GUWAHATI: Assam has bagged a special award in the recently concluded Swachh Sarvekshan Gramin 2018 conducted throughout the entire country by the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin.
The state received the award for its standout performance in the Northeast region.
Swachh Survekshan Gramin is a survey conducted for rural cleanliness in order to rank all districts and states on the basis of qualitative and quantitative evaluation.
The ranking is based on a comprehensive set of cleanliness parameters, survey of public places, citizens’ perception of ‘swachhta’ (cleanliness) and their recommendations for the improvement of the programme, and data from the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ in rural areas.
Only 172 villages were open defecation free till mid 2016 while at present, 20324 villages have been declared open defecation free (ODF) and the mission has reached out to 51.38 lakh rural families with toilet facilities. Moreover, 24 districts at present are 100 per cent ODF and the state seems to be just a few months away from becoming an ODF state.
So far, the state has initiated a number of innovative ideas which have contributed to the mission’s success.
Some milestones of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Assam have been the Cleanest Village Award, Daan Toilet, Mission Sambhav which covered 33 districts reaching out to one lakh families and initiated the construction of 1,12,748 toilets on a single day, out of which 994 were donated.
