New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ With this as a mantra, India is fighting a battle for a clean nation for about three years now. Since the inception of the Government’s mega Clean India drive – the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a lot has been achieved. According to the latest progress report announced by the government, around 3 lakh villages have been successful in eradicating open defecation. Total sanitation coverage in India has reached all time high of 75% as compared to mere 39% in 2014.
Congratulating everyone on the success, Secretary Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Param Iyer said,
Congratulations to Team @swachhbharat We just crossed the 3 lakh ODF Villages milestone! pic.twitter.com/60ZzgbazBD
— Param Iyer (@paramiyer_) December 30, 2017
Till now, the government has been successful in building more than 6 crore individual house hold latrines in rural and urban parts of the country and has declared nine states and two Union territories free from the practice of open defecation – Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Daman and Diu.
In year 2017, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has picked up great speed, over 1.79 crore toilets have been built in rural areas which is the second highest in a fiscal year ever since Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched in 2014. While, in urban areas, little over 16 lakh IHHLs have been constructed in this year which is more than 8 and 10 lakh in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Also Read: Swachh Year-Ender 2017: India’s Sanitation Coverage Doubled, Behaviour Change Still A Point Of Focus
Till October, the sanitation coverage was at 70%, in just two months’ time, the total sanitation coverage has gone up by 5%. The achievement is big; the government’s ambitious plan is to achieve 100% sanitation by October 2, 2019.
With such a progress, meeting this goal will not be a formidable challenge for the ministry.
