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Only 10 percent Indian villages fully sanitized: Jairam
Monday March 19, 2012 06:25:19 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Union
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Monday said that while
only 10 percent of Indian villages have full sanitation coverage,
the government is dedicated to tackling the issue with both rail
and union budgets paying special attention to sanitation.
Speaking at an award function organised by Sulabh International,
an organisation working for better sanitation in the country,
Ramesh said: "It is sad that out of 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in
the country, only 25,000 are "Nirmal" gram panchayats."
"Nirmal" gram status is given by the government of India to those
villages which have full sanitation coverage and have completely
abolished open defecation.
Ramesh presented the Sulabh Sanitation Award of Rs.5 lakh to Anita
Bai Narre, a tribal woman from Madhya Pradesh who had revolted
against the lack of toilets in her in-laws' home and returned to
her parents, demanding a clean toilet as the condition for her
return.
The government has also made Narre a brand ambassador for its
sanitation campaign.
Describing Narre's action as "bold", Ramesh said that the
government is aiming to abolish open defecation completely in 10
years, with "special focus on sanitation and clean toilets, in
both rail and union budgets."
"The government's target is to ensure that all the village
panchayats become Nirmal Gram Panchayats in 10 years," he said.
Claiming that a behavioural change was needed, Ramesh urged that
"(the) women have to play a leading role in this social
revolution."
Sulabh International founder and social activist Bindeshwar Pathak
hailed Narre's action as "brave" and applauded Narre's husband
Shivram and journalist Sanjay Shukla who first broke Narre's
story.
"So far, the government's sanitation programmes have almost no
media coverage except a small ticker on Doordarshan. If Narre's
story gets good coverage, the sanitation programmes can get a huge
boost," Pathak told IANS.
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