The rural sanitation coverage has reached up to 76 per cent from 39 per cent in October 2014 when the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched. Secretary in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Parameswaran Iyer said this at a workshop on Swachh Bharat Mission at Gurugram in Haryana. He said, three lakh villages, 300 districts and 10 States and Union Territories have been declared Open Defecation Free so far. <br/><br/>Mr Iyer also expressed confidence that with the sustained and focussed implementation, the Prime Minister's vision of a Swachh Bharat by 2nd of October 2019 would be realized. <br/><br/>He said, the States shared their plans on achieving an Open Defecation Free status in 2018 in the workshop, with a strong focus on behaviour change communication. The States also shared their plans for sustaining their ODF status after achievement, by ensuring that the toilets constructed under the Mission are used by all members of every household in a village.