Rural sanitation coverage increases to 95%

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, in coordination with the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Maharashtra, on October 27, 2018, organised the first in a series of regional review meetings on Sustainable Sanitation.

The regional review was held at Nagpur and attended by State Secretaries incharge of rural sanitation, Mission Directors, and other State Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) officials including representatives from 25 districts from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.

The review meeting was chaired by Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, joined by  Akshay Rout, Director General (Special Projects), Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shyamlal Goyal, Addl. Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, Hiranya Borah, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Samir Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Quality and sustainability are a parallel focus in the Swachh Bharat Mission implementation mechanism, especially now that  majority of districts across the country have achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. Aimed at a more focused drive on the theme of sustainability and improving quality of the work done on the ground, the review meeting covered a range of quality and sustainability indicators to improve infrastructure and data quality and to improve communication for quality initiatives. In his address, Akshay Rout shared that as the Swachh Bharat Mission enters its fifth and final year of implementation, this year is a clear milestone for the janandolan to move ahead with a new target to ensure the cleanliness of the country.

The States also made presentations on their status of sustainability indicators such as geotagging, ODF verifications, Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities, etc., followed by discussions on how to move forward. In his closing remarks, Iyer lauded the efforts already undertaken by the States and said that a focus on quality and sustainability is what will help in securing a Swachh and Swasth future for India.

The regional meeting follows the official kick-start of the workshop in New Delhi on October 24, 2018, where the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation interacted with State SBM officials to review and communicate the various message of the Quality and Sustainability Mission. The series of sustainability regional workshops, which will take place across the country, have been scheduled within the next month to cover all States and Union Territories. Current locations include Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Nainital (Uttarakhand), Guwahati (Assam) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

As of October 2018, rural sanitation coverage has increased from 39%, at the launch of the SBM in 2014, to 95%. With rural India having constructed 8.7 crore individual household toilets, 5.15 lakh villages, 530 districts and 25 States and Union Territories have been declared ODF, according to a PIB release.