Sikkim has been adjudged the cleanest state in the list on the condition of sanitation in rural areas of 26 states prepared by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
NSSO has listed Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Meghalaya among the top 10 states.
Sikkim scored 98.2 per cent on a scale of 100. Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Meghalaya scored 96.4, 95.8, 90.1, 88.6, 87.9, 86.1, 80.2 and 73 percent respectively.
The states which fared poorly in the NSSO study include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir.
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir scored 17.7, 19.9, 24.8, 24.8, 27.3, 29.8, 35.8, 39.2, 44.3 and 45.9 per cent respectively.
Jharkhand comes last while Gujarat is ranked 14th. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, have been placed at 15th and 16th positions respectively.
The NSSO conducted the survey in May-June 2015 covering 73,176 households in 3,788 villages across the country. The ranking given on the basis of percentage of households having sanitary toilets and using them (either household or community toilets).
Sanitation Coverage:
According to latest report compiled by the Ministry on sanitation coverage, as on today, Sikkim has retained the top slot with 99.9 per cent sanitation coverage, followed by Himachal Pradesh (97.11 per cent) and Kerala (96.35 per cent). Gujarat figures among the Ministry’s top 10 list scoring 79.37 per cent as against 53.4 per cent it scored in NSSO report.
Haryana (87.33 per cent), Uttarakhand (86.42 per cent), Mizoram (84.75 per cent), Meghalaya (82.47 per cent), Manipur (81.04 per cent) and Punjab (78.89 per cent) are the other states which are among top 10 states. Bihar has been placed at the bottom of the list with 25.16 per cent coverage.
Odisha (32.79 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (33.35 per cent), Jharkhand (40.52 per cent), Telangana (42.13 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (44.15 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (47.14 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (47.48 per cent), Puducherry (50.53 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (55.14 per cent) are also among states which have not fared well.
