India will be made open-defecation free (ODF) on October 2,2019, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday. “I am happy andsatisfied to report that India will be made Open Defecation Free on October2nd, 2019, as per the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Sitharaman saidwhile presenting Union Budget 2019-20 in Lok Sabha. Sitharaman also proposed toexpand the Swachh Bharat mission to undertake sustainable solid wastemanagement in every village, harnessing the latest technology.

“9.6 crore toilets have been constructed since October 2,2014. More than 5.6 lakh villages have become open defecation free. We have tobuild on this success. I propose to expand the Swachh Bharat mission toundertake sustainable solid waste management in every village, harnessing thelatest technology,” she said amid desk thumping by MPs of treasury benches.TheEconomic Survey 2018-19 which Sitharaman tabled in Parliament on Thursdayoutlined the progress made in the mission that was initiated in 2014 to achieveuniversal sanitation coverage by October 2, 2019.The Swachh Bharat mission isone of the largest cleanliness drives in the world and is also an attempt toinitiate behavioural change.“Through SBM, 99.2 per cent of rural India has beencovered in the last four years. Since October 2014, over 9.5 crore toilets havebeen built all over the country and 564,658 villages have been declaredopen-defecation free (ODF),” says the Survey.As on 14 June 2019, 30 States andUnion Territories are 100 per cent covered with an individual household latrine(IHHL). The SBM has significantly improved health outcomes,” the report says.Themission has also helped reduce diarrhea and malaria among children below fiveyears, stillbirth and low birth weight (newborn with weight less than 2.5 kgs).

“This effect is particularly, pronounced in districts whereIIHL coverage was lower is 2015,” adds the Survey.