India's Water Ministry announced on Wednesday that half of the country's villages attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus status under the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Gramin (SBM-G) Clean India Mission.
An ODF Plus village is a village that is ODF-free and implements either solid or liquid waste management systems.
As many as 296,928 villages have been declared ODF Plus, said the ministry.
Among the top-performing states are Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, with Goa and Sikkim leading the way among smaller states.
All Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu, and Lakshadweep boast 100% ODF Plus villages.
SBM Grameen Phase-II was launched in February 2020 to ensure that all villages in the country can declare themselves ODF Plus by the end of 2024.
Between 2014-15 and 2021-22, the central government allocated a total of INR 839 billion ($10 billion) to Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen. The allocation for the year 2023-24 is INR 52 million.