Clean India Mission: 73 per cent State households covered

By By Our Reporter On Oct 2, 2015

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan first anniv today

A huge heap of garbage on a road near the Governor's House on Wednesday reveals the negligence of the concerned department. (ST) — A huge heap of garbage on a road near the Governor’s House on Wednesday reveals the negligence of the concerned department. (ST)

SHILLONG: The much-hyped Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, will celebrate its first anniversary on Friday.
Exactly a year ago, one of India’s most ambitious civic programmes was launched on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti with an aim to make a country, which accounts for 60% of the world’s open defecation, clean.
On the occasion, various NGOs, traditional bodies and government agencies are conducting cleaning drives across the State to mark a year of “Clean India Mission”.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, the State Nodal Officer for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Meghalaya, RK Pandey said that the PHE department, which is the nodal department for the programme in the State has already covered 73 per cent households under the ambitious programme.
Under the programme, the department is focusing on several sectors besides creating awareness among people for changing their attitude, eradicating water borne diseases and providing training to the masses on cleanliness and hygiene.
According to Pandey, Meghalaya stands second only to Maharashtra when it comes to open defecation free environment. He added that around 3 lakh out of the 4.11 lakh households in the State have access to toilets.
Reacting to a query, Pandey said that the department, in the second year of the mission, plans to provide access to toilets to all the households of the State besides introducing solid and liquid waste management.