Chief Minister Raman Singh on Thursday reviewed the progress of ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’ and Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Project with the officers of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department at the Mantralaya here.
The Chief Minister said that the rural people are enthusiastic about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s priority projects. It has become a people’s movement.
The residents of the rural areas particularly women have been constructing toilets in their houses and encouraging others to do so. The masses have realised the utility of toilets at homes, he said.
“About 474 villages have been freed from open toilets till now. An awareness campaign will be launched from Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Jayanti on September 25 till Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Jayanti on October 31. It will educate the masses on the ill-effects of the practice,” Singh said.
The officers attending the meeting said that as per the survey conducted in 2012-13 about 60 per cent of the families with around 26.76 lakh people had no toilets in their residences.
About 10.31 lakh families had not been using the toilets, they informed. Singh said that as per the targets set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State Government will construct concrete toilets in all houses by 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2019. Plans should be made as per the goals set to achieve the target of Swachch Bharat Mission.
Chief Minister Raman Singh expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of interest of Bastar, Balrampur , Gariaband and Kondagaon district administration in Swachch Bharat Abhiyan.
The target of seven lakh concrete toilets had been set for the current fiscal . About 91,382 concrete toilets have already been built. Singh said that 820 Gram Panchayats have received ‘Nirmal Gram’ Awards. The villages have seen cent per cent development in the construction of concrete toilets. The Chief Minister also reviewed the Prime Minister's Rural Roads Project. He called upon the officers to lay emphasis on the quality and standard of the roads in the initial stage itself. “There should be no compromise on the laying of roads,” Singh said. He added that since the formation of Chhattisgarh State about 25,400 kilometer long roads numbering 5967 have been laid. An amount of `7,063 crore had been spent on development of various roads in the State.
There should not be any compromise on the quality of the material. Apart from the Department's Quality Testing officials, Chief Technical Supervisor should also test the quality of roads. The repair works of the roads should be carried out by the contractors, Singh said.
He said many roads have been laid under Prime Minister's Rural Roads Project in Chhattisgarh. The funds for the repair of the roads should also be allocated by the Centre. Panchayat and Rural Development Department Additional Chief Secretary M. K. Raut , CM’s Principal Secretary Aman Kumar Singh, Finance Secretary Amit Agrawal , Public Health Engineering Department Secretary M. Geeta , Industry Department Secretary Subodh Kumar Singh, CM's Joint Secretary Rajat Kumar and a number of senior officers were present in the meeting.