Over one hundred districts in the country have been declared open defecation free and over 1.7 lakh villages have acquired this tag so far. The figures were announced by Union minister for drinking water and sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar at the launch of the Swachh Shakti Saptaah in Haryana on Wednesday.
While these are milestone figures, they are still far from the ultimate goal of making India completely free of open defecation by 2020, under the Modi government's ambitious Swachch Bharat Mission. There are 707 districts in the country, and over six lakh villages, which means that even the half way mark is quite far.
The government, meanwhile, is making the construction of toilets a jan andolan or people's movement. The most recent initiative is to highlight the role of women in the mission and recognise their leadership. The week-long celebrations will culminate at an event in Gujarat, where Prime minister Narendra Modi is expected to address 6,000 women sarpanches on their contribution and the work they can do to stop open defecation.
So far three states— Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh—have declared themselves open defecation free. Haryana hopes to get the tag by the end of the year. Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Punjab are also hopeful of achieving the target this year.
Even though the ODF status is largely about the construction of toilets in homes and public spaces, their usage is a different matter altogether. The government is running parallel campaigns for this, given that it requires a shift in mindset.
