities. The significance of concerns related to safety
and security is not only inside the sanitation facilities, but also in the area and
route to that facility.
5. In order to implement the above, it is essential to collect, collate and use
sex-disaggregated data for planning sanitation facilities. Most monitoring formats outlined by policy documents do not recommend the collection of sexdisaggregated data. They also do not gather information on differences among
men’s and women’s utilization of facilities and services provided. Due to this
paucity of data from monitoring and evaluation, differences by age and sex undermine the policy makers and programme planners effort to identify gender gaps
in sanitation and service delivery.
The National Fecal Sludge and Septage management (NFSSM) Policy, 2017 is
the most recent policy that addresses city-wide sanitation for all cities in India. It
has emerged as a result of a nudge from various stakeholders. It recognizes that for
a city to be free from open defecation, one needs to have an integrated approach of
on-site and off-site sanitation solutions. The policy focuses on mainstreaming fecal
sludge management (FSM), defines the role of stakeholders (Government, private
sector, civil society, etc.) for effective FSM, establishes synergies between various
Government of India (GoI) programmes (AMRUT, SBM, Smart Cities, HRIDAY,
etc.) and ensures sustainable sanitation for all. It lays thrust on incremental approach
to achieving standards set by GoI, gender-based sanitation planning and State level
strategies. Some of the aspects that it mentions on gender are:
1. Gender-specific gap: The policy mentions that it “…will promote gender mainstreaming in FSSM where women are seen as active agents and participants of
change, not merely as recipients or victims of policies.”
2. Objective 6 of the policy targets to “Mitigate gender-based sanitation insecurity
directly related to lack of toilet …and involvement of both genders…”
3. It mentions “Gender mainstreaming of IEC material for FSSM across the
country”
4. In the section on Financing, it says “The Government of India may provide
assistance for funding projects proposed as part of FSM Plans through its ongoing
urban development schemes and programs including gender budgeting of FSSM
projects”.
5. Additionally, the policy also mentions the involvement of both genders.
Though the NFSSM articulates some gender-specific needs and aspects, more
needs to be done to articulate the implementation of actions on ground.
The GoI programme that support Urban Sanitation can be grouped into four categories: main urban development programmes, dedicated sanitation programmes,
programmes of ministries other than urban development and the Finance commissions.