Dhaka: Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (Local Government Division) Minister Syed Ashraful Islam on Tuesday said around 97% people in the country have now come under sanitation coverage.

“The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMB) in 2014 conducted a survey across the country in 2014 and found that around 97 per cent people are receiving basic sanitation facilities,” he said while replying to a question from treasury bench member Begum Wasika Ayesha Khan in the House.

He said the government is working to ensure pure drinking water for all by setting up water sources in collaboration with the public health and engineering department across the country.

Syed Ashraf told the House that the government fixed a target to ensure pure drinking water for all citizens by 2013 during its last regime, adding, “almost all the people are getting pure drinking water as per the target.” According to the sanitation policy introduced in 1998, a source of safe drinking water was targeted for 50 people at each 150 metre distance on an average, he added.