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The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on 31st March lauded the achievement of a fivefold increase in ODF Plus villages in India under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen, Phase – II, in just one year, with more than 40 percent of India’s inhabited villages having declared themselves ODF Plus. The Union Minister, addressing the media, asserted that ODF Plus villages increased from 46,121 villages (7.4%) in March 2022 to 2,38,973 villages (40.21%) in March 2023. Shri Shekhawat further added “Out of these 2,38,973 ODF Plus villages, 1,60,709 are in the ODF Plus Aspiring category, 27,409 in the ODF Plus Rising category and 50,855 are in the ODF Plus Model category”
Shri Shekhawat applauded the States and UTs for having achieved more than 2.38 lakh ODF Plus villages compared to only 46,480 in March 2022. Referring to his recent participation in the UN Water Conference 2023, he said “India has earned recognition around the world and is considered a role model in the field of sanitation. Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen which ensured access to sanitation to the whole of rural India was indeed a game changer”.
On the other hand, the States making remarkable progress were Himachal Pradesh which moved from 18% ODF Plus villages in 2022 to 79% villages in 2023; followed by Madhya Pradesh which moved from 6% ODF Plus villages in 2022 to 62% villages in 2023; and Uttar Pradesh which moved from 2% ODF Plus villages in 2022 to 47% villages in 2023. As far as the North East States were concerned, Mizoram has moved from 6% ODF Plus villages in 2022 to 35% villages in 2023.