New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) Telangana won the first prize under the large states category under the Swachh Survekshan Grameen (SSG) 2022 which looks into the sanitation status of rural areas.Haryana secured the second position while Tamil Nadu was third.The awards were presented by President Droupadi Murmu.The Swachh Survekshan Gramin-2022 award by the Jal Shakti ministry ranks states and districts on the basis of their performance attained on key quantitative and qualitative Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) parameters and engagement of the rural community in improvement of their sanitation status.Among large states (population of over 30 lakh), the first position has been grabbed by Telangana, followed by Haryana in the second and Tamil Nadu in the third position.Among small states/Union Territories (population less than 30 Lakhs) Andaman & Nicobar secured the top position followed by Daman and Diu & Dadar Nagar Haveli in the second place and Sikkim took the third place.The top three districts of India are Bhiwani (Haryana), Jagtial (Telangana) and Nizamabad (Telangana) respectively.The awards were given to commemorate the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday.Speaking on the occasion, Murmu stressed on the need to build a clean, healthy and self-reliant India.At the beginning of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.23 crore rural households had tap water supply, which has increased to 10.27 crore in three years. The access to tap water has led to a significant reduction in water-borne diseases in recent years,  Murmu said.But our goal is much bigger. We have to set an example to the world in the field of water management and sanitation,  she said.The President noted that since the launch of "Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin" in 2014, more than 11 crore toilets have been constructed and about 60 crore people have changed their habit of open defecation.Murmu said "Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin" is a behaviour-change movement."During the Covid pandemic, everyone realized that toilets, the habit of washing hands with soap, and water supply through taps have acted as a shield in this calamity," she said.She said the government is implementing the second phase of "Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin", which aims to make all six lakh villages of the country ODF Plus.Having achieved success against open defecation, we now have to address more complex and technical problems like solid and liquid waste management, Murmu said.She noted that since the beginning of the second phase of "Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin", more than 1.16 lakh villages have declared themselves as ODF Plus and the work of solid and liquid waste management has also started in about three lakh villages. PTI UZM TDS TDS