Is rural India 100% open defecation-free like Swachh Bharat data concludes?
The HinduOn October 2, 2019, all the villages in the 36 States and Union Territories of India were declared open defecation-free. image/svg+xml % villages ODF as of March 2018 100 90 80 70 60 50 0 20 40 60 80 100 % rural houses with latrine access as of Oct. '18 Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Gujarat M.P. Bihar Mahrashtra 0102030405060708090100 ODF Status 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 Households with access to latrine A significant share of rural households in States and UTs which were declared 100% ODF by SBM in March 2018, lacked access to any type of latrines according to NSO data released six month later. image/svg+xml % villages ODF as of Oct. 2018 % rural houses with latrine access as of Oct. '18 0102030405060708090100 ODF villages 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 % of Households with latrine 100 90 80 70 60 0 20 40 60 80 100 Rajasthan Gujarat Maharashtra M.P. image/svg+xml 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Persons who never used latrine despite having access to them Jharkhand Rajasthan Odisha Gujarat All-India Sikkim One of the key necessities for a State to be declared 100% ODF is 100% usage of latrines by entire population in all villages Note: In the NSO data, there may be a bias in the reporting of access to latrines as the question on benefits received by the households from government schemes was asked prior to the question on household access to latrines.