Swachh Bharat Success: UN Report Reveals Dramatic Decrease In Open Defecation, Better Access To Drinking Water In India

According to a report released by United Nations (UN) organisations yesterday (18 June), there has been a massive reduction in open defecation among households in India, with the country accounting for nearly two-thirds of some 650 million people who have given up the practice in the 2000-2017 time frame, reports The Hindu.

Moreover, the Joint Monitoring Programme report by the UNICEF and WHO percentage of people who can access a protected drinking water source which is less than 30 minutes from them has also risen substantially from 79 per cent to 93 per cent in the said time period.

One area where progress has been lacking however, is piped water, with the percentage household having access to such a facility remaining at around 44 per cent since 2000. Interestingly, the BJP-led NDA government in its second term has decided to majorly focus on the said issue of piped water, under its scheme ‘Nal Se Jal’.

Efforts against open defecation had also been bolstered from 2014 onwards under the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, with the aim to declare the whole country open defecation free by 2 October 2019.