Open Defecation

As India marks nine years of the Swachh Bharat Mission on Gandhi Jayanti, a new survey has found that most Indians feel that there has been no improvement in the state of public toilets and that they would rather visit a commercial establishment to use toilets instead of a public facility. The survey by community social media platform LocalCircles also found that even in cities like Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru, going to public toilets, unless managed by reputed organisations like Sulabh International, is generally a nightmare The survey was carried out in 341 districts of India to find out the state of public toilets and understand what people do when they are outside and need to use a toilet. The survey received over 39,000 responses. About 42 per cent urban Indians believe availability of public toilets in their city/district has improved but 52 per cent of respondents indicated that there has been no improvement in the state of public toilets. The survey said 37 per cent of the .

In a significant milestone for Jammu and Kashmir under the Swachh Bharat Mission, all of its 6,650 villages have been declared open defecation-free plus model, officials said here on Saturday. This achievement is a significant milestone as it goes beyond constructing and use of toilets towards cleanliness by managing greywater and solid waste in each village, they said. The union territory has declared all its 6,650 villages across 285 blocks in 20 districts as open defecation-free (ODF) Plus Model, they said. J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said the achievement underlines coordinated efforts of all to improve the quality of life for citizens. "Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 100 per cent J-K villages have achieved the ODF Plus status in 'Model' category under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) phase-II. This achievement underlines coordinated efforts of all to improve the quality of life for citizens," Sinha said in a post on X. For a village to achieve the O

95,767 villages in Uttar Pradesh have received their open defecation-free (ODF) status under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen

An ODF Plus village is one which has sustained its Open Defecation Free status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems

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. 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, Shekhawat 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. Of these, Andaman and ...

Kerala has been bestowed with the 'Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus' status by the Centre for making all the villages in the state meet the parameters prescribed under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the state government said on Sunday. The southern state gained the coveted status as all the villages have been equipped with modern facilities for sanitation and waste disposal as per the parameters set by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, a release issued by the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP) said. Kerala is targeting to achieve 100 per cent ODF Model status by December 2023 and is expected to become the first state in the country to achieve that goal, it said. According to the KSWMP release, the criteria for declaring a village as ODF Plus includes its sustained ODF status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. "The focussed efforts by all villages and grama panchayats in meeting the yardsticks in this regard helped Kerala attain the status

According to the release, to date, over 296,000 villages have declared themselves ODF Plus

Over 1.8 lakh villages in the country have achieved Open Defecation Free-Plus (ODF+) status so far and the government will attempt to double the number this year, an official of the Drinking Water and Sanitation department said. Areas working towards sustainability of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status to ensure proper maintenance of toilet facilities are categorised as Swachh Bharat Mission ODF+. SBM Grameen Phase-II was launched in February 2020 with the aim to ensure that all villages in the country can declare themselves as ODF Plus by the end of 2024. "In SBM Grameen Phase-II, we are also working for comprehensive sanitation in our villages, through effective solid and liquid waste management. This includes biodegradable waste management, plastic waste management, greywater management and fecal sludge management, leading to villages becoming ODF+," Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, told PTI. "We are encouraging generation of both biogas and ..

Nearly 8 years after the launch, Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G) recorded another milestone -- of 1,01,462 villages declaring themselves as ODF (open defecation free) plus

In 2014, NDA govt had set a target of making rural areas open defecation free by October 2, 2019 by launching the Swachh Bharat Mission to "provide access to toilet facilities to all rural households"

Modi said the recent 'HowdyModi' event in the US has become a talking point among world leaders he met after that programme

The village heads will also visit the Statue of Unity built in dedication to Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Narmada district, the deputy chief Minister said

Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria Saturda released a 'Way Forward' document on the ODF Plus programme

Goa, as one of the most well-known tourist destinations in the world, officials feel that there is an urgent need to meet the challenge in the state

To rid us of our adherence to open defecation will need communicating that all Indians are created equal and that the practice is anti-national. Can our politicians measure up to this challenge?

The scheme is part of the 'Marathwada Hagandari Mukt Sangram