Udhampur district achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status with the culmination of three-day Maha-Shramdaan on Monday during which left out Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) units were completed under Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G). To celebrate the successful culmination, an impressive function was organized by District Administration where deputy commissioner Ravinder Kumar declared the district as ODF.Secretary Rural Development Department, Sheetal Nanda participated through Video Conference and congratulated the DDC and his team for accomplishing the mission in shortest possible time as till March 2018 the sanitation coverage of the district was below 30%.The DDC interacted with the people of different Panchayats through video conferencing and appreciated the efforts made by the district Officers as well as general public for the construction of toilets in the left-out households. He said that cleanliness is the subject which directly connects with our culture as our ancestors believed that prosperity comes where there is cleanliness and cleanliness is next to godliness. The DDC congratulated and extended his best wishes to the people of the district in general and ODF team of the district in particular.He gave full credit to the volunteer groups and civil society to make this campaign a “Jan Andolan” which reinstated that “Sanitation is everyone’s business”.
While narrating Udhampur district’s journey, he stressed on the importance of behavioural change and the proper dissemination of twin-pit technology across all beneficiaries of the district. He mentioned that the biggest achievement of the district administration is to ensure construction of toilets without the mention of any incentive or money to the beneficiaries & self-construction was key in this mission.The DDC also mentioned about the role of Nisha Kumari, a school going girl who went on hunger strike to force her parents to construct a toilet at home. He also expressed gratitude to 87-year elderly women from Badali village who constructed a toilet by herself for her family. The DDC also thanked all employees of the district administration for having a significant contribution in the mission, including the employee transferred elsewhere now. Braving all climatic, geographic and other challenges, DDC highlighted the role of awareness campaigns such as MashaalYatras, Morning Nigrani as well as local solutions to local problems.Meanwhile, BDO Udhampur gave a detailed presentation on the mission ODF and highlighted how administration faced different challenges and solved these during the mission. Designated Panchayat Nodal officers, Sarpanches and other stakeholders also shared their experience.The function was attended by senior civil and officers, filed functionaries and civil society members.