New Delhi: “Today, on World Toilet Day, we reiterate our commitment towards enhancing cleanliness and sanitation facilities across the nation,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of World Toilet Day, which is celebrated globally on November 19 to tackle the open defecation, sanitation and hygiene problems in the world. Highlighting the significant achievements of India’s sanitation coverage which has moved up to 96 per cent today from mere 38 per cent in 2014, PM Modi added, “We in India take pride at the remarkable speed with which sanitation cover has increased in the last four years.”
Currently, in India nearly 9 crore toilets have been constructed, whereas more than 5 lakh villages, 530 districts, 25 states and Union Territories have achieved the open defecation free (ODF) status.
Also Read: World Toilet Day 2018: How India Is Gearing Up For The ‘D-Day’ To Achieve The Dream Of Swachh Bharat
PM Modi also congratulated the swachhagrahis of India who have helped in fulfilling the dream of clean and a healthy nation. He said,
The movement for a cleaner India and ensuring better sanitation facilities is a people’s movement. It is the 130 crore Indians, particularly women and youngsters who have taken the lead in this movement. I congratulate all those working to fulfill the dream of a Swachh Bharat.
Also Read: World Toilet Day 2018: How Women-Friendly Toilets Can Improve Cleanliness And Hygiene In India
View Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Post
Today, on World Toilet Day, we reiterate our commitment towards enhancing cleanliness and sanitation facilities across the nation.
We in India take pride at the remarkable speed with which sanitation cover has increased in the last four years.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 19, 2018
About World Toilet Day 2018
In 2013, the United Nations adopted the day and passed a resolution recognising November 19 as World Toilet Day as an official UN international day. Two years later, UN set a target to ensure everyone has access to a household toilet in the world by 2030.
Every year, World Toilet Day is celebrated with a unique theme, this year the theme for the day is “When nature calls, we have to listen and act.”
The main motive this year is to educate people and highlight nature-based sanitation solutions such as composting toilets so that environment can be saved from becoming an open sewer and toilet systems can be built in harmony with the ecosystems.
How India Is Celebrating The Day
This year, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDW&S) has instituted November 19 as “Swachh Bharat World Toilet Day ” and has started a special ‘World Toilet Day Contest’ from November 9 to November 19, where all districts and states in India have been asked to conduct various sanitation related activities. The aim of the contest being to motivate individuals to do their best in achieving country’s open defecation free targets by October 2, 2019 and to achieve ODF sustainability in the areas that have successfully achieved the ODF status.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
