From Our Correspondent
TURA: West Garo Hills district was on Tuesday conferred the award for the highest achiever in Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma presented the award to West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi besides handing over Nirmal Gram Puruskars (awards) 2011 to 266 villages of East, West and South Garo Hills districts at Tura District Auditorium.
Out of the 365 villages in Meghalaya selected for the Nirmal Gram Puraskar 2011, 266 villages are from East, West and South Garo Hills districts with as many as 216 villages from West Garo Hills alone.
Meghalaya bagged the third position in the country in TSC 2011 while the top two positions were claimed by Maharashtra and Gujarat respectively.
Rural sanitation programme with a new demand- response initiative under the Centrally-sponsored Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) has been taken up in all the districts of Meghalaya. The programme is implemented on the demand driven mode with active involvement of local villagers for which considerable IEC activities have been carried out.
To encourage the implementation of the programme, the Government of India has instituted the NGP as per the TSC guidelines for those villages which are able to overcome the open defecation system.
The progress of TSC projects in all districts are at various stages of implementation. The main goal includes schools, Anganwadi centres and individual household to be provided with necessary toilet facilities and overall cleanliness of the village by constructing liquid and solid waste management to create hygienic rural environment.
Congratulating the 266 villages of Garo Hills, Dr Sangma said that maintaining cleanliness and hygiene reflects one’s love and concern for the motherland.
He said that Meghalaya has shown tremendous improvement in TSC in the last two years and that the government acknowledges the effort of its citizens. He stated that one of the visions of the government is to make the State ‘green and clean’ and to achieve this goal the participation of everyone is necessary.
Thus, to mobilize the people especially the youth, movements like the ‘Youth for Green Campaign’ has been initiated. He added that cleanliness is beyond just having a sanitary latrine and includes various diverse aspects for a green and healthy living.
Citing the example of Mawlynnong, a village in East Khasi Hills, famed for being the cleanest village in Asia, Dr Sangma said that the village has earned the distinction because they have taken upon themselves the responsibility to clean, conserve and preserve the environment.
Stating that the bandh culture was impeding the development of the State, Dr Sangma urged everyone to maintain peace and assured the gathering that all support towards development in the region would be extended by the government.
Later all the participants took a pledge to maintain cleanliness, preserve and conserve nature and to leave behind the legacy of a green environment to future generations.
Others who participated included GHADC CEM PK Sangma, Co Chairman, State Planning Board, Clement Sangma, Former MLA Billykid A Sangma, Rangsakona sitting MLA Adolf Lu Hitler Marak, former minister Brening A Sangma, East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Vijay Kumar Mantri, Principal Secretary, PHED, PW Ingty and officials from the PHE department.
