NEW DELHI: Nearly 95 lakh toilets have been constructed in rural areas during the first year of the Swachh Bharat mission, Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh today said as he emphasized on the need for innovative thinking to stop the old practice of open defecation.
Launching a coffee-table book on 'sanitation champions' from different parts of the country, the Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Sanitation and Drinking Water said that many states were doing exceptionally well in setting up toilets in rural areas and they were likely to achieve targets in the next 1-2 years.
"The states of Chattisgarh, MP, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya have been at the forefront of the mission for construction of rural areas to stop open defecation," he said.
"We are committed to driving a pan-India mass movement toward improved sanitation and this is only possible through the collaborative efforts of the people of India, he said.
Changing age-old attitudes toward open defecation is critical in attaining 'Swachh Bharat' goals and the sanitation champions are heroes in paving the way for progress, said the minister.
Nearly 95 lakh toilets, against the target of 60-65 lakh, have been constructed in the rural areas during the first year of the 'Swachh Bharat' mission, the Minister said.
The book titled 'An Open Mind' highlights the success stories of 13 sanitation champions whose enadevaours resulted in hundred per cent toilets in their villages.
Some of the sanitation champions including Sanjana, a transgender, Kalbelia tribal Madan Nath, Rashida Rashida Ravani, Gram Panchayat Secretary Motiram and his differently abled assoicate Mithilesh, narrated their success stories.
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