The State Government on Monday sought the cooperation of people to make the State open defecation-free by constructing and using toilets and proper management of solid and liquid waste at all levels.
“Though the districts have proposed to construct 12.05 lakh toilets during the current financial year under the total sanitation programme, the achievement till August was 98,261. Now the gram panchayats are involved to complete the programme in a mission mode,” Rural Development Minister Bikram Arukha and Panchayati Raj Minister Kalpataru Das told mediapersons here.
The Gram Sabha Sashaktikaran Kariyakrama (GSSK), initiated by the Panchayati Raj Department, is also promoting the total sanitation campaign, rechristened Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), to build a clean and healthy household in rural areas through convergence with MGNREGS, they said.
The palli sabha will identify the beneficiaries from a list of BPL and identified APL households for construction of latrines by clubbing 20 to 25 beneficiaries into one project. A village-level leader (VLL) will be selected by the palli sabha, this leader will be issued with the work orders.
The project will be technically sanctioned by concerned junior engineer of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department (RWSS). After approval of the project, funds under NBA will be routed to gram panchayats through the block development officer, Arukha said.
The cost of a latrine has been estimated at Rs 10,000, including the contribution of the beneficiary. While the contribution of the Centre is Rs 4,600, the NREGS component is Rs 4,500. The beneficiary’s contribution is Rs 900, the Minister said.
The services of the self-help groups (SHGs) under the Mission Shakti and anganwadi workers will be utilised in the preparation of list of the households and angawadi centres at village level. The list after scrutiny by the RWSS junior engineer will be forwarded to the panchayats for construction of latrines.
At the 2,000 estimate, the Government had planned to construct latrines for more than 70.56 lakh households, 70,663 schools, 25,160 anganwadi centres and 818 community latrines.
Of the target, 39.30 lakh households, nearly 70,000 schools and 24,829 anganwadi centres have been
covered under the programme, Rural Development Secretary SN Tripathy informed.
Panchayati Raj Secretary Aparajita Sarangi said the objective of the programme is to reach those who have been unreached through convergence with different departments.