Why in news?

• Under new norms, cities and towns wanting to be declared ODF+ (Open Defecation Free Plus) must also be free of public urination and not just open defecation.
• This is the first time that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) under ministry of housing and urban affairs is officially including the elimination of public urination in its agenda.
• The Mission is focussed on infrastructure and regulatory changes, on the assumption that this will lead to behaviour change.

ODF:

• A city/ward is notified as ODF city/ward if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating in the open. So far, 2,741 cities have been certified as ODF, based mostly on third-party verification of toilet construction.

ODF +:

• A city, ward or work circle could be declared ODF+ if, “at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open, and all community and public toilets are functional and well-maintained.

ODF ++:

• The ODF++ protocol adds the condition that faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated, with no discharging and/or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open area.

Swachh  Bharat Mission:

Objective of The Mission:

• Elimination of open defecation
• Eradication of Manual Scavenging
• Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management
• To effect behavioural change regarding healthy sanitation practices
• Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health
• Capacity Augmentation for ULBs to create an enabling environment for private sector participation in Capex (capital expenditure) and Opex (operation and maintenance)

Duration of The Mission:

The Mission will be in force till 2nd October 2019

Mission Components:

• Household toilets, including conversion of insanitary latrines into pour-flush latrines
• Community toilets
• Public toilets and urinals
• Solid waste management
• IEC & Public Awareness
• Capacity building and Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE)

Swachh Survekshan

:

• Swachh Survekshan is a ranking exercise taken up by the Government of India to assess rural and urban areas for their levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.
• The objective of the survey is to encourage large scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.
• Additionally, the survey also intends to foster a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards creating cleaner cities and towns.