Swachh Survekshan Grameen Launched In Assam At NEDFi Convention Centre

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Taking it as a movement rather than a project the Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2019 was launched in Assam on Tuesday at NEDFi Convention Centre. PHE Minister Rihon Daimary formally launched the project and requested the districts to take up various awareness drives to reach the desired goals in terms of sanitation and cleanliness and requested media persons to provide necessary support to the programme.

He said, “The success of swachta mission is possible only through the involvement of public by making them aware of its necessity. Our aim is not only to make toilets but to focus on their uses and changing people’s behaviour and mindset. We could provide only 2 % household of water connection. We are aiming to complete our target of 100 % by 2024.”

On the controversy over poor construction of toilets in many places, Daimary said, “I wouldn’t deny to the fact that in some places the toilets have been poorly constructed. With this I would like to add that in those places the contracts of making toilets were given to private organizations and some self-help groups. It is quite complex to keep monitoring by the department itself, so we have planned to give this responsibility to panchayats. We’ve taken many projects for purified water but people are not using it, maybe somewhere we’ve lost the connection in communicating with them. We’ve received award from the Central government and we wish to grab more awards. Our department will do its duty, but I would like to thank media for their support. Because I believe without the help of media, the department alone couldn’t have a successful implementation of the projects.”

PHE Principal Secretary Avinash Joshi said, “In last 4-5 years there have been so many initiatives in terms of sanitation and we’ve achieved 100%. It’s not complex to create infrastructure but it’s necessary to upkeep the infrastructure and continuation of its uses. Swachta has to come out as a way of living then only the target of swachta can be achieved.”

Amidst the programme the awards of online photography contests were also presented to the awardees. The Swachta SMART (State Monitoring Application and Reporting Tool) was also launched in the programme. The app is a digital initiative by the PHED of Assam to capture all the relevant information, data and reports related to various activities under SBM-G. Secretary, PHE-cum-Mission Director, SBM-G Dr. Siddharth Singh said, “Public can download the app and can give their feedback through it. The Swach Survekshan Grameen 2019 is basically a healthy competition among districts. Besides constructing toilets, many initiatives have been taken in order to monitor the practical usage.”

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