Rural Sanitation
To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage in a time bound manner in mission mode, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on 2nd October, 2014, with the goal of achieving an open defecation free (ODF) India by 2nd October 2019, as a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation manages the rural component of the mission – Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), and is the coordinating department for the overall SBM. Since the launch of the SBM, India’s rural sanitation coverage has increased from 39% in 2014 to over 99% as of June 2019, and the Mission is on track to achieve its goal of an ODF India by 2019. Going forward, the SBM will focus on moving from ODF to ODF Plus, through a focus on ODF sustainability and Solid Liquid Waste Management under four major verticals: Greywater management, plastic waste management, bio-degrada