Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry recently celebrated six glorious years of Swachh Bharat Mission, urban and organised a webinar on ‘Swachhata ke 6 saal, Bemisaal. On this occasion, the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced that more than 99% of the cities across India have become Open Defecation Free, ODF. Nevertheless, the survey couldn’t be achieved in time in West Bengal because of the pandemic.

Speaking on the occasion, MoHUA Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, it is time to reaffirm the pledge for Swachhatam Bharat, Swasthatam Bharat – Cleaner and healthier India. He said this spirit of Jan Andolan and Jan Bhagidari is demonstrated by the success of Swachh Survekshan (survey) 2020 in which over 12 crores of citizens have participated. “After the pandemic, if corona allows our colleagues in West Bengal to conduct the surveys, that little gap between 100% and what we have registered on the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi will be made up,” Hardeep Puri.

Open defecation, however, has been a problem mainly in rural areas, and India has claimed that as of last year, all 5,99,963 villages of the country have attained ODF status by the construction of the required toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission-Rural scheme. On Gandhi Jayanti last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the achievement of this target.

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary, Durga Shanker Mishra said, from a position of zero ODF states and cities in 2014, more than 97% of Indian cities have now become ODF. He said, in Swachh Bharat Mission, from a meagre 18% of solid waste processing in 2014, now up to 67% of solid waste is being processed, and more than 77% wards are practising source segregation.