We have constructed over 9 crore toilets under our flagship programme, Swachh Bharat Mission. We will take the Mission to a new level through sustainable Solid Waste Management in every village. Through the mission, we will ensure 100% disposal of liquid waste through emphasis on faecal sludge management and reuse of waste water in rural, peri urban and unsewered areas. We will ensure that all habitations attain open defecation free status and those that have attained the status sustain the behavioural change.

The 2019 manifesto's sanitation promise has three parts, and only the middle one is a number: sustainable solid waste management "in every village"; "100% disposal of liquid waste through emphasis on faecal sludge management and reuse of waste water"; and that "all habitations attain open defecation free status and those that have attained the status sustain the behavioural change."

The Ministry of Jal Shakti reported the position to the Lok Sabha on 12 February 2026. Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II runs from 2020-21 to 2026-27, aimed at ODF sustainability and at converting ODF villages into ODF Plus (Model) villages. The totals, as on 10 February 2026: of 5,86,944 villages, 4,96,180 are declared ODF Plus (Model), 5,29,231 have solid waste management arrangements and 5,46,487 have liquid waste management arrangements.

Those are large numbers — 85 per cent of villages on the ODF Plus measure, 90 and 93 per cent on the two waste streams — and the physical build-out they represent is real. They are also not quite what the promise said: "every village" and "100%" are not 85 to 93 per cent, and the state-level detail shows how uneven the picture is. Punjab, for instance, reports 2,295 ODF Plus (Model) villages of 11,977, while Uttar Pradesh reports 94,155 of 96,174 and Rajasthan 42,515 of 43,463.

The finding that matters most is not a number at all. Asked whether "any impact assessment of sanitation interventions under Phase-II on public health indicators such as reduction in waterborne diseases and clean environment has been done by the Government", the ministry's answer is a single word: "No." The follow-up questions about the assessment's findings and how outcomes are monitored are dismissed: "Does not arise, in view of (b) above."

Swachh Bharat's case has always rested on health — that ending open defecation and managing waste reduces diarrhoeal disease, stunting and infant mortality. Six years into Phase II, the government has not measured whether that is happening. It reports assets built and villages declared, verified through Swachh Survekshan Grameen rankings and self-declaration on the mission's management information system, with sanitation itself a state subject.

That reporting basis is the second caution. Every total above is "as reported by States/UTs on IMIS of SBM(G)". Declaration is not inspection, and the answer publishes no independent verification of the totals. No CAG performance audit of Phase II is in our corpus either.

A very large infrastructure programme, delivered close to but not at the universal coverage promised, whose central claim — that it improves health — the implementing ministry has not tested. Our verdict is lacks context.