ODF India: Claims vs Reality

In October 2019, the Indian government declared all the villages of the country open defecation free (ODF). However, the findings from recently released state reports of the National Family Health Survey, 2019–20 (NFHS-5) portray a completely different picture of 18 states covered in the first phase of the survey conducted during the latter half of 2019. Earlier, findings from the National Sample Survey report (76th round, 2018) also challenged the reliability of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) data.

All 18 states surveyed in the first phase of NFHS-5 behold a sight of improvement from 2015–16. The proportion of households without toilets were pushed down to a range of 5% to 20% in larger states. Meanwhile, 39% of households lack access to any form of latrines in Bihar. Kerala records the lowest proportions in the issue of concern along with north-eastern states. There is an overall decline in all the surveyed states, yet Bihar continues to account for the highest proportions of households without access to toilet
facilities, followed by Gujarat.