The State Government's efforts behind launching the 'Nirmal Gujarat' drive has borne fruit as Gujarat ranks third among all states in the country under the Centre-sponsored 'Sampurna Swachhata Abhiyan'. With as many as 1,956 clean villages, Maharashtra ranked first while Uttar Pradesh ranked second with 475 villages.
The Centre identified 381 villages in the State under the campaign.
Gujarat Minister of State for Rural Development Bharat Barot told mediapersons on Thursday that he would lead a group of sarpanchs of all 381 villages to Delhi on May 4 to attend a function. At the function, village heads from across the country will be given awards for their achievement under the Centre-sponsored sanitation programme. The national-level function will be attended by President AP J Abdul Kalam, among others.
Barot said all the 381 village panchayats in the State had achieved cent-per-cent target in 2006-07 as per the various parameters set by the Union Rural Development Ministry to claim the "Nirmal Gam Award" floated by the Ministry. The panchayats had covered all families and schools under the sanitation programme in their respective villages. Besides, each of these villages ensured that no person defecates in the open and the carrying of night soil.
In 2004-05, only one village - Rajasmadhiyala in Rajkot - from Gujarat had qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award, and four other villages the following year.
"It's due to the concentrated efforts launched by our department last year that as many as 381 villages have qualified for the award", the minister said. Among the districts, Bhavnagar tops the list of maximum 97 villages having total sanitation, followed by Vadodara (39), the Panchmahals 38 Surendranagar (32), Dahod (25), Patan (23) and Anand (21). Interestingly, not a single village in Ahmedabad district has qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award.
The State Government also needs to carry on with the campaign as another 17,619 villages remain to made "nirmal".
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
The Centre identified 381 villages in the State under the campaign.
Gujarat Minister of State for Rural Development Bharat Barot told mediapersons on Thursday that he would lead a group of sarpanchs of all 381 villages to Delhi on May 4 to attend a function. At the function, village heads from across the country will be given awards for their achievement under the Centre-sponsored sanitation programme. The national-level function will be attended by President AP J Abdul Kalam, among others.
Barot said all the 381 village panchayats in the State had achieved cent-per-cent target in 2006-07 as per the various parameters set by the Union Rural Development Ministry to claim the "Nirmal Gam Award" floated by the Ministry. The panchayats had covered all families and schools under the sanitation programme in their respective villages. Besides, each of these villages ensured that no person defecates in the open and the carrying of night soil.
In 2004-05, only one village - Rajasmadhiyala in Rajkot - from Gujarat had qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award, and four other villages the following year.
"It's due to the concentrated efforts launched by our department last year that as many as 381 villages have qualified for the award", the minister said. Among the districts, Bhavnagar tops the list of maximum 97 villages having total sanitation, followed by Vadodara (39), the Panchmahals 38 Surendranagar (32), Dahod (25), Patan (23) and Anand (21). Interestingly, not a single village in Ahmedabad district has qualified for the Nirmal Gam Award.
The State Government also needs to carry on with the campaign as another 17,619 villages remain to made "nirmal".
Courtesy : Expressindia.com