95% of villages declared open defecation free plus till now: Govt

PTI New Delhi: About 95 per cent of villages have declared themselves "open defecation free plus" till now, the Jal Shakti ministry said on Thursday. The "ODF Plus" status goes beyond the construction of toilets, focusing on overall sanitation and solid-liquid waste management. Among the states, Uttar Pradesh leads with 93,947 villages attaining ODF Plus status, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 50,580 and Maharashtra with 37,327 villages.

Smaller states and Union Territories, including Ladakh and Lakshadweep, have also made strides, achieving ODF Plus in all their villages. Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V Somanna said the Swachh Bharat Mission- Grameen (SBM-G) has reached a significant milestone, with 5,60,897 villages declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus as of Tuesday. There are a total of 5,86,707 villages in the country. The ODF Plus villages are classified into "Aspiring," "Rising," and "Model" categories. For instance, Madhya Pradesh showed significant results in the "Model" category, with over 49,000 villages reaching this advanced stage of cleanliness. The milestone complements other achievements under SBMG, such as the construction of over 11.76 crore Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) since October 2014.

In response to another question, Somanna said more thatn 55,000 events were conducted across states and Union Territories and the number of participants exceeding 41 lakh. "Over 1.6 lakh Community Sanitary Complexes were assessed for functionality, covering more than 70% of existing CSCs. Over 3.6 lakh new Individual Household Latrines were sanctioned. Thousands of grassroots events, including Ratri Chaupals and sanitation drives, inspired mass participation," he said.