In yet another remarkable achievement under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) initiative, 50% of the total villages in India have acquired the ODF Plus status under phase II of the mission. An ODF Plus village is that village that successfully sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, in addition to implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. Till date, more than 2.96 lakh villages have declared themselves ODF Plus, which can be seen as a very positive development towards realising the SBM-G phase II goals by 2024-25.
The Swachh Bharat Mission has been in operation for nine years, and reaching the milestone of 50% ODF Plus villages is a noteworthy achievement for India. This accomplishment signifies that India has progressed beyond solely constructing and using toilets to attain total cleanliness, that is, from ODF to ODF Plus.
The states with the highest percentage of ODF Plus villages are Telangana with 100%, Karnataka with 99.5%, Tamil Nadu with 97.8%, and Uttar Pradesh with 95.2%, while the top performing small states are Goa with 95.3% and Sikkim with 69.2%. Among the Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Havelli & Daman Diu, and Lakshadweep have achieved 100% ODF Plus Model villages. These states and union territories have made significant strides in achieving the ODF Plus status, and their contributions have played a crucial role in reaching this milestone.
Swachh Bharat mission and SBM-G
In order to speed up the achievement of universal sanitation coverage and draw attention to sanitation issues, the Prime Minister of India introduced the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2nd, 2014. The mission aimed to have all villages, Gram Panchayats, Districts, States, and Union Territories in India become “open-defecation free” (ODF) by constructing over 100 million toilets in rural India by October 2nd, 2019, which marked the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. To maintain the open defecation-free status, ensure that no one is left behind, and guarantee access to solid and liquid waste management facilities, the Mission had transitioned to Phase II of SBMG, called ODF-Plus. Under Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), ODF Plus activities aim to reinforce ODF behaviours and concentrate on providing measures for the safe disposal of solid and liquid waste in villages.
Different categories of ODF Plus status
Out of the total of 296,928 ODF Plus villages, 208,613 villages are considered ODF Plus Aspiring, as they have implemented measures for managing either solid waste or liquid waste. Meanwhile, 32,030 villages are categorized as ODF Plus Rising, as they have made arrangements for both solid waste and liquid waste management. The remaining 56,285 villages have achieved the highest category, known as ODF Plus Model, which means they have sustained their open defecation-free status, have arrangements for both solid and liquid waste management, and are visually clean, with no signs of litter or stagnant wastewater. Moreover, these villages also display ODF Plus Information, Education & Communication (IEC) messages. As of now, 165,048 villages have established solid waste management systems, 239,063 villages have implemented liquid waste management measures, 457,060 villages have minimal stagnant water, and 467,384 villages have minimal litter.
WhatsApp us