Meeting a target of building toilets in over 9000 panchayats and 191 cities spread across 33 districts, Rajasthan has been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). A total 1,04,17,968 toilets have been built in rural Rajasthan under the SBM since October 2, 2014.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided on a deadline of October 2 2019, the 150 birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, for India to be ODF.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had advanced the deadline for the state to March 31 and the state managed to keep it up.
Speaking to DNA Naveen Mahajan Secretary and Commissioner, Panchayat Raj Department confirmed, “Rajasthan is declared ODF. It is a landmark achievement. Rural Rajasthan has 100% individual household coverage. Verification will be completed within the next few months.”
The toilets have been built under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) which was launched on October 2, 2014. The construction of toilets is based on a baseline survey of 2012. The mission is divided into two parts - urban and rural.
Declaration of ODF is just the first step, the biggest challenge the Rajasthan government faces is to be verified ODF and then sustain it. As per SBM experts the verification is done through a threestage process. First is intra district where the district verifies its claim, second is inter district where a team from another district checks on the claims and finally the state verification wherein a team from the state machinery verifies claim. The ODF declared district is then certified as ODF verified district. Government officials associated with SBM believe the verification process could take a few months.
This is just enough time for the Vasundhara Raje government of Rajasthan before its present term comes to an end. It is believed to be the reason for Raje advancing the deadline for ODF declaration to March 31 2018. Achieving the ODF targets is also a political achievement. Especially as Rajasthan goes to polls at year end.
With being declared ODF, Rajasthan has improved its standing among the other states across the country. States like Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh have been declared ODF. On the other hand Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are yet to make any cognizable achievements in this direction.
How the rural areas of states fare
- Rajasthan is the 15th state to be declared ODF in the country. Punjab became ODF on 1st April, followed by Rajasthan.
- Other states that are ODF include Himachal P, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Daman&Diu, D&N Haveli, Chandigarh, A&N Islands, Uttarakhand and Punjab;
- Next in line to be declared ODF are Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra with 99.99% and 99.97% coverage respectively.
What are the phases of ODF
- Construction of toilets
- Declaration of ODF
- Verification of ODF
- Sustaining ODF
