India to be open defecation-free by 2019: Birender

The Narendra Modi-led government aims to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2, 2019, said Minister of Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchayati Raj Birender Singh. 

Speaking to Millennium Post, Singh said, “The Swachh Bharat Mission is not only confined to toilets. The other crucial areas include management of liquid and solid waste and making drinking water provision. We aim at making India Open Defecation Free (ODF) completely by October 2, 2019, with which we will mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.” He stressed that the NDA government’s achievements in the past two years was 95 per cent more than that of the UPA-II in the corresponding period. 

“Our achievements have exceeded 95 per cent, which is much higher than our own set target. The country needs 8.18 crore toilets, of which we already have 2.37 crore in place. A survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in April indicated that 94.6 per cent of the toilets are functional. This is encouraging. As on March 31, 2016, 13 districts, 178 blocks, 23,045 Gram Panchayats and 54,732 villages have declared themselves as ODF.” 

Since the launch of the mission on October 2, 2014, 176.89 lakh toilets have already been constructed, in addition to 10.89 lakh built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment 

Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as on March 31, 2016. He said one of the major achievements of the Ministry has been under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. 

“During the UPA’s tenure, 73.5-km road was constructed per day; while in 2015-16, we have achieved 100-km per day target. We have been able to construct 46,000-km road in one-and-a-half years. That is a record in itself. In 2016-17, we will be taking this up from 100 km to 130 km per day. For 2017-18 and 2018-19, we plan to increase it to 165 km per day.”

Asked about how the government is tackling drought, he said: “The four key Ministries –  Agriculture, Home, Water Resource and Drinking Water – have been involved in dealing with the situation, which has affected one-fourth of India. I congratulate each drought-hit state for promptly dealing with 

the situation.”

He added: “Modi ji called a meeting of CMs and discussed how their problems could be solved with Central help. When the PM talked about cooperative federalism, the response from most states was positive. There is no dearth of funds to tackle drought. As per the sharing pattern, each state has to contribute 50 per cent. We have sent Rs 1,900 crore to the states. It means that the states have Rs 3,800 crore to fight drought.”