Odisha Targets To Achieve 100% Toilet Coverage By 2018 End

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has made visible progress in construction of household toilets in rural area under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Now, target has been set to achieve 100 percent toilet coverage by the end of 2018, informed chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Thursday.

In a review meeting held at State Secretariat here in this regard, the chief secretary highlighted that the household coverage of toilets had crossed 55 percent from a mere 10 percent in the October, 2014 and present average coverage in these districts was around 74 percent.

He directed the district collectors to take personal lead in the Mission involving people from district water and sanitation mission, members from panchayat bodies, self-help groups (SHGs), anganwadi workers, ASHA karmies and voluntary organizations.

Padhi further asked the collectors that their reports should unambiguously reflect the ground realities and a strict monitoring system should be put in place for sustaining the ODF status once it is achieved.

Taking a district-wise review of the progress, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India, Parameswaran Iyer applauded the focus of the districts in behavioural change of the people in SBM campaign. He said that Odisha has gathered momentum in the mission campaign and it is right time to push ahead with more speed.

Participating in the discussion, principal secretary, pachnayati raj department Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh said, “Sufficient fund provision has been made for the Mission. Collectors are being extended all required administrative and technical support. Since ground work has been done, all districts should now be able to achieve the physical target within October, 2018.”

Mission Director Roopa Mishra outlined the issues and collectors from respective districts placed the updates for discussion.

Available data shows that, 45, 03,128 households (55 percent) in Odisha have toilets. Jagatsignhpur, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Sundargarh have crossed 60 percent coverage. Another 15 districts have crossed 50 percent coverage. Around 3, 700 villages have reached the level of 100 percent coverage of household toilets. At present, the verification is on and it will be declared ODF within a month. The geo-tagging of the toilets have also picked up significantly. Around 73 percent of the toilets completed so far have been verified and geo-tagged, the data revealed.