In what should give a big boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet Swachchh Bharat Mission (SBM), Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are on their way to attain open defecation free (ODF) status.
As per the latest Government data till February 19, 2016, over 99.90 per cent households in Sikkim have constructed toilets followed by 97 per cent in Kerala and 86 per cent in Himachal Pradesh. With this pace, they are likely to attain the ODF status much ahead of the target date of October 14, 2019, envisaged under the SBM.
Overall, as per the data submitted by States/Union Territories on online Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)the percentage of rural households defecating in open came down by seven percent since the SBM was launched on October 2, 2014 (from 57.95 percent to 50.05 percent).
While Sikkim, which had 7.83 per cent households defecating in open in 2014 brought down the percentage to 10 as on February 19, 2016, many North-east States like Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur too have performed well in respect of construction of toilets since the launch of the drive.
In the West, Maharashtra and Gujarat have made some achievements in this regard. Down South, the States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala too are performing well.
However, many States like Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh continue to remain a challenge for the Mission.
Open defecation has been a major cause of concern in India. As per the UN's recent estimation, up to 59.5 crore people in India do not have access to toilets, resulting in the generation of 65,000 tonnes of faeces every day.
The matter echoed in Parliament too recently when answering a question in the lok Sabha, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ram KripalYadav said: "As per Joint Monitoring Programme Report, 2015, 59.43 per cent of people defecating in open in the world are from India."
Modi during the launch of the scheme on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi had called for eradication of the practice of open defecation before 2019 and made it a cornerstone of his administration's policies.