Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 3: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today remarked that the sanitation involves simple steps to be achieved with determination. He maintained that it only takes a good resolve to make our surroundings clean.
Dr Mehta made these remarks during his address on the eve of One day Divisional Level Capacity Building Program for officers of the Rural Development Department (RDD) on Management of All Components of Swachh Bharat Mission (G) for initiation of its 2nd phase.
Commissioner Secretary, RDD; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; DCs from Jammu Division; Director, Rural Sanitation were present on the occasion.
Dr Mehta observed that we all have to understand its relevance and see our role vis-a-vis its accomplishment. He made out that if we are unable to do our part we would fail to convince others to do it as well. He maintained that first all of us need to set it as a goal for ourselves and believe that it can be done in time.
He exhorted upon the officers that there is no tomorrow to defer this significant task to. He impressed upon them that either we have to do it now or we should vacate our positions voluntarily to let others to do it. He said that there is no question of not being able to complete the targets of this mission in the stipulated time frame.
The Chief Secretary gave out that the process of cleanliness is one to be done in a mission mode. He stressed on doing the team work by understanding what, how and why it needs to be done. He stated that Sanitation leads to prosperity. He revealed that the bad sanitation costs us nearly 6% of our GDP. He further said that it takes toll on our prosperity as it even spoils our means of livelihood instead makes us to spend our earnings on treatment of communicable diseases.
In her address, the Commissioner Secretary, RDD, Mandeep Kaur revealed that the progress from last few months has been phenomenal in the UT. She made out that around 4400 of our villages are in the aspiring category of becoming ODF+ villages. She set out that the model is lying with us and the process is underway to make whole of the UT as ODF+ within a year.
The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar reminded the participants about the challenges faced in the initiation of this mission due to the diversity of geography in the UT. He made out that the administration has been successful in surmounting these challenges and implementing the mission here. He stressed on laying focus on making our tourist places more hygienic so that it directly adds to our economy as well.
In his welcome address, the Director Rural Sanitation, Charandeep revealed that the UT has come a long way in meeting certain requirements. He said that we have made available the DPRs to create the Soak pits, Composit pits, Leach pits, Twin pits besides the plans for solid, liquid and plastic waste management in our villages.
Pertinent to mention here that few of the objectives of this programme is to undertake capacity building activities in Gram Panchayats to ensure open defecation free behaviours among all, to ensure solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, to encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation.
These also include strengthening grass root democracy of Jammu and Kashmir through Capacity building & training and exposure visits and developing governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRls) to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
Follow our WhatsApp channel
