File photo: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said his government has set a target to make the state open defecation free by 2016.
"Under the phase-1 of the Swachh Andhra Pradesh program, make AP open defecation-free by Janaury 2016," the chief minister said in a meeting with municipal commissioners.
Noting that all towns are strewn with litter, Mr Naidu said sweeping and cleaning of all public places should happen before midnight, according to a state government release.
He instructed officials to form a committee that includes Jack Sim, the founder of World Toilet Organisation, to achieve targets.
Currently, 59,000 toilets have been built in the state against the total sanctioned 1.14 lakh toilets. The state government had set October 2, 2015 as deadline for completion.
"I will make surprise visits to all municipalities," Mr Naidu said.
He reprimanded the commissioners for failing to educate public on the need to have toilets.
The chief minister pulled up officials as Andhra Pradesh could not make it to the top 100 of the Centre's Swachh Bharat rankings.
He said all municipal commissioners should also work on bench-marking their cities and towns against international standards.