People take selfies as Narmada district all set to become open defecation free

With Narmada all set to become the first district in Gujarat to be declared Open Defecation-Free (ODF), a huge crowd of people were seen gathering around the village and taking selfies with toilets.

Along with Narmada, Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace Porbandar and Mehsana will be declared ODF on October 2, which is his birth anniversary.

Apart from these, eight districts from Kerala, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Meghalaya would also be declared ODF on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

People from across the state are taking selfies with toilets and thereby sending pictures to capture the historic moment.

Dr. Ranjeet Kumar Singh, village development officer, divulged the details about this unique initiative, saying, "It's the time of social media. We have used it and asked the people to send their pictures along with the toilets. We will facilitate the families. People are feeling proud about this amazing feat of the district."

What is interesting is the fact that this craze of taking selfies is not limited to youth, but people from all walks of lives and all ages are taking part in this initiative with great enthusiasm.

A female resident of the district expressed how much difficulties they had to face in the absence of toilets.

"But now, the situation is changing. Earlier, even during rains, we had to go out in open and defecate. But now, we are using the toilets," she said.

So far, only 23 districts and 141 cities and towns have become ODF.

According to government data, so far 2.37 crore toilets have been built in rural areas, which is 55.15 percent of the target. In urban areas, 24.05 lakh toilets have been built, which is 36 percent of the target set till October 2019.