A total of 141 towns in 7 States have claimed to have become Open Defecation Free including 100 in Maharashtra and these claims are under verification. The progress of Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas was presented by the Ministry officials at a review meeting taken by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu. Shri Naidu, who has been regularly reviewing progress of the Mission asked the officials to ensure effective follow up action with States for realizing the objectives of the Mission.
As per the reports received from States so far in the Ministry, a total of 974 cities and towns will eliminate Open Defecation next year. These include-Andhra Pradesh-all 112 urban areas, Kerala- all 59, Gujarat-170 of 195, Uttar Pradesh-85 of 648, Madhya Pradesh-68 of 364, Karnataka-50 of 220, Chattisgarh-42 of 166, Assam-40 of 88, Telangana-37 of 68, Rajasthan-34 of 185, Tamil Nadu-25 of 721 and Jammu & Kashmir-22 of 86.
As per the Protocol for third party verification and certification of ODF status- each Ward and City first self-declares as ODF and on intimation of the same by the respective Urban Local Body or State, the Ministry gets such claims verified in 30 days based on assessment of service level status (construction and availability of household, community and public toilets) and independent observations by the third party. For each Zone in a city/town, a minimum of five places will be inspected i.e a slum, school, public area like market or religious place, residential area and bus stand/railway station. For a city with a population of less than five lakhs, a minimum of 9 places shall be inspected and 17 places for a city with more than five lakh population.
A Ward or City can be notified/declared as ODF if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found to be defecating in the open.
