Gujarat, Mizoram and Uttrakhand are likely to declare themselves 'Open Defecation Free' by March next year, taking the total number of states to have achieved the status to six, a senior government official said today.
"Three states --- Gujarat, Mizoram, Uttrakhand --- are likely to declare themselves ODF by March next year. Haryana can also achieve this milestone in this period," a senior government official said.
Three states --- Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim --- have declared themselves ODF so far.
Besides this, over 1.14 lakh villages, 61 districts, 637 blocks, 50,492 gram panchayats have also become ODF so far. And by March next year the government is aiming to make 175 districts free from open defecation.
As a result, the sanitation coverage in the country has improved 56.44 per cent from 42 per cent, when the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was started.
The Centre has set a target of making entire country ODF by 2019.
Swachh Bharat Mission was officially launched on October 2, 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to eradicate open defecation by 2019 from the country.
The programme is divided into two categories--Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
In the rural areas, the scheme requires engagement with community and facilitation--both of which are picking up slowly, they added.
The Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation is looking at the rural part of the scheme, and the Urban Development Ministry is implementing the programme in urban areas.
For the rural programme, the government is working on capacity building of key stakeholders such as collectors, zila panchayats among others.
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