Project Title Technical Assistance to support Government of India for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)
Project Period 2016 to 2018

Implementing States Districts, Blocks and GPs along the River Ganges and also 10 Iconic places

To support the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) that is being implemented by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, WASHi through PMU, assists the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) through Technical Assistance to provide support to the MDWS, Districts and Block/Gram Panchayats in the area of capacity building, monitoring, learning and evaluation, introduction of affordable solutions based on technical and economic evaluation to improve sanitation uptake and delivery of safe sanitation services & solutions and dissemination of best practices from global and national experiences.

1. Providing capacity building support to 1,651 Gram Panchayats (GP) around Ganga river across five states namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

2. Assist the 100 Iconic sites initiatives under SBM with sanitation and waste management linked advisory in 10 pilot iconic sites. These Sites (including the Taj Mahal) will act as examples for the 100 Iconic Sites identified under SBM. All are important historical sites that help the Indian public understand and appreciate the importance of Swachh Bharat and the implementation of the Mission.

3. Assist MDWS in institutionalizing the Rapid Action Learning Units (RALU) framework to ensure consistency of implementation, long-term sustainability and potential employment opportunities at local levels. These RALUs are expected to facilitate fast learning and dissemination tools and make this RALUs proactive in each state through improved central coordination.

4. Help MDWS to institutionalize and strengthen the Rapid Action Learning Units (RALU) framework to accelerate capacity building on sanitation across the country.

5. Support the Ministry to develop strong project management system and tools for increasing efficiencies in procurement, financial management and project delivery.

6. Ensure seamless transition to the government personnel to continue to manage SBM activities longer term.


The Technical Assistance provides all necessary technical support to MDWS in the area of program implementation, capacity building, monitoring, learning & evaluation, develop strategic communication to raise community demand for safe sanitation services and products, validation & evaluation of affordable, accessible, innovative and cost-effective sanitation technologies. The Technical Assistance is expected to strengthen the existing institutional structure at the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) and manage the roll out of the capacity building led behavior change program.