Bhubaneswar: At a time when most of the states have achieved 100 per cent targets under the Swachh Bharat mission (Rural), some of the laggard districts are keeping Odisha away from achieving the sanitation mission target.
The latest data from the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the nodal ministry that was handling the scheme earlier, claimed that some of the districts in Odisha had not been able to even touch 75 per cent coverage due to which the state is far away from their target.
According to the latest data, Kalahandi district is the worst performer with toilet coverage of as low as 59.21 per cent. On the other hand, the Odisha-West Bengal bordering district of Mayurbhanj has reported only 69.99 per cent coverage.
Joining the league of the worst performer in terms of their levels of sanitation coverage are Kendrapara (71.41%), Malkangiri (71.92%) and Bhadrak (75.38%). Overall, the state is said to have 67,20,491 households with toilets.
On the other hand, many districts in the state have achieved 100 per cent target. These include Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Ganjam, Sonepur, Kandhamal and Dhenkanal.
Some of the districts which have improved their sanitation coverage significantly and are about to achieve 100 per cent target are: Sundargarh (96%), Rayagada (91%) and Gajapati (99%).
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Union government has been helping the state with funds and monitoring the scheme’s progress while the state has been given the right to plan its activities to ensure each household gets one toilet and the state becomes Open Defecation Free (ODF).
Under the mission, the sanitation coverage has improved manifold. On October 2, 2014, before the launch of the mission, Odisha had a toilet coverage of only 12 per cent which has now increased up to 85 per cent.