New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has claimed that there had been marginal increase in the rural sanitation coverage in Odisha and large parts of the state are still lagging behind in toilet coverage.
A recent data furnished in the Lok Sabha by the ministry July 26 relating to the national figures on Swachh Bharat coverage reveals that Odisha still has sanitation coverage below 60 per cent and only two districts from the state have been declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) districts.
The statement submitted by the Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Uma Bharti, in the Lower House of the Parliament revealed that Odisha is home to only two ODF districts while a total of 1,1509 villages from Odisha were declared ODF villages.
The national data shows that while many states have been declared ODF and many are showing remarkably higher toilet coverage, Odisha still has a total of 58.74 per cent toilet coverage in rural households. Till date only Jharsuguda and Deogarh in the state have been declared ODF districts.
Uma Bharti also said, “Under SBM (Gramin), the focus has shifted from mere construction of toilets to achieving ODF communities and sustainable use of toilets through collective behavioural change among people. There is a renewed focus on Information Education and Communication under the programme in order to create awareness and behavior change up to grass root levels.”
PNN