Why in news? The country has achieved yet another major milestone under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) with half of the total villages in the country i.e., 50% villages achieving ODF Plus status under phase II of the Mission.

What is an ODF Plus village ?

• An ODF Plus village is one which has sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and has arrangements for
  • implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems.
  • observes visual cleanliness, i.e., minimal litter,
  • minimal stagnant wastewater,
  • no plastic waste dump in public places; and
  • displays ODF Plus Information, Education & Communication (IEC) messages.
• As on date, more than 2.96 lakh villages have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the SBM-G phase II goals by 2024-25.

Which are the top performing states?

• The top performing states in terms of percentage of ODF Plus villages are – Telangana (100%), Karnataka (99.5%), Tamil Nadu (97.8%) & Uttar Pradesh (95.2%) among the big states
• Goa (95.3%) and Sikkim (69.2%) among small states, are the top performer.
• Among UTs – Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Havelli & Daman Diu and Lakshadweep have 100% ODF Plus Model villages.
• These States & UTs have shown remarkable progress in achieving the ODF Plus status, and their efforts have been instrumental in reaching this milestone.

About Swachh Bharat Grameen Mission

• In order to speed up the achievement of universal sanitation coverage and draw attention to sanitation issues, the Prime Minister of India introduced the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2nd, 2014.
• The mission aimed to have all villages, Gram Panchayats, Districts, States, and Union Territories in India become “open-defecation free” (ODF) by constructing over 100 million toilets in rural India by October 2nd, 2019, which marked the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Between 2014-15 and 2021-22, the Central Government has allocated a total of INR 83,938 crore to Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen The allocation for the year 2023-24 is Rs. 52,137 Crore. In addition to the SBM(G) funds there is clear allocation of 15th FC funds for sanitation.These funds have been utilized to build sanitation assets, promote behavior change, and implement solid and liquid waste management systems.
• The major components of the Phase-II of SBM (G) are Sustaining Open Defecation Free Status (ODF-S), Solid (Bio-degradable) Waste Management, Plastic Waste Management (PWM), Liquid Waste Management (LWM), Faecal Sludge Management (FSM), GOBARdhan, Information Education and Communication/Behavior Change, Communication (IEC/BCC) and Capacity Building.
• The SBM-G program has been instrumental in improving the health and well-being of millions of people across the country. Several reports in the past few years have exhibited the ground impact of SBM-G programme.

Significance

• This year marks 9 years of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The achievement of 50% ODF Plus villages is a significant milestone for India as it is going beyond just construction and use of toilets towards complete and absolute cleanliness i.e., from ODF to ODF Plus.

Recent Initiatives Undertaken By The Department Of Drinking Water And Sanitation Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen

• Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) – Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) is being conducted since 2018 to rank the States and Districts on the basis of their performance on key quantitative and qualitative Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen parameters.
• Retrofit to Twin Pit Abhiyan – To ensure safe disposal of the faecal sludge in rural areas, Retrofit to Twin Pit Campaign was launched – This campaign is focused on safe disposal of faecal sludge through simple on-site methodology i.e. twin pits and retrofitting of toilets, particularly converting single pit toilets to twin-pit toilets and safe management of effluent from septic tanks by construction of additional pit. – As on date nearly 5 lakh retro-fittings have been completed.
• Swachh Iconic Places – Initiative wherein all stakeholders are involved for maintaining cleanliness of 100 places across India that are “iconic” due to their heritage, religious and/or cultural significance i.e. Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Ajmer, Rajasthan, CST, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam, Maikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Meenakshi Temple, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to name a few
• Other activities – Launch of SBM 2.0 Mobile App to capture SLWM progress – Engaging women SHGs in SLWM and providing them with income generation opportunities and – SBM academy – IVRS based (online course)