Centre has assured the States that funds will not be a constraint to achieve the targets of sanitation and drinking water in the country. <br/><br/>Addressing a National Conference on Sanitation and Drinking Water in New Delhi today, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh expressed satisfaction that the pace of construction of toilets in rural India has gathered momentum. He said, states like West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have taken the lead in construction of Individual Household Latrines and community toilets. <br/><br/>The Minister said that many of the States may achieve the target of Open-Defecation Free before the target of 2nd October, 2019. Mr Singh informed that Sikkim and Kerala are now Open Defecation Free state.<br/><br/>The Minister informed that 8 to 10 percent of the total Ministry's budget will be spent on various campaign strategies in future. <br/><br/>Mr Singh also underlined that the participation of the citizen and ownership to the programme is the key to success. He said, at present about 49 percent households have toilets in the country and about the same percentage of population have been covered with piped drinking water supply system.