On Ground Study of the ODF Status
of Ghaziabad District, U.P.
Padma Kant Jha and Vrinda Sharma
Abstract The Swachh Bharat Mission was started by the Prime Minister of India
with a vision of clean India and to ensure hygiene, waste management and sanitation
across the nation. Since its inception in 2014, its progress has been praise worthy.
More than 91.65 million toilets have been built across the nation and 0.54 million
villages, 585 districts and 27 States/UTs have been declared open defecation free.
In the past one year, the pace of toilet construction has been exponential in States
like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. However, many agencies have noted that the
districts with ODF status and 100% toilet construction on government Web sites have
a high fall back rate and a substantial amount of people not using toilets even now.
A similar trend was noticed in the district of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh through
a survey conducted in the town. The purpose of this paper is to find whether the
district of Ghaziabad is in fact, truly ODF, and if not, the reasons for the same so that
a general understanding of most cities of India and their performance in the mission
could be understood.
Keywords Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan · ODF · IEC · Anganwadis · Panchayat
The author was looking after Swachh Bharat Mission in NITI Aayog, since launch of the Mission
till October, 2018 and has also supported the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat
Abhiyaan on drafting their report and pursuing their recommendations. The second author, Ms.
Vrinda Sharma worked as an intern under the guidance of First Author. The views expressed are
authors’ personal.
P. K. Jha (B)
Government of Bihar at New Delhi [Former Deputy Adviser (Water & Sanitation) at
NITI Aayog, Govt. of India, New Delhi], New Delhi, India
e-mail: erpkjha@yahoo.com
V. Sharma
Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, New Delhi (Former Intern at NITI Aayog,
Govt. of India, New Delhi), New Delhi, India
e-mail: 1998vrindasharma@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_12
135
of Ghaziabad District, U.P.
Padma Kant Jha and Vrinda Sharma
Abstract The Swachh Bharat Mission was started by the Prime Minister of India
with a vision of clean India and to ensure hygiene, waste management and sanitation
across the nation. Since its inception in 2014, its progress has been praise worthy.
More than 91.65 million toilets have been built across the nation and 0.54 million
villages, 585 districts and 27 States/UTs have been declared open defecation free.
In the past one year, the pace of toilet construction has been exponential in States
like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. However, many agencies have noted that the
districts with ODF status and 100% toilet construction on government Web sites have
a high fall back rate and a substantial amount of people not using toilets even now.
A similar trend was noticed in the district of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh through
a survey conducted in the town. The purpose of this paper is to find whether the
district of Ghaziabad is in fact, truly ODF, and if not, the reasons for the same so that
a general understanding of most cities of India and their performance in the mission
could be understood.
Keywords Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan · ODF · IEC · Anganwadis · Panchayat
The author was looking after Swachh Bharat Mission in NITI Aayog, since launch of the Mission
till October, 2018 and has also supported the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat
Abhiyaan on drafting their report and pursuing their recommendations. The second author, Ms.
Vrinda Sharma worked as an intern under the guidance of First Author. The views expressed are
authors’ personal.
P. K. Jha (B)
Government of Bihar at New Delhi [Former Deputy Adviser (Water & Sanitation) at
NITI Aayog, Govt. of India, New Delhi], New Delhi, India
e-mail: erpkjha@yahoo.com
V. Sharma
Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, New Delhi (Former Intern at NITI Aayog,
Govt. of India, New Delhi), New Delhi, India
e-mail: 1998vrindasharma@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_12
135