95.1% rural households have access to toilets: Govt tells Lok Sabha

According to a government survey, about 95.1 per cent of rural households have access to toilets, 92.7 per cent have arrangements to dispose of organic waste and 78.7 per cent have systems in place for greywater disposal, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V Somanna said on Thursday.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, the minister quoted findings from the Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2023-24 conducted by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, which covered 17,304 villages across 729 districts in the country.

The survey included feedback from 2,60,059 households and 85,901 public places such as schools, anganwadis, health centres and markets.

In terms of waste segregation, only 39.9 per cent households reported segregating waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable categories, it said.

At the village level, 45 per cent have exclusive or shared vehicles to collect and transport solid waste, and 29.4 per cent have designated sheds for storage and segregation.

For plastic waste management, 62.1 per cent villages reported having forward linkages in place. Among the public places surveyed, 91.1 per cent have minimal stagnant water, and 76.7 per cent have access to toilets, the survey showed.

Out of the 437 faecal sludge treatment plants with urban linkages, 83.8 per cent were functional. Of the 1,029 plastic waste management units surveyed, 61.4 per cent were operational, while 58.5 per cent of the 451 GOBARdhan and biogas plants were found functional, the minister said, quoting the survey.