Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil chaired a review meeting in Navsari, Gujarat, on 19 July 2026 to assess the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) and ongoing work under the ODF Plus framework in the district. The session was attended by senior ministry officials, including the mission's top field administrator.

At the meeting, Aishwarya Singh, Mission Director and Joint Secretary of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), presented a detailed account of activities being carried out in the Navsari region, achievements recorded so far, and the action plan for the period ahead. Paatil's post noted that the review covered both the overall progress of SBM (Grameen) and the specific activities being undertaken under ODF Plus (Open Defecation Free Plus).

Context

The review meeting in Navsari is part of a broader pattern of district-level monitoring that the Jal Shakti Ministry conducts to track implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II. Such reviews bring together central and state officials to assess on-ground progress and recalibrate targets where needed. Navsari, located in south Gujarat, is one of the districts where ODF Plus activities are actively under way.

Policy Backdrop

Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) was launched on 2 October 2014 with the primary goal of eliminating open defecation across rural India. The country was declared ODF (Open Defecation Free) in 2019, following which Phase-II guidelines were issued in 2020 to sustain and build on those gains through 2021–2026.

The ODF Plus phase goes beyond toilet construction to address greywater management, solid and liquid waste disposal, plastic waste handling, and behaviour change at the village level. These objectives are monitored through gram panchayats and state-level agencies in coordination with the Union Jal Shakti Ministry. Gujarat, given its early ODF achievements, has been among the states focused on advancing ODF Plus outcomes.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of SBM (Grameen) and ODF Plus are rural households and gram panchayats, which are responsible for maintaining sanitation infrastructure and sustaining behavioural change. Progress in Navsari feeds into the state's overall ODF Plus scorecard, which in turn informs national-level assessments of the mission's second phase.

District-level reviews of this kind allow the Union Minister to directly engage with field-level data, flag gaps, and direct resources where implementation is lagging. The presence of the Mission Director signals the central government's active oversight of the 2026 deadline for Phase-II targets.

What's Next

With the SBM (Grameen) Phase-II deadline set for 2026, the coming months are critical for states to consolidate ODF Plus outcomes — particularly on waste management and visual cleanliness indicators. A mid-term review of Phase-II targets at the national level is being watched closely, with district-level data from meetings such as the one in Navsari likely to inform any course corrections. The Jal Shakti Ministry is expected to release updated state-wise ODF Plus progress data as the programme approaches its final year.