The government of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday set a target of becoming litter-free and open defecation-free by January 1, 2016.

At a meeting with municipal commissioners in Vijayawada, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said under the first phase of Swachh Andhra Pradesh program, the state should become open defecation-free by the new year.

He asked officials to form a committee by involving Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation, and look at ways to achieve targets. Currently, under Individual House Hold Latrine (IHHL) scheme, 59,000 toilets have been built in the state against the total sanctioned 1.14 lakh toilets.

The state government had set October 2 as deadline for completion.

Stating that all towns are strewn with litter, the chief minister said that sweeping and cleaning of all public places should be taken up before midnight.

He directed all municipalities to set certain norms for every village/town in the state in order to declare them as litter-free and open defecation-free and the Swacch Andhra Pradesh Corporation to operate with freedom like a private organisation to achieve these ambitious targets.

IANS