NEW DELHI: Under the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s second term, its flagship programme Swachh Bharat Mission is likely to get a major boost.

 In 2014, the government had launched the programme to make India open defecation-free (ODF) by October 2019 and achieve universal sanitation coverage.

In its manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also promised to take the programme to the next level and ensure that every village has sustainable solid waste management systems, 100% disposal of liquid waste, with an emphasis on faecal sludge management and reuse of wastewater, reports said.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), the government has declared that over 540,000 villages and 585 districts are open defecation-free. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities became a major sustainable development goal.

From the sources, the government also said that the National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2017-18, which was conducted by an independent verification agency supported by the World Bank, had confirmed that rural toilet usage in India had reached 93.4%.