75 Per Cent Indian Villages Declared Open Defecation Free Plus: Jal Shakti Minister

New Delhi: About 4.4 lakh or 75 per cent of India’s villages have achieved the open defecation free-plus status, Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Saturday (September 23). An ‘ODF Plus’ village is one which has sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. Addressing media persons, Jal Shakti Minister said over 4.43 lakh villages so far have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the goals of the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin by 2024-25.

He added that all villages in 14 states and Union Territories (UT) have achieved ODF Plus Status, of which four have been declared ‘ODF Plus Model’.

The top performing states and UTs which have 100 per cent ODF Plus villages are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Tripura.

Also Read: Over 1.8 Lakhs Villages ODF+, Government Hoping To Double It This Year: Official

Of these, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman Diu, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim have have achieved the ‘ODF Plus Model’ status.

Out of the 4,43,964 ODF Plus villages so far, 2,92,497 villages are ‘ODF Plus Aspiring’ with arrangements for solid waste or liquid waste management systems, 55,549 are ‘ODF Plus Rising’ with arrangements for both solid and liquid waste management and 96,018 are ‘ODF Plus model’.

Overall, 2,31,080 villages so far have arrangements for solid waste management, while 3,76,353 have arrangements for handling liquid waste, he said.

Mr Shekhawat said,

The achievement of 75 per cent ODF Plus villages is a significant milestone for India, as the country has moved from ODF to ODF Plus in Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin Phase II.

The major components of the second phase of SBM (G) are sustaining the ODF status, and having systems in place to handle various waste, including solid or bio-degradable, plastic, liquid, and faecal sludge.

Also Read: Eco-friendly Toilets Can Eradicate Open Defecation And Help Manage Waste Effectively

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoilets are used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.