Karnataka Aims To Go Open Defecation Free On March 8, International Women’s Day

New Delhi: On March 8 which is celebrated as International Women’s Day, Karnataka hopes to give women a special gift – a open defecation free state by achieving 100 % sanitation coverage, said Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Parameswaran Iyer at a meeting in Kalaburagi in Karnataka to evaluate the progress of the swachh mission in the state. According to Parameswaran Iyer the state is making good progress and hopefully will accomplish the target soon. He said,

“Great to be here in Gulbarga today for important regional workshop on @swachhbharat . Karnataka making good strides towards #ODF status, hopefully fairly soon.”

Karnataka has already achieved 86 per cent open defecation-free status.  On the rural front, the state has shown tremendous progress from day one. The sanitation coverage has increased from mere 39.8% in 2014 to 73.94% in 2017.  Till date, more than 34 lakh toilets have been constructed in the rural belt, whereas, in urban areas, around 1 lakh toilets have been built.

Some of the major districts that have achieved the ODF status are Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Gadag, Kodagu, Mandya, Shivamogga and Udupi.

Moreover, taking inspiration from Delhi’s Pink Toilet, the Karnataka Government has decided to install pink toilet across the state soon. The pink toilet is designed especially for women of Karnataka, and will have features like sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators for women (napkins will be available at marginal cost), private area for child care inside toilet campus, feedback mechanism to share inputs about experience of usage and the toilet location in app.