SWACHH BHARAT MISSION GRAMEEN (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Government Scheme)

Context: Recently, the country reached another significant milestone in Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) as 75% of its villages achieved the ODF Plus status.

• Top Performing States/UTs are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, D&N Haveli, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Tripura

  Open Defecation Free (ODF)

  • The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has adopted a uniform definition of ODF (open defecation-free) :

  o No visible feces was found in the environment/village; and

  o Every house as well as public/community institutions uses safe technology options for the disposal of feces.

  • ODF +: ODF+ focuses on toilets with water, maintenance, and hygiene
  • ODF plus village: It is defined as “a village which sustains its ODF status, ensures solid and liquid waste management, and is visually clean.”
  • ODF ++: Focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management.

  Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G)

  • Launched: In 2014
  • Nodal Ministry:  Ministry of Jal Shakti
  • Aim: To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to focus on sanitation.
  • Implementation: As a nationwide campaign/Janandolan which aimed at eliminating open defecation in rural areas.
  • SBM-G Phase-I: The rural sanitation coverage in the country at the time of the launch of SBM (G) on 2nd October 2014 was reported as 38.7%.

  o More than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed since the launch of the mission, as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves ODF as of 2nd October 2019.

  • SBM(G) Phase-II: It emphasizes the sustainability of achievements under Phase I and provides adequate facilities for Solid/Liquid & Plastic Waste Management (SLWM) in rural India.