National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey NARSS 2017 18 Summary Report

The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2017–18 is an independent verification survey conducted to establish the baseline for the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) under the World Bank-supported Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). Conducted between November 2017 and March 2018, the survey covered 92,040 households across 6,136 villages in States and Union Territories of India. In addition to households, schools, Anganwadis, and public/community toilets were also assessed to provide a comprehensive picture of rural sanitation. The survey methodology, questionnaire design, fieldwork, and quality assurance were supervised by an Expert Working Group comprising representatives from government agencies, international organisations, and sanitation experts. Key findings indicate that 77% of rural households had access to toilets, 93.4% of individuals with toilet access used them regularly, 95.6% of villages verified as ODF retained their ODF status, and 70% of villages were found to have minimal litter and stagnant water, reflecting improvements in sanitation and environmental cleanliness. The report serves as an important monitoring and evaluation tool for measuring the implementation and impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and provides evidence to support policy decisions and programme improvements for achieving sustainable rural sanitation.