The country has achieved yet another major milestone under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) with 50 per cent of the total villages in the country achieving ODF Plus status under phase II of the mission.

An ODF Plus village is the one which has sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. As of 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.

The top performing states in terms of percentage of ODF Plus villages are – Telangana (100 per cent), Karnataka (99.5 per cent), Tamil Nadu (97.8 per cent) & Uttar Pradesh (95.2 per cent) among the big states and Goa (95.3 per cent) and Sikkim (69.2 per cent) 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.

Of the 2,96,928 ODF Plus villages, 2,08,613 villages are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for Solid Waste Management or Liquid Waste Management, 32,030 villages are ODF Plus Rising villages with arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management and 56,285 villages are ODF Plus Model villages.

ODF Plus Model village is one which is sustaining its ODF status and has arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management; 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.

So far, 1,65,048 villages have arrangements for solid waste management, 2,39,063 villages have arrangements for liquid waste management, 4,57,060 villages have minimal stagnant water and 4,67,384 villages have minimal litter.

Between 2014-15 and 2021-22, the central government allocated a total of Rs 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 a clear allocation of 15th FC funds for sanitation. These funds have been utilised to build sanitation assets, promote behavior change, and implement solid and liquid waste management systems.