Rejects human rights allegations about water and sanitation programmes
Government of India has deplored the serious insensitivity towards the Father of our Nation shown by Mr Leo Heller, the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. In a press release in New Delhi today, he said, “Now is a critical time to replace the lens of those glasses (Gandhi’s glasses) with the human rights lens”. The 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 UNSR on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation undertook a visit to India from 27 October to 10 November 2017. While, the UNSR appears to compliment India’s efforts in recent years in addressing gaps in water and sanitation services through an “unprecedented commitment”, he goes on to make sweeping judgements which are either factually incorrect, based on incomplete information, or grossly misrepresent the drinking water and sanitation situation on the ground. Admitting that “two weeks is not sufficient to fully understand all aspects of the situation of human rights to water and sanitation in a country as big, diverse and complex in India”, he still goes ahead to make the unsubstantiated allegation that human rights principles have not been properly addressed in India’s water and sanitation programmes.
In a statement, the Central Government strongly rejected his mostly baseless assertions and reiterated that the Swachh Bharat Mission and the rural and urban drinking water programmes fully conform to the Human Rights Criteria and Principles (as established by the UN system) as listed below.
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