Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the villages in India have declared themselves open defecation free. The prime minister made the announcement in the presence of over 20,000 village heads at an event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Riverfront in Gujarat.

People associated with Gandhian institutions, high court judges, Padma awardees, students, educationists and village-level sanitation workers were also present at the function.

The prime minister said that 99 per cent of rural India was open defecation free. The villages built over 11 crore toilets in a short span of time, he said.

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PM Modi credited ground-level volunteers who made Swachhta and toilets a common man's topic. "This mission helped make the toilet, which was earlier a difficult topic, a common topic of discussion. From girls who demanded toilet before marriage to Bollywood, everyone contributed to the mission to make India open-defecation-free," he said.

The prime minister said that the feat of building toilets for such a large population of India within 60 months has left the world in awe and shock.

"The whole world is appreciating and awarding us (for) providing toilets to over 60 crore people in 60 months by building over 11 crore toilets. The world is amazed by this," PM Modi said.

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"The Swachh Bharat Mission enabled women and developed their skills as masons and created over 75 lakh employment opportunities," he said.

The prime minister said that the achievement was in line with Mahatma Gandhi's vision for India.

He, however, added that it was merely a step towards realising the dream of developed India. Addressing the Swachh Bharat Mission workers and officials, the prime minister said that the government plans to implement several such projects to ensure sanitation and clean drinking water.

Also read | Open defecation free India one step towards Swachh Bharat, says PM Narendra Modi

In his speech, he encouraged rainwater harvesting, water recharging and similar projects, which he said, would also help in ensuring water supply to bio-toilets.

PM Modi said that hygiene, environment and animal protection were three main concerns of Mahatma Gandhi and "plastic is harmful to all three," the PM said.

"By 2022, we have to make India free of single-use plastic. The campaign has caught speed in the last three weeks under Swachhta hi Seva campaign. Tonnes of single-use plastic garbage has been collected from across the nation. The use of plastic is coming down significantly, but it can't be done without public contribution," PM Modi said.