The Centre has extended Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II until March 2028, giving the flagship rural sanitation programme additional time to bring the remaining villages to ODF Plus status, The Indian Express reported.

Source: The Indian Express via GainingSun

Phase II, which began in 2020 and had earlier been approved up to 2026-27, focuses on sustaining open-defecation-free outcomes, solid and liquid waste management and visual cleanliness in villages. An ODF Plus village is one that sustains its ODF status and also has systems for solid and liquid waste management.

Source: Gyan Hi Gyan

The extension is expected to be supported by an allocation of around Rs 7,000 crore in the 2027-28 Union Budget, a figure that will be decided through the Budget process and is not final until Parliament approves it, the reports said.

According to official dashboard figures cited in the reporting, about 5.70 lakh of India's roughly 5.86 lakh villages have already been declared ODF Plus. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has been directed to ensure the remaining villages reach ODF Plus by the end of March 2028 within the available resources.

The finance ministry has made clear that no further extension will be granted beyond March 31, 2028, the reports added. Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) was launched in 2014; its Phase I took India to open-defecation-free status in 2019, and Phase II has since worked on sustaining that status and managing village waste.