Historic change in rural India, says Shekhawat

'Rise in rural sanitation access to 100% is world's largest behavioural change'

- Puja Das & Saurav Anand

India is committed to achieve 100% cleanliness and also the open defecation-free (ODF) status under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reaffirmed in an address at the Mint Sustainability Summit on Wednesday. “As we continue to progress in the direction of transforming cleanliness into a sustainable system, today we are witnessing the biggest change in rural areas in the history of independent India," the minister said in his address, which was delivered on a video link from Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

“In the field of cleanliness, our steps have not stopped. After the success of Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-1, we are moving forward with its Phase-2 with even bigger goals," the minister said. India has achieved ODF Plus status in 415,622 out of 591,805 villages so far. In SBM Phase 2, the country will soon reach the target of 100%, he added.