Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Limited access to sanitation once affected daily life across rural northeast India. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), set out to make India Open Defecation Free (ODF), all eight northeastern states have been declared ODF.
Approximately 57 lakh Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) were constructed across the region between 2014 and 2026.
Swachh Bharat Mission(G) Phase II (2020 onwards) shifts focus from building toilets to sustaining usage and managing waste. The new targets include ODF Plus villages with solid and liquid waste management, plastic waste management, and faecal sludge treatment.
The top performing states include Sikkim and Tripura, achieving 100 per cent ODF Plus villages. Mizoram and Sikkim have led in waste segregation at source.
Investment in health infrastructure has scaled significantly over the past twelve years. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has strengthened healthcare infrastructure across the northeast.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Guwahati, now fully functional, serves as the region’s major tertiary healthcare institution. Twelve medical colleges have been approved under the Centrally-sponsored scheme for new medical colleges in the region.
Under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, more than 2.43 crore Ayushman cards have been created in the region (April 2026), supporting over 46 lakh hospital admissions across more than 900 empanelled hospitals.
