Government rejects UNSR report on water and sanitation programmes in India
India condemns UN report on safe drinking water and sanitation in India
In a press release, Heller had?said,?Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi?s glasses) with the human rights lens?, referring to Mahatma Gandhi.
The government today strongly condemned United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on human rightsLeo Heller's statement on the state of safe drinking water and sanitation in India.
In a press release in New Delhi today, Heller hadsaid,“Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi’s glasses) with the human rights lens”, referring to Mahatma Gandhi.
Centre said that world knows that the Mahatma was the foremost proponent of human rights, including for sanitation, his unique and special focus. Gandhiji’s glasses, the unique logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission, epitomise core human rights principles.
The government called the report "inaccurate", "sweeping" and "biased".
UNSR has been on a visit to India since October 27 which is due to end today.
UNSR alleged that human rights principles have not been properly addressed in India’s water and sanitation programmes.
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In a statement, the central government rejected his assertions and reiterated that the Swachh Bharat Mission and the rural and urban drinking water programmes fully conformed to the Human Rights criteria and principles as established by the UN system.
In a statement, India said UNSR has failed to acknowledge the paradigm shift in national sanitation policy which has moved from construction of toilets to open defecation free communities and seems to be looking at the SBM from a tinted lens.
The Centre argued that he also attempted to question the findings of a third party, 1,40,000 household national survey by the Quality Council of India that usage of toilets was above 91%, by misleadingly comparing it with a survey of only 1,024 households by Water Aid which focused on toilet technology and not on usage.
The UNSR also claimed that there is inadequate attention and funds for water supply, whereas the reality is that since the launch of the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in 2009, Rs. 1,20,000 crore has been invested by Centre and states into rural drinking water, and Rs. 40,000 crore has been invested by the central government on urban water supply since 2005, it said.
Centre said that it is committed to human rights in general and particularly in the water supply and sanitation sectors and strongly rejects the claims in the UNSR’s report and press statements.