Beats Kerala to the race.
Himachal Pradesh was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) state on Friday, making is the second Indian state to achieve the target after Sikkim, and is now entitled to a Rs. 9,000 crore funding from the World Bank to sustain its campaign.
Himachal Pradesh is the first among bigger Indian states to become ODF under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative aims to make India open defecation free by 2019, reported The Indian Express.
The state government made the declaration today at a public event in Shimla, in the presence of the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda.
With this, Himachal Pradesh has successfully achieved total rural sanitation coverage of 100% in the state, with all 12 out of 12 districts in the state being declared as well as verified as ODF.
“Himachal Pradesh has shown the way to the country and the experience will be shared, not only within the country about strategy adopted to cover the left out households but also internationally. State’s chief secretary and the entire team, including DCs, Divisional commissioners, and BDOs, besides panchayat bodies, need to be complimented for this as ODF was one of the key element of PM’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” said Narendra Singh Tomar.
The achievement entitles the state to receive a World Bank funding under Rupees 9000 crore project to continue the activities to sustain the sanitation campaign. Along with this, the state will receive another funding for the construction of 7500 rural houses.
Himachal Pradesh had a head on competition with southern state Kerala in achieving the target five months in advance. Kerala will be declared ODF on November 1, the official formation day of the state.