The State Government was endeavouring to make Total Sanitation Campaign a success in all the panchayats and it has targeted 2233 Gram Panchayats for Nirmal Gram Purskars this year. This would help in making all panchayats of the State Open Defecation Free (ODF).
Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj SKBS Negi said it review meeting of the progress of Total Sanitation Campaign Programme. He said that 1011 Gram Panchayats of the State had already been awarded Nirmal Gram Awards. He said that a special awareness campaign would be started to make Himachal Pradesh ODF during next three months in which the labourers employed in various industrial and other sectors would be made part of the campaign and would be motivated to keep their environ clean.
He said that under Panchayati Raj Act 1994, action would be taken against those who would be found defecating in open and defeating the very purpose of achieving ODF Status for the State.
It was also decided that a meeting would be held with officers of Education and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) Department which would be presided over by Principal Secretary to review the present status of toilets in Schools and Anganwaris Kendras. It was also decided to effectively implement Section-114 of Police Act so that tendency of open defecation could be curbed.
Dr. R.N. Batta, Director, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj detailed the activities carried out to make Himachal Pradesh a ‘Nirmal State”. Senior officers of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Project Officers of District Rural Development Authority were also present on the occasion.
