Merely constructing individual toilets in all households will not entitle a village to get Open Defecation Free (ODF) status under the Swachchh Bharat Mission, the Centre has told the States. In fact, the Union Water and Sanitation Ministry which is entrusted with the task to implement the mission in the rural areas in the country has made it clear to the States that the ODF tag will be conferred on only those villages which guarantee overall safe sanitation like no visible faeces besides safe hygiene services for all.
The Ministry, months after launch of the mission that aims to make the country ODF by 2019, has for the first time come out with a uniform definition of ODF for all villages to ensure that there is a clear focused effort in achieving the goal. The aim is to trigger behavioural change among the villagers towards usage of toilets and cleanliness as a whole rather than just constructing toilets which were at times were being used as godowns and temples.
The definition has come after intense deliberations with various stakeholders last month wherein it was felt that lack of a uniform definition may lead to each State having their own understanding of ODF, thereby leading to differential focus in reaching the common goal of ODF for country as a whole.
As per the definition, “ODF is the termination of faecal-oral transmission, defined by no visible faeces found in the environment/village and every household as well as public community institutions using safe technology option for disposal of faeces,” said Joint Secretary Saraswati Prasad in a letter to the States. A senior official explained that safe technology option means no contamination of surface soil, ground water or surface water.
He pointed out: “It is not about the number of toilets constructed but their quality, safety, usage and maintenance to break the fecal oral transmission while also guaranteeing privacy and convenience. Moreover, without hand washing and personal hygiene dimension, this cannot be possible and there is no point talking about ODF.
“Also, there is no point counting toilets if we omit the elderly, disabled people, menstruating women and girls or pregnant women and caregivers in the race for swachchhata as many groups and individuals will be left out defeating the purpose,” he added.