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nuMbers,

people

And…

progress

Equal emphasis on data and
changing community behaviour
have given Soumit Mishra
success in tackling odisha’s
sanitation issues

Development’s strategy for the fulfilment of
Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin’s (SBM–G)
objectives, was a number-driven one with
an emphasis on completion of targets. It did
not take cognisance of changing community
behaviour; as a result, it was not yielding the
desired results.
My core purpose of life The preraks deployed in the districts
is to leave this planet a bit under the Zila Swachh Bharat Prerak (ZSBP)
better than what I inherited, programme in April 2017 were considered
and I am sincere about as ‘outsiders’. Against this backdrop, 28-year-
old Soumit Mishra was deployed as the state
achieving it.” coordinator in June 2017.
Soumit Mishra An alumnus of Indian Institute of
State coordinator, Odisha Management (IIM), Nagpur, Soumit, a civil
engineer, came from a family of government
servants. Dinner table discussions at home
centred on politics, governance and public
policy. He naturally gravitated towards
the subject of community development. It
inspired him to intern at the Maharashtra
Chief Minister’s office during his management
ccording to the 2012 baseline studies. When Tata Trusts came calling to
A survey, Odisha at 10% had one of IIM, Nagpur, with the offer of being a part of
the lowest levels of penetration of the ZSBP team, it was straight down his alley.
individual households with latrines. The Having spent a major part of his growing–up
Government of Odisha’s Ministry of Rural years in Odisha, he knew what lay ahead.

10 TATA WATER MISSION - A Tata Trusts Initiative