6 states to be open defecation free this year: Birender Singh

At least six states in the country will become open defecation free this year, Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said here today.
"It has become a movement. There are at least six states which will be Open Defecation Free (ODF) in the next one year, including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka," he said at an Indian Chamber of Commerce seminar on 'Swachch Bharat'.
As of now, only Sikkim has achieved the ODF status, the Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation said.
"Some states will get the status next year and this way we will reach the target of making the country open defecation free by 2019," Singh said, adding in the first phase 118 districts will achieve the target.

Asserting that there is "no dearth of funds" for toilet construction, he said, "It is demand-driven. If someone is constructing more toilets then more funds will be released."
Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary of Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry, said they have set up a 'Swachch Bharat' fund with initial corpus of Rs 450 crore in which contribution came mostly from public sector units.
Private companies can sponsor people who get 'Swachch Bharat' fellowships. These fellows will be attached to the Collectors for achieving the target of total sanitation, he said.
Singh claimed that he has done a study and found that states like Manipur and Punjab which have done well in sports are also ahead in sanitation, while states like Bihar and UP which are lagging in sports are also behind in sanitation.