Total Sanitation Coverage in the Country will be Completed by 2017

The Government today reiterated to have total sanitation coverage in the country by the year 2017. The sanitation coverage in rural areas of the country was 21.9 per cent as per census 2001, but with the effective implementation of Total Sanitation Campaign, its coverage in the rural areas has increased to approximately 73 per cent as of July 2011. The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), a comprehensive programme was started in the year 1999 to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with the main objective of eradicating the practice of open defecation and ensuring clean environment. It is project based programme taking district as a unit operated in a demand driven mode and at present, is being implemented in 607 rural districts of the country. The main components under the programme are incentives for Individual Household Latrines (IHHL), School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE), assistance for Community Sanitary Complex (CSC), Anganwadi toilets and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). This information was given by the Union Minister for Rural Development, Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha