FILE-ASHISH KOTHARI
Sikkim has been adjudged the cleanest state while Jharkhand comes last in the list on the condition of sanitation in rural areas of 26 states in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat is ranked 14th.
The results of survey carried out last year by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) was released today by Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar here,
It has listed Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Meghalaya among the top 10 states.
The states which fared poorly in the NSSO study include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir. NDA major BJP is ruling or sharing power in five of the states that have been placed at the bottom of the list.
Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where BJP is sharing power with other parties, have been placed at 15th and 16th positions respectively.
The NSSO conducted the survey in May-June 2015 covering 73,176 households in 3,788 villages across the country. The ranking given on the basis of percentage of households having sanitary toilets and using them (either household or community toilets).
Sikkim scored 98.2 per cent on a scale of 100. Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Meghalaya scored 96.4, 95.8, 90.1, 88.6, 87.9, 86.1, 80.2 and 73 percent respectively.
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir scored 17.7, 19.9, 24.8, 24.8, 27.3, 29.8, 35.8, 39.2, 44.3 and 45.9 per cent respectively.
Tomar, who also heads Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry which released the report, maintained that the survey was conducted in 2015 and “lot of changes have taken place since then” as far as the Swachh Bharat campaign is concerned.
According to latest report compiled by the Ministry on sanitation coverage, as on today, Sikkim has retained the top slot with 99.9 per cent sanitation coverage, followed by Himachal Pradesh (97.11 per cent) and Kerala (96.35 per cent).
Gujarat figures among the Ministry’s top 10 list scoring 79.37 per cent as against 53.4 per cent it scored in NSSO report.
Haryana (87.33 per cent), Uttarakhand (86.42 per cent), Mizoram (84.75 per cent), Meghalaya (82.47 per cent), Manipur (81.04 per cent) and Punjab (78.89 per cent) are the other states which are among top 10 states.
Bihar has been placed at the bottom of the list with 25.16 per cent coverage.
Odisha (32.79 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (33.35 per cent), Jharkhand (40.52 per cent), Telangana (42.13 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (44.15 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (47.14 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (47.48 per cent), Puducherry (50.53 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (55.14 per cent) are also among states which have not fared well.
Asked about the NSSO reports that non-BJP or NDA ruled states did better in 2015, Tomar said the campaign “is for all”.
“It does not matter for the central government which party is ruling in which state. The campaign is for the entire country and for all,” he said.
When asked about his home state Madhya Pradesh securing 24th spot in the Ministry’s list and 23 in NSSO’s list, Tomar said being a minister he is responsible for the entire country and the government is taking efforts to keep the campaign active across India.
Asked about states like Bihar faring poorly in the NSSO survey, Tomar said the central government is speaking to state governments on giving priority to the Swachh Bharat Mission.
He said the Ministry is also organising meeting with sarpanches from different states to bring them on board to ensure the campaign is successful.
The government intends to make India open defecation free (ODF) by 2019, coinciding with 150th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
Besides Tomar, Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry’s secretary Parameswaran Iyer, additional secretary Saraswati Prasad and QCI chairman Adil Zainulbhai were also present during the declaration of results.
