ANNOUNCEMENTS
Open defecation has been declining all over the world following UN’s pledge of eradicating the practice by 2030. India has been working against open defecation since 1986 with the introduction of the Central Rural Sanitation Programme and the constant evolving nature of the campaign and implementation techniques borne fruit to the most recent “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” or the “Clean India Mission”. Under this campaign, villages and urban local bodies all over the country are inspected under four level of certification viz. ODF, ODF+, ODF++ and Water+. In the span of the study, 1869 ULBs were assessed under ODF+ and ODF++, from which 439 ULBs failed which amounts to a significant 23.4 % of total ULBs that applied. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where significant ULBs are failing under this study, are evident enough to suggest how there is something missing in the implementation of the campaign. In this paper, the history of sanitation in India, the current certification process, and the current open defecation status of states of India has been looked into along with gaps in the implementation and suggestions towards the same.
Keywords: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan; Open Defecation; Certification; WASH; Implementation.
