The Uttarakhand is committed to implement the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to make the State clean. Potable Water and Sanitation Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani said this while speaking at a meeting on the subject at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The meeting was presided over by the Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
Naithani said that since Uttarakhand belonged to the special category State where there is lack of resources the central government should increase its funding from the current 50:50 to 90:10 in the projects like construction of toilets in schools, community toilets and solid and liquid waste management. He said that the project to clean Ganga would not be successful merely by providing toilets in the villages but a drive should also be undertaken in the cities situated near the river. Naithani demanded that the allowance of the block level coordinator in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should be increased to Rs 15,000 per month. He said that the state already has a nodal centre for the potable water and sanitation and construction of 2136 toilets had taken place in the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan under the Indira Awas Yojna.
Addressing the meeting the Union minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation Nitin Gadkari said that earnest effort should be made to construct separate toilets for boys and girls in all the schools of the country till August 15 next year. He reaffirmed the commitment of his government to provide the facility of toilets to all the citizens of the country till October 2, 2019. The meeting was attended by the ministers and secretaries of all the states of the country.