Over 9.5 crore toilets built across India since launch of Swachh Bharat Mission : Survey

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Economic Survey 2018-19, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 4, 2019, has outlined the progress made in the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) initiated in 2014 to achieve universal sanitation coverage by October 2, 2019.

This flagship programme is one of the largest cleanliness drive as well as an attempt to effect behavioural change in the world. Through SBM, 99.2 per cent of rural India has been covered in the last four years. Since October 2014, over 9.5 crore toilets have been built across the country and 5,64,658 villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). As on  June 14, 2019, 30 States/UTs are 100 per cent covered with Individual household Latrine (IHHL). The SBM has significantly improved health outcomes.

The SBM has helped reduce diarrhoea and malaria among children below five years, still birth, and low birth weight (new born with weight less than 2.5 kgs). This effect is particularly pronounced in districts where IIHL coverage was lower is 2015. SBM is one of the largest cleanliness drives in the world and has brought in a remarkable transformation and traceable health benefits. The focus under this mission has not just been on construction of toilets but also on effecting a behavioral change in the communities. The result has been substantial gains in health parameters as shown by various studies.

A major focus of SBM has been on making villages Open Defecation Free (ODF). The number of ODF village have significantly increased since 2015. As on May 29, 2019,  5,61,014 villages (93.41 per cent), 2,48,847 Gram Panchyats (96.20 per cent), 6,091 blocks (88.60 per cent), and 618 districts (88.41 per cent) have been declared ODF, according to a PIB release.