Goa govt lying about ODF data: Digambar Kamat

The Congress on Sunday accused the Pramod Sawant-led coalition government of manipulating data to declare Goa an open defecation free (ODF) state.

Leader of Opposition in the Goa legislative Aassembly, Digambar Kamat, charged the government with being experts in "the art of manipulating facts and figures". His allegations came a day after the state government, which was listed as a poor performer in May by the Swachh Bharat Mission vis-a-vis coverage of toilets in rural areas, officially announced that Goa was ODF.

On Saturday, the state government's Swachh Bharat Mission director announced that Goa was 100% defecation free.

The announcement, which has been met by disbelief by the main Opposition party, Congress, as well as civil society groups in the state, came just a few months after the state government was pulled up by the Union Ministry for Sanitation for poor toilet coverage in the state's rural areas. The state was also listed by the pan India Swachh Bharat Mission authority as one of four Indian states with a poor track record of coverage of toilets.

"Goa declared 100% Open Defecation Free: this is expected from the Government which has mastered the art of manipulating facts & figures to create a fake feeling of Acche Din," Kamat said in a tweet on Sunday.