It was a cold,chilly morning and while walking on the streets of a well developed city, I noticed people going to do some odd works of the day. Yes,they were going for defecation.With bottles in hand they step out of their homes to sit beside the railway tracks or in close proximity to the living space of others.
About 15 percent of global population defecate in public.The term ODF is expanded as Open Defecation Free. The term itself contains its meaning , people go out to defecate instead of using toilets. What is the effect of defecating in the open? The answer is simple. Defecation in open causes bacteria to prosper and hamper public health.Eliminating public defecation is the need of the ours.
The Indian Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has in mid-2015 defined “Open Defecation Free” as “the termination of fecal-oral transmission, defined by no visible feces found in the environment or village and every household as well as public/community institutions using safe technology option for disposal of feces”.Under the Swach Bharat Mission initiated by our Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, 29,18,669 individual toilets, 1,10,665 public toilets have been created till date . The statistics will keep on increasing and the time will come when no one in India will defecate in open.By the esteemed efforts of our Government and the public, many states have been declared Open Defecation free.
Sikkim was the 1st state followed by Himachal Pradesh and Kerala to be declared ODF. Nearly 463 cities have been declared Open Defecation Free. It is not so simple to be called as ODF city or state. The people should cooperate in order to work in hand with the Government.
If we need to see our villages, cities improved, we need to be vigilant enough so that we could help and support the endeavours of our government. Cleaning up the country is not the sole responsibility of the sanitation workers. Every individual has to work together in order to achieve something. Its not only the government that needs to formulate the rules but, we as the citizens have follow them as well. In near future we will see the change in our country and its by our efforts that the change will be seen.
Authored by : Agrim Batra
Edited by : Niket
Sociovation 