BARIPADA: In a bid to sensitise people about the sanitation practices and meet the toilet construction target, the Mayurbhanj district administration will encourage inmates of Government-run residential schools to write letters to their parents seeking toilet facilities at their homes.
Speaking to media persons on Saturday, Collector Vineet Bhardwaj said a survey has found that 5.11 lakh people do not have toilets and only 2.5 lakh families are using toilets in the district. Now, an awareness drive is being taken up to make the remaining families aware of the scheme for a healthy living, he added.
He said nearly one lakh inmates will be encouraged to write letters to their parents demanding to build toilets at their homes ahead of Christmas holidays. It will sensitise them about the safe sanitation practices. Out of 404 panchayats in the district, toilets have been constructed in 65 panchayats. The RWSS has been asked to monitor the implementation regularly, he said.
The administration has laid stress on accelerating the sanitation drive across the district and decided to build three lakh toilets by December 31. The hilly and tribal-dominated district has remained backwards in all sectors while people are unable to draw benefits from a plethora of welfare programmes and schemes for lack of awareness.
The present pace of constructing 1,000 toilets a day has been revised to 2,000 toilets per day. Those who have been using toilets will be encouraged to advise others to use them and they will be rewarded as an incentive.