The country has achieved yet another major milestone under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II with three-fourth of the total villages in the country i.e., 75% villages achieving ODF Plus status under Phase II of the Mission. 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. As on date, more than 4.43 lakh villages have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the SBM-G phase II goals by 2024-25.
The top performing States/UTs which have achieved 100% ODF Plus villages are – Andaman & Nicobar Islands, D&N Haveli, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Tripura. Among States/ UTs – Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu, Jammu & Kashmir and Sikkim have 100% ODF Plus Model villages. These States & UTs have shown remarkable progress in achieving the ODF Plus status, and their efforts have been instrumental in reaching this milestone.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has accorded the highest priority to Swachh Bharat Mission since he took charge in 2014 and the entire nation rallied behind the call of the Prime Minister to make ‘Swachhata’ a ‘Jan Andolan’. PM’s vision and mission to make the nation Open Defecation Free by 2019 became a true mass movement and the targets were achieved well before time. PM called this achievement a stepping stone and envisioned moving towards ‘Sampoorna Swachhata’ which includes visible cleanliness and efficacious management and recycling of all waste with the vision of waste to wealth.
Shri Shekhawat further said that based on this vision and mission, SBM-G Phase-II has set the ambitious target of making all villages ODF Plus by 2025. Out of the 4,43,964 ODF Plus villages so far, 2,92,497 villages are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for Solid Waste Management or Liquid Waste Management, 55,549 villages are ODF Plus Rising villages with arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management and 96,018 villages are ODF Plus Model villages. Overall, so far, 2,31,080 villages have arrangements for solid waste management, and 3,76,353 villages have arrangements for liquid waste management.