Uttar Pradesh has achieved yet another major milestone under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II with all 95, 767 villages in the State i.e., 100% villages achieving ODF Plus status under Phase II of the Mission. An ODF Plus village is one which has sustained its Open Defecation Free (ODF) status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. As on date, 4.4 lakh (75%) villages across the nation have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the SBM-G phase II goals by 2024-25

Uttar Pradesh picked up momentum in current financial year, as on 1^st January 2023, the State had only 15,088 villages that had been declared ODF Plus. Over a short period of just 9-month, the State mobilize the efforts for achieving ODF Plus in a mission mode. Over 80,000 villages achieved ODF Plus status in last 9 months and this accelerated pace resulted in timebound achievement of ODF Plus. Capacity building at Panchayat level and on site handholding, were key factors for rapid implementation.

Of the 95, 767 ODF Plus villages, 81,744 villages are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for Solid Waste Management or Liquid Waste Management, 10,217 villages are ODF Plus Rising villages with arrangements for both Solid Waste Management and Liquid Waste Management and 3,806 villages are ODF Plus Model villages. Overall, so far, 15,649 villages have arrangements for solid waste management, and 95,048 villages have arrangements for liquid waste management.

This achievement of 100 % is marked during ongoing Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) – 2023 campaign. SHS is celebrated annually from 15th September to 2nd October under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Drinking Water & Sanitation Department, Ministry of Jal Shakti. This year, so far, approximately 88 lakhs people have participated in mass mobilization & Shramdaan, accelerating the achievement of ODF Plus status. The ODF Plus achievement was celebrated with facilitation of Gram- Panchayats which had done exemplary work and declared their Gram Panchayats as a ODF Plus Model. Across states Gram Pradhan, Gram Panchayat Secretary, Panchayat Sahayak & Safai Karmis were awarded at State level, motivating them to contribute further to Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen). The awardees include 60 best Gram Panchayats, for their contribution on making GPs as a Model; 75 Safai Karmis (one from each 75 districts) were also felicitated for their contributions. Activities such as “Promoting Seeing is Believing through display of Live Models of Solid Waste, Liquid Waste, RRC and Model village, for learning and scaling up; and ‘Educating through entertainment’, Cultural programmes by involving local/ folk media groups like magic show, puppet show on Garbage free theme was organized on that day.

 

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

The achievement of 100% ODF Plus villages is a significant milestone, as State has moved from ODF to ODF Plus in Swachh Bharat Mission Phase II. The major components of the Phase-II of SBM (G) are Sustaining Open Defecation Free Status (ODF-S), Solid (Bio-degradable) Waste Management, Plastic Waste Management (PWM), Liquid Waste Management (LWM), Faecal Sludge Management (FSM), GOBARdhan, Information Education and Communication/Behavior Change Communication (IEC/BCC) and Capacity Building. The SBM-G program has been instrumental in improving the health and well-being of millions of people across the country.

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Anubhav Singh

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