More Indians living in villages owned a latrine in 2018 than four years ago, yet 44% of them still defecate in the open, according to a survey covering Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh that was released on January 4, 2019.[4] These four states together contain two-fifths of India's rural population and reported high open defecation rates, over 87% in 2016.[4]
By 2016, three states/UTs namely Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala had been declared ODF.[5]
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two states that had declared themselves open defecation-free, are yet to achieve that goal. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh 63% and 35% respectively were estimated to be defecating in the open.[6]
Household toilet construction increased from 43.79% in 2014, to 65.74% in 2016, to 98.53 in 2018.[1] On 2 October 2019, all 35 states and union territories were declared defecation free.[7]
List
No.
State/ Union Territory
% Rural households with exclusive
access to a toilet
(Swachh Bharat Mission, Sept 2021)[1][a]