Swachchh Bharat Mission completed one year on Thursday. During this time, it became a household name and a widely practiced phenomenon. Jharkhand saw the initiative being followed and implemented with great attention from the Government and public alike. This becomes the base for hopes of the project being effective in every sense.
The Pioneer tried to take a glimpse of what people from a cross section of society think about the impact of the campaign.
Urban Development Minister CP Singh said, “The Swachchh Bharat Mission has had a great impact on the people of Jharkhand. The biggest change, we achieved with this was people became conscious about keeping their surroundings clean, especially the youngsters and children of our society. This is not less than a revolution in itself and we sure will continue with the same spirit in future.”
Drinking Water and Sanitation Department Secretary AP Singh said, “During the first year of Swachchh Bharat Mission, we were able to make 43 villages of the State free from open defecation. Additionally, we will be making 400 more villages ODF, with rural development department working with the same motive in 240 other villages, fulfilling it with the help of MNREGA. In near future, we are planning to make two blocks ODF. The initiative will be taken up enthusiastically in 78 villages of Sahebganj district which fall on the banks of River Ganges. And to mark the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, a special meeting will be convened in 4,500 panchayats across the State with cleanliness as its agenda. As for the biggest impact the State saw from Swachchh Bharat Mission, it would be that a common man now has it in his way of thinking to maintain hygiene and sanitation.”
School Education and literacy Secretary Aradhana Patnaik said, “When the Swachchh Bharat Mission began last year, we devoted one whole month to spread awareness and construction of toilets in schools. In this direction, we achieved big. Before the initiative, 60 per cent schools in the State were without toilets, but now every school at least has two, one for boys and another for girls. A total of twenty thousand toilets have been built in schools alone and now we are thinking of constructing additional units. After Independence Day this year, we also conducted an awareness drive among students of Jharkhand, underlining the importance of hygiene, sanitation and hand-washing habits. We are also involving the schools’ Children’s Parliaments to ensure that students follow the rules of hygiene. We have developed infrastructure in the state, but behavioural changes are more significant in effective execution of the initiative. And our activities are focussed on bringing them about in future.”
Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi, Manoj Kumar commented, “The first year in initiatives this significant is always crucial. Swachchh Bharat Mission was rolled out earlier in rural areas and the results have been equally pleasant. We targeted 25 panchayats, which included block headquarters, those under Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana, and all of them have shown almost perfect results. We conducted surveys till May to determine the number of toilets required in the rural areas of the district, and pegged the number at twenty thousand, out of which, we have constructed around 3500 toilets. Human resources involved in the process were also concentrated. We conducted orientation programmes for Mukhiyas of targeted Panchayats and masons, instructing them on the methodology of project execution and design of toilets to be constructed. We are not overworking the engineers with assigning them to many villages at once, so that the work gets done efficiently in a concentrated manner. Again, the design of toilets we employed under this project was more widely accepted than those built under previous sanitation programmes. It is better covered and has taps, both of which were missing in older designs. This initiative and its aspects have become popular among the masses, and that is a great achievement.”