The hard work and determination of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her team are now showing fruitful positive results in the state. They have not only introduced people to a better way of life but also making them healthy by providing them a sustainable developing atmosphere. It is only the dedication of CM Raje that two cities of the state have been awarded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself for becoming completely ‘Open Defecation Free’.
For taking the review report of Swachch Bharat Mission on ground level, the Indian Sanitation Conference was inaugurated yesterday to inspect the working and progress of Swachch Bharat Mission in the last two years. Also, it was decided that those individuals and organizations would be praised who have created mass awareness about the cleanliness and sanitation conditions in our country. In the event in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Prime Minister awarded Ajmer and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan for attaining the tag of fully ‘Open Defecation Free’ cities. The award was given to Swachch Bharat Mission Director of Rajasthan Aarushi Malik and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, from the hands of Union Minister Venkaiya Naidu. On the occasion, Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat of Rajasthan Shri Surendra Goyal, Urban Development Minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat were present including officials from Rajasthan’s municipalities and rural development department.
After receiving the honor, Dr. Aarushi Malik said that they have adopted a three-tier verification system under which the village panchayats, blocks, and districts were continuously scrutinized. The regions have been declared ‘ODF’ after inter-district and inter¬-state verification. So far, around 39.51 lakh individual toilets have been constructed and it is made sure that they are being used.
Dr. Malik also told that “Banko Bikaner”, “Achcho Ajmer”, “Chokho Churu” and “Achi Bundi” like programs have been launched in Bikaner, Ajmer, Churu, and Bundi, etc. to inspect the Cleanliness Mission closely on district level in Rajasthan under the leadership of CM Vasundhara Raje. She disclosed that in this financial year, 8.62 million toilets have been constructed in different houses. Rajasthan is the first state in the construction of individual household toilets on such large scale in the country.
A total of 9944 villages and 2683 Gram Panchayats have been made ODF and by the end of the year, 3331 Gram Panchayats will also achieve ODF status. Bikaner was state’s first ODF district and it has achieved this status in January 2015 itself. She concluded by saying that the success of the entire state to attain ODF status will only be possible with the complete community involvement and efforts and Rajasthan state government is trying to implement this campaign in the state very firmly. Various representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions, government officials, employees, banks and other institutions are continuously employed in this campaign through self-service and with the help of everyone, the state Government has set the target of converting 10 districts of Rajasthan completely ODF by the end of this fiscal year.
