Summary

The governance mechanisms being operationalised in Tamil Nadu, India are the first of their kind due to their scale of implementation. With their operationalisation a population of 25 million across 648 local bodies will get access to safe and equitable fecal sludge management. The creation and initial operationalisation of the mechanisms, including government orders and capacity-building efforts, was presented at FSM6 conference. This paper builds upon that and presents the critical regulatory and capacity challenges to brought to the fore from ground-level implementation; which include field and technical support and one-on-one interactions with the LBs