Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Choudhary Birender Singh on Tuesday appreciated the efforts of Chhattisgarh Government in making 'Swachchta Mission' a people's movement.
Chief Minister Raman Singh had made the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in making the 'Swachchta Mission' a people's movement fulfilled and now Chhattisgarh State had joined the top states in the country, the Union Minister said while addressing the concluding function of the ' National Rural Drinking water and Swachchta Awareness Week' here.
Chief Minister Raman Singh presided over the function.
The Union Minister on the occasion felicitated 24 'Swachchta Preraks' from various districts by awarding them with commendation certificates on the occasion.
He expressed satisfaction that the pace of construction of toilets in rural India has gathered momentum and the States like West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have taken the lead in construction of Individual Household latrines and community toilets.
The Union Minister also informed that many of the States may achieve the target of Open-Defecation Free status in 2017 or 2018, well before the target of October 2, 2019. Sikkim and Kerala are now Open Defecation Free, ODF States.
Singh said that merely achieving the target of toilet construction will defeat the very purpose of Swachhta Mission and added that more importance should be attached to the sustainability of the programme and change in the mindset.
The Union Minister informed that 8 to 10 percent of the Ministry’s budget will be spent on various campaign strategies in future.
Singh also underlined that the participation of the citizens and ownership to the programme is the key to success, he said.
About 110 Gram Panchayats were declared 'Open Defecation-Free' at the function. With this the 'Open Defecation-Free' gram panchayats had touched 1849 villages, the Union Minister stated.
Choudhary said that Chhattisgarh movement is now a mass movement. Apart from constructing toilets, they should be put to use.
Rural Sanitation and Water Supply week was inaugurated at Mohali in Punjab on March 16 by Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ram Kripal Yadav. This has become an annual feature after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014 to realise its vision of ‘Clean India’ by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Chief Minister Raman Singh said that Chhattisgarh will be 'Open Defecation-Free' by 2018 with the co-operation of the masses.
The 'Swachch Bharat Mission' should be owned by the people. The mission can meet its targets if the sisters are determined to do so.
He called upon the 'Nav Ratnas' to inspire the neighbouring villages also to become 'Open Defecation-Free'.
The Chief Minister said that health and Swachch Bharat Mission are inter-related. There is a need to conserve water in the present scenario.
Singh said that if the villagers are able to preserve even ten per cent of rain water then it can meet the needs of an entire year.
He stressed upon the need to develop ponds, anecuts, stop dams and other water conserving techniques to build a water sufficient communities. Crops which need less water should be sown in summers.
State Pachayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar, Food Minister Punnulal Mohle, PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, MP Ramesh Bais, Chhattisgarh Textbooks Corporation Chairperson Devji Bhai Patel, MlA Sreechand Sundrani and Raipur Municipal Corporation Mayor Pramod Dubey were also present.
The Union Minister earlier added that Gram Panchayats will be allocated about Rs Two lakh crore in the next five years for various developmental activities. About Rs 45,000 crore had already been distributed to the gram panchayats in the current fiscal. Each Gram Panchayat will get Rs 1.25 crore during this period.
The picture of villages will change dramatically in the next couple of years. The rural habitats will be connected by roads' network by 2022. The amounts will be sanctioned for the incomplete roads in Chhattisgarh as soon as possible, he said.
Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar added that about 4.62 lakh toilets had been built in the State till now and three and half lakh toilets are under various stages of development.
It is mandatory to have a toilet at home to contest Panchayat elections.
MP Ramesh Bais said that people should come forward on their own initiative to construct toilets to make the Mission a success.
Chhattisgarh's Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar last month had stated that the government has pledged to make Chhattisgarh complete open defecation free (ODF) State by the year 2018 as against the Centre’s national target of making India 'ODF country' by 2019.
The Minister was addressing a review meeting of state ministers and Secretaries in-charge of Sanitation and Rural Drinking water at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Choudhary Birender Singh had presided over the meeting. Chhattisgarh Panchayat and Rural Development department Additional Chief Secretary M K Raut was also present.
Apprising the Union minister about Chhattisgarh’s work progress under ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’, Chandrakar had stated that a target of making 4811 villages of the State open defecation free has been set under ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ and MNREGA out of which 1034 villages have already become open defecation free.
He said that more than 23,000 individual toilets have also been constructed.
The Minister urged the Centre to provide assistance of Rs 420 crore as more than 7 lakh toilets have still to be constructed in the State.
He also demanded assistance from the Centre for turning 10.32 lakh non-operational toilets in the State into operational toilets.