Page 42 - NIS English 01-15 October, 2025

FLAGSHIP | 11 years of Swachh Bharat Mission

Building a clean, healthy, Impact-1
and strong India with
public participation Cleanliness became a

Achieved the target of making the country part of the lifestyle
open defecation-free by 2 October 2019
with public participation

12.50+

crore toilets
constructed

5.54+
lakh villages
got ODF Plus
status

60,000 to 70,000
newborn lives are Seven decades after India’s independence, when women were
saved each year writing new stories of progress in every field, along with

going to the space, about 60 percent of India’s population did
Families saved more not even have toilet facilities. It was ironic that toilets, which
than 8 thousand rupees were a basic necessity of life, were considered a ‘luxury’ in
annually in medical costs the villages of India till then, and women were forced to
defecate in the open. How can any country progress in such
n Saving of time equivalent to Rs 24,646 a situation? Therefore, PM Modi decided that things will not
annually due to falling sick less continue as they are. The central government considered it
n Saving of Rs 17,622 due to lower a national and human challenge and launched a campaign to
mortality rate solve it. It is the result of the success of the Swachh Bharat
Mission that today, 100 per cent sanitation coverage has been
n Due to the construction of toilets, achieved in the country. The construction of more than 12.50
the value of property increased by an crore toilets in just 11 years is proof of how the Swachh
average of Rs 19 thousand per family
Bharat Mission has succeeded as a mass movement due to the
Women have no fear of call of Prime Minister Modi. According to a study published
animals or other dangers in the German World Development in 2015, 59 per cent of
93% or any kind of infection rural and 12 per cent of urban households in the country
while defecating did not have toilets. Also, 52.2 crore people were defecating
in the open. The rise in the importance of cleanliness has
also brought about a significant psychological change in the
GDP is country.
saved
5.2%
every year

development, transforming mindsets, and paving the
Between 2014-19 way for innovations such as electricity generation, start-

3 Lakh deaths due ups, and turning waste into wealth.
In fact, the success of any policy or scheme is assessed
to diarrhoea
were prevented by its impact. These impacts can range from immediate

40 NEW INDIA SAMACHAR || October 1-15, 2025