The Secretary of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti and the officer spearheading the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) across the country, Parameswaran Iyer was elated by the progress the country made in the past five years in terms of hygiene, sanitation and the practice of using toilets. He said that 99.5 per cent of the country has already become open defecation free (ODF) and is on the track of achieving 100 per cent ODF by October 2. He added that the next step is to sustain the change brought by SBM. As per him, using toilets can avoid problems like malnutrition among children.
