Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel claimed that the State would become open defecation free by the year 2019 in lines with the ‘Clean India’ initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the Chief Minister already 6,000 villages in the State have become open defecation free. More than 12.50 lakh toilets have been constructed in the State following the launch of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, said Patel, adding that 30 tehsils of the State have registered achievement of 100 per cent toilet facilities in Gujarat.
To mark 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in the year 2019, the Modi Government wants every State to become open defecation free. However, Gujarat is one of the few States that have started claiming to achieve the target before the deadline.
Criticising the Congress party for ignoring cleanliness initiatives during its long rule in centre as well as in Gujarat from 1960 to 1995, Anandiben said that the grand old party did not do anything to address the issue. One of the parameter of the Anandiben government’s much talked about ‘Smart Village’ scheme is 100 per cent toilets in the beneficiary village.
The State Government will select 300 villages under the Smart Village initiative and special grant will be provided to these villages. Apart from 100 per cent toilets other criterion for the selection under the scheme are zero dropout in schools, door-to-door garbage collection, 100 per cent vaccination, Wi-Fi connectivity and many more.
Under the scheme village panchayats need to submit an application along with a vision document having road map of converting their village into a ‘smart village’. Based on performance of the villages on several benchmarks the selected village would get fund from the State Government ranging from Rs25 lakh to Rs1 crore to improve different facilities in the village. The State Government has made provision of Rs185 crore under Smart Village initiative in the 2016-17 Budget.
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