HYDERABAD: Telangana has topped other States in the country in having the highest number of ODF plus villages under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II programme. Of the 14,200 villages in Telangana, 13,737 villages have already been declared ODF plus. Under Phase-2 of the nationwide Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), out of the 5,82,903 villages in the country, about 26,138 villages have been declared ODF.
Telangana, which is already at the forefront of various programmes in the country, managed to get the first position in having most number of ODF plus villages.
With 96.74 percent, Telangana bagged the top position, according to the latest report of the Central government. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (35.39 per cent), Kerala (19.78 per cent), Uttarakhand (9.01 per cent), Haryana (5.75 per cent ), Karnataka (5.59 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (4.63 per cent). Meanwhile, seven States — Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, West Bengal, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Goa — were at the bottom with zero progress. The State government came up with a new Telangana Panchayat Raj Act to ensure all-round holistic development of villages. The Chief minister has taken special interest in Palle Pragathi.
“I would like to thank and congratulate the public representatives, officials, staffers and the people of the local bodies who participated in the Swachha Telangana and SBM programmes,” Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao said.