MDWS accelerates efforts to implement ‘Swachh Bharat’ Mission

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has accelerated its efforts on coordinating with States to achieve an open-defecation free status for all districts in the country. This is a part of the Ministry’s activities under the Swachh Bharat Mission, a flagship programme of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Through the programme, the government is aiming to achieve an Open-Defecation Free (ODF) India by October 2nd, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Under this accelerated effort, the Minister of State, Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry, Ram Kripal Yadav, launched the Water Week in Mohali, Punjab earlier this week. On the occasion, the Minister praised the work being done by Punjab State Government with people’s involvement in ensuring an Open Defecation Free (ODF) Punjab.
In the third edition of a series of meetings that the Ministry is holding with State Governments to support implementation in the field, the Secretary, Parameswaran Iyer, on Friday met the Chief Minister of Telangana and Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in Hyderabad. The Ministry also reached out to District Collectors of the two States via video conferencing to understand issues on the ground and to discover how the Union Government can help the States achieve the goal of an ‘ODF India by 2019’.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, appreciated the Union Government’s step of reaching out to support the States and expressed his government’s commitment to making at least 3 districts in Andhra Pradesh ODF by the end of the year.