Hi Elisabeth,

Thank you for picking this thread again.

Thankful to the forum, I received few interesting suggestions from an Eawag Scholar. Have incorporated wherever it was possible. We have submitted our suggestions for ODF+ and ODF++ to the Ministry and is waiting for the final guideline document.

ODF+ and ODF++, according to the Urban Ministry, Govt. of India new guidelines refer to an improved maintenance and facilities in public and community toilets (ODF+) and FSM (ODF++). The new guidelines are not public yet but I shall be happy to share them once they are in the public domain. QCI shall be conducting ODF+ and ODF++ verification (once the cities/towns are ready for inspection) for Ministry for some time at least along with the ODF verification for all cities.

I am not sure if BMGF is supporting ODF+ and ODF++ for the Ministry directly but I am aware of their work for the same.

As India moves forward in the Urban ODF Journey, ODF+ and ODF++ monitoring are going to become increasingly relevant to push and motivate cities to join the next steps in the sanitation ladder. I shall be happy to connect with folks who would like to contribute/suggest ideas for robust monitoring in their own capacities.

Thanks & Regards
Ankit Tulsyan

Dear Ankit,

Welcome to the discussion forum! Very interesting first post.
Is this work part of this project which is funded by BMGF?:
www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/projects/database/details/561
"Technical Assistance to Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUA), Government of India for Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) (SBM-U)"
If yes, could you please help me in gathering more information about that project?

Also, not everyone will be familiar with the terms ODF+ and ODF++. I assume it relates to handwashing and perhaps solid waste disposal on top of the the plain ODF (open defecation free)?

If these terms are becoming commonly used we should also mention them in the Wikipedia article about open defecation (with references):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_defecation
I can help with that if you tell me what to write.

Did you get any feedback about the draft ODF verification protocol yet? Are you able to draw on experiences from other countries, e.g. Bangladesh or Nepal?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hello Everyone,

I am working with Quality Council of India (QCI) for the ODF sub-mission Swachh Bharat Urban under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India.

There is an ODF verification protocol (document attached) developed by the Ministry for assessing Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) on their ODF claims. Cities which succeed gets re-verified after every six months. This verification process is conducted by my team at QCI.

I am working on submitting a proposal to the Ministry to inspect cities on ODF+ and ODF++ if they have succeeded more than twice/thrice in the current ODF protocol (twice- 1195 Indian ULBs, thrice - 271 ULBs as of today). The idea has already been accepted by the Ministry in principle and this effort potentially shall get implemented.

Would appreciate if FSM folks could share their inputs on developing a methodology for doing the ODF+ and ODF++ declarations by ULBs and their subsequent verification. Also, if sector colleagues would be interested in suggesting amendments in the current protocol, I shall be happy to compile them and take them to the SBM National Mission Director.

I can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Looking forward to hearing from members here.




Regards,

Ankit Tulsyan
National Project Manager
SBM-ODF | Quality Council of India