Swachh Bharat: 9 Years Since Mission Launch, 14 States and UTs Have Open Defecation-Free Plus Villages

In the nine years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat or Clean India mission, the country has made great strides in cleanliness and sanitisation. Under one of the world’s largest cleanliness drives, 14 out of 28 states and eight Union Territories achieved 100% Open Defecation-Free (ODF) Plus or ODF Plus status, of which four were recognised as ‘ODF Plus Model’.

Since the launch of the campaign in 2014 until October 1 this year, 75% of Indian villages, or 4.49 lakh villages across the country, have declared themselves ODF Plus, according to the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), as of October 1, 2023, in the 4,49,005 ODF Plus villages, 11,23,41,558 household toilets were constructed and 33,782 household biogas plants were established. As many as 2,32,889 villages have Solid Waste Management systems, 3,82,395 villages have Liquid Waste Management, 2,388 have Plastic Waste Management, and 1,631 have GOBARdhan plants.

The 14 states and UTs with 100% ODF Plus villages are Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Dadra-Nagar Haveli and Daman-Diu, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, and Andaman-Nicobar. Of these, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman Diu and Sikkim have ‘ODF Plus Model’ status.

“Over 4.4 lakh villages so far have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the goals of the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin by 2024-25,” Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said. “The achievement of 75% ODF Plus villages is a significant milestone for India, as the country has moved from ODF to ODF Plus in Swachh Bharat Mission Phase II.”

As per the standard defined by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, an ODF Plus Model village is one which is “sustaining its ODF status and has arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management; and observes visual cleanliness.”

The major components of Phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) are Sustaining Open Defecation Free Status (ODF-S), Solid (bio-degradable) Waste Management, Plastic Waste Management (PWM), Liquid Waste Management (LWM), Faecal Sludge Management (FSM), GOBARdhan, Information Education and Communication/Behaviour Change Communication (IEC/BCC) and Capacity Building.