The Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday 10 years ago, has some commendable achievements to its credit. According to National Family Health Survey, 82.5 per cent of households now have access to toilet facilities, up from just 45 per cent in 2004-05. But in declaring India 100 per cent “Open Defecation Free” in 2019, the government may have celebrated prematurely. A closer look at the data suggests the battle against open defecation is yet to be decisively won, especially given declining toilet usage in rural India since 2018-19. The urgent need for maintenance and pending critical last mile infrastructure. The gains from the Swachh Bharat programme are too significant and hard-won to be dissipated for lack of funds or organisational momentum. More durable gains can also be delivered through progressive decentralisation, with the Centre focusing on institutional capacity building at the grassroots in collaboration with state governments and the third tier of governance, the top edit points out.  Read it here