SHILLONG: Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ message is spreading fast in the State where about 85% of rural households have been covered under the Prime Minister’s pet project.
R.K Pandey, the nodal officer for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the State, said so far 3,49,910 toilets have been constructed with a mission to eradicate the problem of open defecation.
Pandey, however, added that the toilets constructed so far do not come under the Swachh scheme only and some of these are included in other schemes, including Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.
The nodal officer said plans are afoot to construct 61,700 more toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme within the financial year of 2017-18. The timely completion of the project depends on the availability of funds.
Meghalaya targets to construct toilets for 4.11 lakh households under the scheme. The much-hyped Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched in 2014 and it is one of India’s most ambitious civic programmes with an aim to make a country, which accounts for 60% of the world’s open defecation, clean.
Under the programme, the PHE 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.
