Statement by India under Agenda Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the SR on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, during the 51st Session of Human Rights Council (12 September - 7 October 2022) delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India (14 September 2022) Statement by India under Agenda Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the SR on the human rights to safe..

Statement by India under Agenda Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the SR on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, during the 51st Session of Human Rights Council (12 September - 7 October 2022) delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India (14 September 2022)

Statement by India under Agenda Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the SR onthe human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, during the 51st Session of Human Rights Council (12 September - 7 October 2022) delivered by Mr. Pawankumar Badhe, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India (14 September 2022)

Mr. President,

We thank the Special Rapporteur for presenting his report and take note of its conclusions and recommendations.             

Mr. President,

The Government of India’s legislative, policy and programme initiatives as well as their implementation stand testament to our commitment to therealization of the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation for all Indians and to ensuring we ‘leave no one behind’.

In August 2019, a nationwide programme, the JalJeevan Mission i.e. Water is Life Mission,was launched to ensure piped water supply to every rural home by 2024. It is a decentralized, demand-driven community-managed water supply initiative.The local village community plays a central role in the planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of their own in-village water supply system.Priority is given to saturating villages in water-stressed areas, quality-affected villages, Aspirational Districts, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe majority villages, etc. for providing the supply.The principle of ‘equity and inclusion’ has been adopted to ensure no one from the weaker and marginalised sections is left out.

Under arevolutionary ‘Clean India’ Mission aimed at eliminating open defecation through behavioural change and construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets, all the villages, Districts, States and Union Territories declared themselves "open-defecation free" by 2 October 2019. The programmehas prioritized the needs of women, transgender communities, and persons with disabilities and has been able to bring about a marked difference in the lives of sanitation workers and informal waste workers.To ensure that the open defecation free behaviour is sustained, Phase II of the Mission is being implemented presently.

I thank you.